Rita (2024) is a Spanish drama film in the direction of Paz Vega who is also the writer of the film. The movie stars Sofía Allepuz, who plays the title role, with Alejandro Escamilla, Paz Vega and Roberto Álamo.
Synopsis:
It is summer of 1984: Seven year old Rita and her five year old brother Lolo are living in Seville, as the whole country unites in celebration of Spain’s reaching the quarter finals of the European Championships. While the country goes crazy over football, Rita dreams of a simpler thing: sitting by the sea. The story deals with the events in the lives of the two siblings, and how they wanted to achieve certain dreams as a children in the era of the working class family and the Span’s exciting times further in the history.
Cast & Crew:
- Sofía Allepuz as Rita: Rita is a seven years old girl who longs to see the sea.
- Alejandro Escamilla as Lolo: Lola is an additional member of Rita family and is 5 years old.
- Paz Vega as Mari: Rita and Lolo’s mother, trying to take care of the family in a very important time in society.
- Roberto Álamo as José Manuel: Another person in the siblings that added to their surrounding.
- Paz de Alarcón as Chari: People close to the family who tries to cope with the functional difficulties.
- Amada Santos as Tía Merche: Aunt of the children bringing more family in their lives.
Production Team:
- Director and Writer: Paz Vega
- Producers: Marta Velasco, Gonzalo Bendala, Orson Salazar
- Cinematography: Eva Díaz Iglesias
- Editor: Ana Álvarez-Ossorio
- Music: Pablo Cervantes
Production Details:
Producing company of the film “Rita” is Éralan Films along with sticking to Rita la Película AIE having associations with Oda Films and Arte Sonora Estudios. The film was supported by contributions of Canal Sur, RTVE and Movistar Plus+, the movie funds were provided by ICAA, AAIICC, Triodos Bank and Crea SGR. Approximately a budget of $ 2 million was allocated for the production and the entire film was shot in the region of Andalusia with Seville as the principal location.
Release and Reception:
On August 16th 2024, this film was premiered at the Piazza Grande 77th Locarno Film Festival. It was included thereafter, in the official selection of 69th International Film Festival Valladolid and New Directors Competition in the 60th Chicago International Film Festival. Theatrical release of “Rita” in Spain is October 25, 2024, the distributor is Filmax.
On the breaking side, “Rita” has found favorable reception. Jonathan Holland of ScreenDaily praised it as “however effective, a largely subtle debut, directed by Australian filmmaker Debra Granik.” Enid Román Almansa of Cinemanía rated the film four stars out of five, who referred to the film as, “a nostalgic tribute to the bygone periods.” and “as leap back into naivety and innocence”. Fotogramas’ Juan Pando however gave three stars out of five billiganine rating to the film and said it was for$(“three’s company” with Paz Vega debuting as her associate. Italian Paz herself has been rated four stars for the film by Marta Medina M. Turner and stated ocinema vega “has proven that she has the gaze and the taste and her pulse to not posses АКТ but the film to actually do women well.”
IMDb Ratings:
As of December 5, 2024, “Rita” has scored an IMDb rating of seven point zero out of ten across seventy seven reviews by users. This indicates the sentiment of the people towards the film is quite positive and confirms the chance of the film being appreciated by the viewers.
The film is dedicated towards how childhood fantasies come up while growing in a society with so much on focus and through the lens of Paz Vega who makes her transition from acting to directing yet intertwines the personal and the national attachments with the story.
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