Filmmaker Statement

Making films and telling stories is therapeutic for me. It is how I get to explore who I am and my opinion about the society and world we live in. I like to tell stories that explore human behaviors and introspection in order to make the audience think and start a conversation about morals and perspectives. In this film, I explore the sacrifice that healthcare workers made during the Covid pandemic to save strangers while putting themselves at risk. I want to remind people of what healthcare workers did for all of us all around the world, and the importance of recognizing the consequences that came with it, as many of them now suffer from mental health issues due to the trauma caused by that experience. Bárbara represents the sacrifice and struggle that healthcare workers went through from a specific point of view, a volunteer who was considered to be at risk because of her age but who wanted to do anything she could to help save lives. While her story takes place in Madrid, Spain, this is a global topic that everyone experiences one way or another. Bárbara also represents a big portion of the population who strongly held on to their faith to stay hopeful and relied on their God to save us, specifically a Catholic God. I wanted to explore the moments of doubt that Bárbara had while trying to hold on to her faith, as constantly seeing death and fighting an unknown enemy would probably challenge the faith of even the strongest believers. It was important for me to achieve a realistic piece that brought the audience back to that time, and that showed the community’s support for healthcare workers back then. To do this, I used real footage that friends and family shared with me from the 8:00 PM applause to essential workers that happened in Spain every night during the lockdown. By doing this, the film combines fiction and non-fiction, making this narrative film challenge the boundaries between narrative films and documentaries. I have been inspired by Alfonso Cuaron’s storytelling, especially his historically based film Roma; by Sofia Coppola’s female character dramas and organic style, like Virgin Suicides; by J.A. Bayona’s physiological thrillers and cinematography, like El Orfanato (The Orphanage); and by Pedro Almodóvar’s complicated and controversial dramas, like Dolor y Gloria (Pain and Glory) and La Piel Que Habito (The Skin I Live In).