The Provincial Council of Almeria has celebrated the ‘International Women’s Day’ by linking equality to one of the industries that has an eternal idyll with our land: cinema. The Cervantes Theatre has hosted the Round Table ‘Women of Cinema’ which has reflected on the role of women in this industry with four great professionals of national and international prestige: Marta Robles (journalist, writer and director of the short film «La chica a la que no supiste amar»), Inés de León (director of «A todo tren 2», screenwriter and actress), Mina El Hammani (actress in the series «Élite», «El Príncipe» and director of the short film 30 segundos) and Bárbara Goenaga (actress).
The meeting, organised by the Department of Equality, is aimed at representatives of the 83 associations that make up the Provincial Council of Women and was also attended by the president of the Provincial Council, Javier A. García, the deputy for Equality, Nuria Rodríguez and the journalist Juan Gabriel García, who moderated the meeting.
The President of the Provincial Council thanked the four great guests for their presence in Almeria to participate in this important event: «With this activity we want to show that for the Provincial Council of Almeria, our most important premise is that all people, regardless of the colour of our skin, creed, place of residence or sex, have access to the same opportunities».
He also recalled that «our main objective as an institution is to equalise opportunities among Almerians without making any distinction and that all these opportunities translate into wealth, employment and prosperity in our province».
With regard to the film industry, which is inextricably linked to our province, he assured that these four women «once again give us a lesson in life by sharing the experiences, emotions and efforts that have led them to become benchmarks in different areas of the Spanish audiovisual industry». Likewise, she recalled that «although new steps continue to be taken to reduce the gender gap that exists in this sector thanks to these women», the truth is that today films directed by women receive half the funding of those directed by men and that in 2021 only 32% of the total number of professionals in the industry were women.
Marta Robles explained that she has been working for decades in the fields of literature, journalism and, now, occasionally in film: «In the end, everything is a reflection of society itself. We are no different in literature, in art or in journalism, as long as there is inequality in the street, there will be inequality everywhere. When I was 28 years old, I directed my first programme and I couldn’t sign it because I was a woman and young, a reflection of society at that time».
Bárbara Goenaga explained that because she started working in the film industry when she was 3 years old, «my profession is myself». «I have been working all my life and I have never worked with a woman director. Over the years I have worked with producers, scriptwriters, but never with a female director, and I have to say that little by little there is more and more weight for women in the profession. If those who write, direct and produce are men, there is only one point of view. What happens in cinema is just a reflection of society, where there is a glass ceiling», she explained.
For her part, Inés de León made a demand: «I want those who have the solution to this type of round tables, in which only women participate, to also be present: men. We have to ask them why they don’t hire or produce films made by women», she explained.
Mina El Hammani said that cinema is a mere reflection of today’s society: «I set up a production company because since I was young I knew that I wanted to play an infinite number of characters and my Moroccan origin has conditioned me a lot. I have had to fight a little harder because I am a woman and also of Moroccan origin. I have suffered racism and machismo. That’s why I founded a production company where the origin or sector of the actor or actress doesn’t matter.
Mina El Hammani; Actress of theatre, cinema and television, known worldwide for her work in Elite (Netflix), Mina has been working for ten years in series such as El príncipe, El internado: Las Cumbres, or in the production of the BBc ‘The state’, among many other projects of all kinds. She has created her own production company: Quiet Producciones and directed her first short film: 30 Segundos.
Bárbara Goenaga has become one of the most established actresses in Spanish cinema and series since she made her debut at the age of 3 in the series ‘Bai Horixe’. Nominated for a Goya for Best New Actress for her role in ‘Oviedo Express’, we have enjoyed her in titles such as ‘Los cronocrímenes’, ‘El regalo de Silvia’, ‘Súpernormal’, ‘La noche más larga’, ‘Sin límites’ or ’70 binladens’.
Inés de León is a film and advertising director and scriptwriter, and has also worked as an actress. She has directed the feature films ‘¿Qué te juegas?’ and ‘A todo tren dos’ and has made campaigns and fashion films for brands such as Gaultier, Levi’s, Lancome, Chanel, Gucci and Guerlain.
Marta Robles has been one of the great journalists, communicators and writers of our country for more than three decades with proven experience in the written press, radio and television. As a writer, her latest work is ‘Lo que la primavera hace con los cerezos. Historias de amor y desamor de grandes creadores’ and as a filmmaker she has written and directed a short film based on her novel ‘La chica a la que no supiste amar’ which won the prize for best direction at the Jaén short film festival against gender violence.
Provincial Women’s Council
Also in the Cervantes Theatre, prior to the round table, the Governing Board and Plenary of the Provincial Women’s Council was held, where the report for 2022 was approved, the joint campaign of the eight Andalusian councils for 8 March was presented and the manifesto for International Women’s Day was read.
The Provincial Women’s Council was created in 1997 to strengthen the network of women’s associations in Almeria. It is currently made up of 83 associations in the province, whose main objectives are to strengthen the effectiveness of the principle of equality between women and men, to promote institutional collaboration with civil society, to make the role of women in the province more visible, to promote women in rural areas and to eradicate violence against women.