19-25 January
2026
The summer is dry and hot in a village in Spain, but a storm is threatening to overflow the river. It has happened before, and according to superstition, some local women are predestined to disappear with every new flood. Meanwhile, Ana and her friends are trying to make the best of a dreary holiday.
Ana (Luna Pamiés) is a 17-year-old girl from a dusty, quiet village in eastern Spain. When we first meet her and her friends they are having fun at a rave party, but as the sun rises, they sit by the river talking about their boring town and unfulfilled desires. Legacy is an important part of both Ana’s personal life and the village, and through real interviews with female townspeople, we learn that the river might have threatening powers.
El agua offers a partly fictionalized and partly documentarian look at a region in Spain that’s rarely seen in recent cinema; it is a modern tale, but with tradition and old myths seeping in with the water.
Elena López Riera (b. 1982) is a Spanish filmmaker and visual artist. She has worked as a programmer for several film festivals. El agua is her feature film debut.
2022 The Water / El agua
2018 Those Who Lust (Short)
2016 The Entrails (Short)
2015 Pueblo (Short)
Kl 22:00
Fokus 4
Kl 16:30
Hålogaland Teater
Kl 21:45
Fokus 4
Programme: | Horizons |
Director: | Elena López Riera |
Country: | Spain |
Year: | 2022 |
Run time: | 1h 44m |
Cast: | Nieve de Medina, Bárbara Lennie, Alberto Olmo |
Dialogue: | Spanish |