LA HOJARASCA
THE UNDERGROWTH
Macu Machín / Spain / 2024 / 72 min / Colour
Three sisters, Carmen, Elsa, and Maura find themselves sharing the inheritance of a piece of land at the foot of a volcano in the Canary Islands. There are only a few men left in the village and there is an air of matriarchy. The land is home to almond trees and animals, and wine ages in barrels. Carmen still cultivates the land and, now that Elsa and Maura have also returned, the latter is no longer well and depends on Elsa's care. The leading actresses are the director's mother and two aunts, in her first work that alternates documentary observation with staging, and opts for a communicative style imbued with meditative and magical lyricism. The paradoxes of family ties emerge among the sisters; memories resurface, illuminating a forgotten past while the surrounding nature reflects their internal struggles, with dead leaves that recall the passing of time and the volcano ready to erupt.
Macu Machín
Originally from Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, she has gained experience as a director of short films, moving from observational cinema, Geometría de invierno (2006), to found footage, Quemar las naves (2018), eager to capture the real and the transcendent, El mar inmóvil (2018). La hojarasca (2024), her first feature film, won an award at the MiradasDoc Market and a grant from the Ibermedia Program (Madrid).
Credits
Screenplay Macu MachínCinematography José Alayón, Zhana YordanovaSound Emilio García, Joaquín Pachón GarcíaEditing Emma Tusell, Ariadna Ribas, Manuel Muñoz RivasMusic Jonay ArmasProducer José Alayón, José Miguel Viña, Jamie Weiss, Jairo López