The family drama forces each of the characters ‘to look at the things they don’t want to look at, to live with what is uncomfortable, says director Ione Hernández Sáenz “Sisters” (“Hermanas”) will have its world premiere in the Discovery section of the Toronto International Film Festival, running September 10-20. Written and directed by Ione Hernández Sáenz (“1% Schizophrenia”) and starring Elena Anaya (“The Skin I Live In,” “Room in Rome”) and Emma Suárez (“Julieta,” “The Next Skin”), the Spanish film is an intergenerational family drama dealing with accusations of sexual assault during the San Juan Festival outside Madrid, where the two sisters’ families are welcoming the summer solstice. Choosing to focus less on the details of the assault and more on how each family member deals with the unexpected tragedy, the film explores the universal themes of love, guilt and trauma.
With remarkable subtlety and depth, it creates the perfect space for Elena Anaya and Emma Suárez to deliver extraordinary performances. This confident debut reveals a distinctive new filmmaking voice from Ione Hernández Sáenz, and I’m delighted to collaborate with such a talented director. We can’t wait to share this film with international audiences,” said Pamela Leu, CEO/Head of Sales for Be For Films, who handles international sales for the film.
The film is produced by Noesno Film Aie, Solita Films, Gariza Films, Elastica Films and ISB Films. Watch the “Sisters” exclusive clip below: Variety interviewed director Ione Hernández Sáenz ahead of the film’s world premiere on Sept. 15. You wrote and directed “Sisters.” Why did you choose this particular story to tell as your fiction debut?
Ione Hernández Sáenz: Sometimes you don’t choose. Out of nowhere, you find yourself thinking about a conversation, a story a friend has told you. Then you read something that, for whatever reason, connects to what you’ve heard, and this goes on until one day you decide to bring all of that out and take it towards the things that interest you, which in my case are always emotional journeys within close-knit circles, such as family, a group of friends, a work group.
These are places where it is harder to be completely at peace because those bonds always bring unresolved things in each of us to the surface. I’m interested in seeing what happens with all these shifts, what decisions people make, what they feel and how the way they relate to each other changes. That’s why I couldn’t say that I chose a particular story.
Rather, I took a particular situation and used it to talk about the things that interest me. I’m interested in going a little beyond what seems to be happening on the surface. What do you do when an event completely changes the way you relate to what you want?
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