''Maixabel'' () is a 2021 Spanish drama film directed by

Icíar Bollaín Icíar Bollaín Pérez-Mínguez (born 12 June 1967) is a Spanish filmmaker and actress. She is best known for directing '' Te Doy Mis Ojos'' (''Take My Eyes''), which won 7 Goya Awards. Bollaín has won other awards for acting and script-writing ...

and co-written by Bollaín and Isa Campo. The film stars Blanca Portillo and

Luis Tosar Luis López Tosar (born 13 October 1971) is a Spanish actor from Galicia. He is one of the most recognizable and versatile actors in Spain. He landed his film debut in '' Atilano for President'' (1998), followed by other roles in feature fil ...

alongside Bruno Sevilla, Urko Olazabal and María Cerezuela and is based on the true story of Maixabel Lasa, a woman whose husband, Juan María Jáuregui, was killed by

ETA Eta ( ; uppercase , lowercase ; ''ē̂ta'' or ''ita'' ) is the seventh letter of the Greek alphabet, representing the close front unrounded vowel, . Originally denoting the voiceless glottal fricative, , in most dialects of Ancient Greek, it ...

, a Basque separatist group, and who receives an invitation to talk with the killers of her husband eleven years after.

Plot

Maixabel Lasa loses her husband, Juan María Jáuregui, in 2000 at the hands of the

. She later becomes director of the Basque office for terrorism victims. Jáuregui's killers have been sentenced to prison where they start to reject violence. Eleven years later, she receives an invitation for an interview from one of the killers of her husband, who is serving his sentence in a jail at Nanclares de la Oca in

Álava Álava () or Araba (), officially Araba/Álava, is a Provinces of Spain, province of Spain and a historical territory of the Basque Country (autonomous community), Basque Country, heir of the ancient Basque señoríos#Lords of Álava, Lordship ...

, after cutting his ties with the terrorist group. Despite doubts and immense pain, Maixabel accepts the invitation and comes face to face with the man who took her husband's life.

Cast

Production

The concept for the film came from the producers, Koldo Zuazua and Juan Moreno, who received a proposal to tell the story of Maixabel Lasa alongside screenwriter Isa Campo in 2018. The film was produced by Kowalski Films and FeelGood, and it had the participation of

EiTB Euskal Irrati Telebista (; ; acronym EITB, branded eitb) is the Basque Autonomous Community's public broadcast service, which broadcasts throughout the Basque Country. Its main brand is Euskal Telebista (ETB, Basque Television). EITB is the l ...

, TVE, and

Movistar+ Movistar Plus+ (formerly Movistar+) is the trade name of the subscription platform for digital television owned by , which operates in Spain. The service is distributed via optical fiber and ADSL as well as with satellites such as Astra. The pl ...

, support from ICAA, the

Basque Government The Basque Government (, ; ) is the governing body of the Basque Autonomous Community of Spain. The head of the Basque government is known as the '' Lehendakari''. The Lehendakari is appointed by the Basque Parliament every four years, after a re ...

, , and the collaboration of the Gipuzkoa Film Commission. It was shot in various locations of

Gipuzkoa Gipuzkoa ( , ; ; ) is a province of Spain and a historical territory of the autonomous community of the Basque Country. Its capital city is Donostia-San Sebastián. Gipuzkoa shares borders with the French department of Pyrénées-Atlantiqu ...

and

in the Basque Country,

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

. The music for the film was composed by

Alberto Iglesias Alberto Iglesias Fernández-Berridi (born 21 October 1955) is a Spanish composer. He was first noticed as a score composer for Spanish films, mostly from Pedro Almodóvar and Julio Medem. His career became more international with time and he even ...

, Javier Agirre Erauso was the cinematographer and Mikel Serrano was the production designer, other credits includes Alazne Ameztoy (sound), Clara Bilbao (costumes), Karmele Soler (make-up), Sergio Pérez (hairsytling) and Nacho Ruiz Capillas (editing).

Release

The film screened at the 69th San Sebastián International Film Festival of 2021. Distributed by

Buena Vista International Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures is an American film distributor within the Disney Entertainment division of the Walt Disney Company. It handles theatrical and occasional digital distribution, marketing, and promotion for films produced and ...

, it was released in cinemas in Spain on September 24, 2021.

Reception

review aggregator A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews and ratings of products and services, such as films, books, video games, music, software, hardware, or cars. This system then stores the reviews to be used for supporting a website where user ...

website

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...

, the film holds an approval rating of 100% based on 6 reviews, with an average rating of 7.30. Juan Pando of ''

Fotogramas ''Fotogramas'' is a Spanish digital and print film magazine which has been in circulation since 1946. It is one of the early film magazines in Spain. History Founded in Barcelona, it was first published on 15 November 1946 by Antonio Nadal-Rodó ...

'' rated the film four out of five stars writing that "Bollaín demonstrates a masterful command of her craft in this, her most well-rounded film". Jonathan Holland from ''

Screendaily ''Screen International'' is a British film magazine covering the international film business. It is published by Media Business Insight, a British B2B media company which also owned ''Broadcast''. The magazine is primarily aimed at those involve ...

'' commented that the film is "a beautifully judged and sensitive exploration of the emotional fallout of terrorism".

