''Rita'' is a 2024 Spanish drama film written and directed by Paz Vega (in her directorial debut feature) which stars Sofía Allepuz as the title character alongside Alejandro Escamilla, Paz Vega, and

Roberto Álamo Roberto Martínez Felipe (born 1 January 1970), better known as Roberto Álamo, is a Spanish actor who has appeared in more than fifty films since 1996. Álamo won the Goya Award for Best Actor for his performance as Javier Alfaro in ''May God S ...

Plot

Set in 1984

Seville Seville ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Spain, Spanish autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the Guadalquivir, River Guadalquivir, ...

, against the backdrop of the craze about the

UEFA Euro 1984 The 1984 UEFA European Football Championship final tournament was held in France from 12 to 27 June 1984. It was the seventh UEFA European Championship, a competition held every four years and endorsed by UEFA. At the time, only eight countries ...

, with the Spain's team making inroads in the knockout stage, the plot follows siblings Rita and Lolo (respectively 7- and 5-year-old), as the former dreams about going to the beach.

Cast

Production

The film was produced by Áralan Films and Rita la Película AIE, with the association of Oda Films and Arte Sonora Estudios, the participation of

Canal Sur Canal Sur ('South Channel') is part of Radio y Televisión de Andalucía (RTVA), the public broadcasting company of Andalusia. It was created by means of the devolved powers given to this autononomous community by an Act of Parliament in its ...

RTVE The Corporación de Radio y Televisión Española (; ), known as Radiotelevisión Española (''Spanish Radio and Television'', RTVE), is the Spanish national public Broadcasting, television and radio broadcaster. It is a state-owned enterprise f ...

, and

Movistar Plus+ 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 ...

, and the funding from ICAA, AAIICC, Triodos Bank, and Crea SGR, boasting a budget of around

€ The euro sign () is the currency sign used for the euro, the official currency of the eurozone. The design was presented to the public by the European Commission on 12 December 1996. It consists of a stylized letter E (or epsilon), crossed by t ...

2 million. It was fully shot in Andalusia, with

as the prime shooting location.

Release

''Rita'' had its world premiere at the during the 77th Locarno Film Festival on 16 August 2024. It also made it to the official selection slate of the 69th Valladolid International Film Festival (for its Spanish premiere), to the New Directors Competition slate of the 60th Chicago International Film Festival (for its North-American premiere), and to the International Competition of the 39th Mar del Plata International Film Festival (for its Argentine premiere). Distributed by Filmax, it was released theatrically in Spain on 25 October 2024.

Signature Entertainment Signature Entertainment is a British film distribution and film production company founded in 2011 in the UK. Overview Signature Entertainment was founded in 2011 by Marc Goldberg. The company released over 1,000 films since its inception and ...

acquired United Kingdom and Ireland rights to the film.

Reception

Marko Stojiljković of ''

Cineuropa Cineuropa is an online information portal dedicated to the promotion of European cinema. It publishes daily news, reviews, interviews, and industry reports and maintains a database of information. It is available in four languages: English, Fre ...

'' wrote that Vega "demonstrates a knack for storytelling, both as a writer and as a director. Her script is cleverly written and masterfully controlled by her directing, with a good sense of visual narration". Jonathan Holland of '' ScreenDaily'' deemed ''Rita'' to be a "subtle and potent" directorial debut. Enid Román Almansa of '' Cinemanía'' rated the film 4 out of 5 stars, declaring it not only a love letter to the past, but also a return to innocence. 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 3 out of 5 stars, considering it a "promising" directorial debut. Marta Medina of ''

El Confidencial ''El Confidencial'' is a Spanish-language general-information digital newspaper located in Spain, specializing in economic, financial and political news. It was established as an online newspaper in 2001. Its target readership is professional ...

'' rated the film 4 out of 5 stars, writing that Vega "has shown that she has the gaze, the taste and the pulse to pull off not just a film, but a good film".

Accolades

, - , rowspan = "15" , , rowspan = "14" , 4th Carmen Awards , , colspan = "2" , Best Film , , , , rowspan = "14" , , - , Best New Director , , Paz Vega , , , - , Best Original Screenplay , , Paz Vega , , , - , rowspan = "2" , Best Supporting Actress , , Amada Santos , , , - , Paz Vega , , , - , Best New Actress , , Paz de Alarcón , , , - , Best Editing , , Ana Álvarez-Ossorio , , , - , Best Original Score , , Pablo Cervantes , , , - , Best Art Direction , , Amanda Román , , , - , Best Production Supervision , , Amanda Román , , , - , Best Costume Design , , Fernando García , , , - , Best Sound , , Daniel de Zayas, Jorge Marín , , , - , Best Makeup and Hairstyles , , Rafael Mora, Ángela Moreno , , , - , Best Special Effects , , Luis Melga , , , - , rowspan = "1" , 39th Goya Awards , , Best New Director , , Paz Vega , , , , rowspan = "1" ,

References

2024 directorial debut films Films set in 1984 Films set in Seville Films shot in the province of Seville 2020s Spanish-language films 2020s Spanish films 2020s coming-of-age drama films 2024 drama films 2024 films Spanish coming-of-age drama films Spanish-language drama films Áralan Films films Films about siblings {{authority control