Spain’s Elena Lopez Riera Addresses Folklore, Fate and the Resilience of the Single Woman
Holly Jones Focusing on female protagonists, Spanish director Elena López Riera shies away from old tropes of promiscuity, desire, and the sealed fates they typically dictate in her first feature film, “El Agua.”Sold by Adeline Fontan-Tessau-headed Elle Driver for international and distributed in Spain by Filmin (“Lucas”) and producer Maria Zamora and distributor Enrique Costa’s Elastica Films (“Alcarrès”), the film keeps one foot planted firmly in reality, using found and documentary-style footage dispersed throughout to highlight a raw narrative. The other foot loosely traces the boundaries of ominous lore that’s woven through the narrative like fine thread, ever-beneath the surface of scenes dealing with young love, strong feminine bonds, and the urge to escape it all and begin anew.