International premiere
Teresa
Several Spanish publications have named Paula Ortiz’s Teresa one of the most anticipated films of the year. In 2015, PÖFF showed the same author's feature film “The Bride”, which is an adaptation of the play by Frederico Garcia Lorca. The director's latest film is also adapted from a play written by the contemporary playwright Juan Mayorga. The author herself instructs the viewers that “Teresa” should be viewed in dialogue with the present, although the film takes place in the 16th century.
Teresa, a Carmelite nun, reformer, and mystic of the Roman Catholic Church, has been ostracized for her beliefs. She will meet with the Inquisitor. All kinds of decisions regarding her are possible.
Saint Teresa of Avila is a historical person, but this film is not a factual biography. Rather, it is a free interpretation of those doubts, beliefs, and a person's love of faith that is inherent in all ages for those who seek change. And the word faith does not have to have a direct religious meaning at all. The creative team succeeded in creating a visually interesting film. If the author had only followed the dialogue between Teresa and the Inquisitor, the film would have lost a lot. The film's dialogue carries the plot, but the imagery and structure of the film carry the author’s thoughts.
Mihkel Möölman
Paula Ortiz (1979) graduated from the University of Zaragoza with a bachelor's degree in Hispanic Philology and earned a master's degree in Writing for Cinema and TV from the Autonomous University of Barcelona. Between 2004 and 2008, Ortiz worked at the University of Zaragoza’s Department of Art History as a researcher and professor of Film and Audiovisual Media Studies. During this time, she wrote her doctoral thesis, “The Cinematographic Script: An Update of its Theoretical and Practical Bases”. She studied cinema directing in the Graduate Department of Film and Television of the Tisch School of the Arts at NYU and completed her screenwriting studies at the University of California, Los Angeles. She has written and directed a couple of short films and three full-length feature films of which “The Bride” also screened in the PÖFF main competition programme.
Filmography:
De tu ventana a la mía (Chryzalis, 2011), La novia (Pruut, PÖFF 2015), Teresa (2023)
Grand Prix for The Best Film, grant of 20 000 euros from the city of Tallinn, Award for Best Director, grant of 5000€ from Alexela
