The Spanish director Pilar Palomero won the feature film prize of the International Women’s Film Festival (IFFF) in Dortmund with her film “La Maternal”. The film tells the story of a pregnant 14-year-old who finds new friends at a center for teenage mothers.
“The film stirred and excited us. He artfully combines documentary elements with powerful cinematic images as well as the play of amateurs with that of professional actresses,” said the jury, which this year consisted of filmmaker Helke Sander and actresses Sara Fazilat and Maria Furtwängler.
Palomero is the tenth director to receive the IFFF award. The 42-year-old recently published the drama “Las Ninas”, for which she was awarded Best New Director at the Goya Awards 2021.
130 films at women’s film festival
The international feature film competition for women directors marked the end of the six-day festival, at which around 130 films from 34 countries were shown. It was the first full festival edition since the pandemic began. “The overwhelming rush shows that women’s films have their finger on the pulse,” said festival director Maxa Zoller. Numerous performances were sold out.
The IFFF takes place in Cologne and Dortmund. According to the organizers, it is the largest and oldest women’s film festival in the German-speaking world and is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year.