Accolades

, - , align = "center" rowspan = "5" , 2021 , , rowspan = "5" , 27th Forqué Awards , , colspan = "2" , Best Film , , , , rowspan = "5" , , - , Best Film Actress , , Blanca Portillo , , , - , rowspan = "2" , Best Film Actor , ,

, , , - , Urko Olazabal , , , - , colspan = "2" , Cinema and Education in Values , , , - , align = "center" rowspan = "44" , 2022 , , rowspan="8",

9th Feroz Awards The 9th Feroz Awards ceremony, presented by the Asociación de Informadores Cinematográficos de España, took place at the Auditorio de Zaragoza in Zaragoza, Spain, on 29 January 2022, to recognize the best in Spanish cinema and television. The ...

, Best Drama Film , Koldo Zuazua, Juan Moreno, Guillermo Sempere , , rowspan="8", , - ,

Best Director Best Director is the name of an award which is presented by various film, television and theatre organizations, festivals, and people's awards. It may refer to: Film awards * AACTA Award for Best Direction * Academy Award for Best Director * As ...

, , - ,

Best Actor (film) ''Best Actor'' is a 2010 Malayalam-language comedy drama film co-written and directed by Martin Prakkat. It stars Mammootty, Sruthi Ramakrishnan, Lal, Sreenivasan, Salim Kumar, Vinayakan, Nedumudi Venu, Joju George, K. P. A. C. Lalitha, ...

, , - ,

Best Actress (film) Best Actress is the name of an award which is presented by various film, television and theatre organisations, festivals, and people's awards to leading actresses in a film, television series, television film or play. The first Best Actress award ...

, Blanca Portillo , , - , Best Supporting Actor (film) , Urko Olazabal , , - , Best Screenplay , Isa Campo, Icíar Bollaín , , - , Best Original Soundtrack ,

, , - , Best Trailer , Rafa Martínez , , - , rowspan = "8" , 77th CEC Medals , , colspan = "2" , Best Film , , , , rowspan = "8" , , - , Best Director , , Icíar Bollaín , , , - , Best Actor , , Luis Tosar , , , - , Best Actress , , Blanca Portillo , , , - , Best Supporting Actor , , Urko Olazábal , , , - , Best Original Screenplay , , Icíar Bollaín, Isa Campo , , , - , Best Editing , , Nacho Ruiz Capillas , , , - , Best Score , , Alberto Iglesias , , , - , rowspan="14",

36th Goya Awards The 36th Goya Awards ceremony, presented by the Academia de las Artes y las Ciencias Cinematográficas de España, Academy of Cinematographic Arts and Sciences (AACCE), honoured the best in Spanish films of 2021 and took place at the Palau de les ...

, Best Film , ''Maixabel'' , , rowspan="14", , - ,

, , - , Best Actor ,

, , - , Best Actress , Blanca Portillo , , - , Best Supporting Actor , Urko Olazabal , , - , Best New Actress , María Cerezuela , , - ,

Best Original Screenplay The Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay is the Academy Award (also known as an Oscar) for the best screenplay not based upon previously published material. It was created in 1940 as a separate writing award from the Academy Award for Best ...

, Icíar Bolláin, Isa Campo , , - , Best Original Score ,

, , - , Best Editing , Nacho Ruiz Capillas , , - , Best Art Direction , Mikel Serrano , , - , Best Production Supervision , Guadalupe Balaguer Trelles , , - ,

Best Sound The following is a list of categories of awards commonly awarded through organizations that bestow film awards, including those presented by various films, festivals, and people's awards. Best Actor/Best Actress *See Best Actor#Film awards, Bes ...

, Alazne Ameztoy, Juan Ferro, Candela Palencia , , - , Best Costume Design , Clara Bilbao , , - , Best Makeup and Hairstyles , Karmele Soler, Sergio Pérez Berbel , , - , rowspan = "4" , 30th Actors and Actresses Union Awards , , Best Film Actress in a Leading Role , , Blanca Portillo , , , , rowspan = "4" , , - , Best Film Actor in a Leading Role , , Luis Tosar , , , - , Best Film Actor in a Secondary Role , , Urko Olazabal , , , - , Best Film Actress in a Minor Role , , Arantxa Aranguren , , , - , Spanish Screenwriters' Union Awards , , Best Screenplay in a Drama Feature Film , , Isa Campo, Icíar Bollaín , , , , , - , rowspan = "8" ,

9th Platino Awards The 9th Platino Awards ceremony, organised by EGEDA and FIPCA, was held on 1 May 2022 at the IFEMA Palacio Municipal in Madrid, Spain. The ceremony was hosted by the Argentine singer Lali Espósito, Lali and the Spanish actor Miguel Ángel Muñoz. ...

, , colspan = "2" , Best Ibero-American Film , , , , rowspan = "8" , , - ,

, , Icíar Bollaín , , , - , Best Screenplay , , Isa Campo, Icíar Bollaín , , , - , Best Actress , , Blanca Portillo , , , - , Best Actor , , Luis Tosar , , , - , Best Supporting Actor , , Urko Olazabal , , , - , Best Editing , , Nacho Ruiz Capillas , , , - , colspan = "2" , Cinema and Education in Values , ,

References

External links

* {{IMDb title, 14077696 Spanish drama films Films directed by Icíar Bollaín Buena Vista International films Kowalski Films films Films shot in the Basque Country (autonomous community) 2020s Spanish-language films Films scored by Alberto Iglesias Films set in the Basque Country (autonomous community) 2021 drama films 2021 films Films about ETA (separatist group) 2020s Spanish films Basque conflict films