La Maternal
Carla is a wild 14-year-old girl living with a toxic single mother. One night she wakes up in a sweat, feeling ill: she discovers she is six months pregnant and is transferred to La Maternal, a shelter for teenagers at risk of social exclusion. There she meets her educators, and other teens in the same situation - Raki, Estel, Claudia, Jamila and Sheila - who take care of their babies with the help of social workers. At first hermetic and distrustful, she tries to learn how to be a mother when in reality, she just wants to be a child again. She is afraid of being as bad a mother as her own was. But little by little, she realizes her mum’s struggles, and motherhood eventually brings them together. As she gets closer to the group of girls with the same problems, Carla feels a little less alone in the world, soon ready to make crucial decisions.
Age recommendation: 12+
Pilar Palomero was born in Zaragoza, Spain. Her first feature "Las niñas" (2021), premiered in Generation Kplus at Berlin Festival, won the Golden Biznaga for Best Film at Malaga Festival and the Goyas for Best Film, Best New Director, Best Original Screenplay and Best Cinematography. She had previously directed the short films "Sonrisas" (2005), "Niño balcón" (2009), "Chan Chan" (2012), "Noć" (2015) and "La noche de todas las cosas" (2016), the medium-length "Zimsko sunce" (2017) and the creative documentary "Horta" (2017). She has also worked as a TV scriptwriter and is co-writer of the feature film "Chaco" (Diego Mondaca, 2020), which premiered at Rotterdam Festival. "La Maternal" is her second full-length film.
Filmography
Las niñas (2020), La maternal (2022)
Just Film is presented by
