The Flight of the Stork
Between Barcelona and Algeria, a young woman seeks to reconcile three generations of women divided by faith and exile.
Born in Barcelona to an Algerian mother, filmmaker Soumaya Hidalgo Djahdou has always lived between two worlds. At 29, she feels a growing need to reconnect with her roots and understand the silences that have long defined her family. Together with her childhood friend and co-director Berta Vicente Salas, she travels to Algeria to revisit the home her mother once left behind.
Through intimate conversations during Ramadan, fragments of family archives, and moments shared with her grandmother, “The Flight of the Stork” traces a deeply personal journey across generations of women divided by migration, religion, and time. What begins as a daughter’s search for understanding becomes a universal reflection on identity, belonging, and the fragile ties that hold families together. In confronting her past, Soumaya discovers that reconciliation is not about choosing between worlds but learning how to live fully within both.
Soumaya Hidalgo Djahdou is a Barcelona-based filmmaker of Algerian descent whose work explores identity, migration and intergenerational ties. She holds a degree in German and English translation and interpretation from Universitat Pompeu Fabra in Barcelona. She trained in physical and experimental theatre at Chroma Teatre and El Laboratorio. In 2021, she started developing a documentary project about the disappearance of her grandmother’s Berber dialect, diving into family research about the topic she was awarded the Barcelona CREA Scholarship. The project evolved into her first documentary “El vol de la cigonya” (“The Flight of the Stork”, 2025, co-directed with Berta Vicente Salas).
Filmography:
The Flight of the Stork (2025, doc, co-dir)
Berta Vicente Salas is a filmmaker and photographer. She holds a degree in Humanities and a Master’s in Documentary Film from EICTV, the Cinema School of San Antonio de los Baños, Cuba. She is a Pulitzer Centre alumna, known for her evocative, melancholic photography that blends reality and imagination. Her intimate portraits capture deep emotions. She was awarded FotoTalentos (by Santander Foundation, 2013) and Sony World Photography Awards (Youth Portrait, 2013). Her first short was “Todos los días Elisa” (2011). Her first feature-length documentary “El vol de la cigonya” (“The Flight of the Stork”, 2025, co-directed with Soumaya Hidalgo Djahdou).
Filmography:
The Flight of the Stork (2025, doc, co-dir)