SAN SEBASTIÁN, September 24 (EUROPA PRESS) –
The team of “The Sultana’s Dream”, led by director Isabel Herguera, landed in San Sebastián to praise feminism and recall that the project was able to move forward despite “everyone wanting the word feminist to disappear from the film “.
“It’s been a very long journey and fortunately this country has changed a lot. Because at the beginning of the project everyone wanted the word feminist to disappear from the film. They told us we would never make it with that word,” the film’s producer, Chelo Loureiro, recalled at a press conference.
Loureiro has defended that with “The Sultan’s Dream”, which competes for the Golden Shell in the official section, they intend to make a “different” film, acknowledging the difficulties they faced. “We don’t want to get rich, we want to release films that we are really proud of,” he said.
“The Sultana’s Dream” is the first European animated film to compete for the Golden Shell. According to Herguera, the project is based on the story of the same name by Rokeya Hossain (Bangladesh), on which it “reconstructs” the “land” of women. which the writer created more than 100 years ago. “I knew within ten seconds of reading the book that I wanted to work with this material,” he revealed.
“The discovery of Rokeya was an inspiration and a kind of mantra. “It helped me become very aware of my situation as a woman and in the same natural way I read a lot about women writers, especially from India,” she explained.
The film revolves around Isabel, a young woman from San Sebastián who cannot dream and discovers the book “The Dream of the Sultan”, which describes the “Land of Women”, a place where the women are all scientists and the have power while the men are locked up at home, limited by their ignorance.
In this context, Isabel Herguera has explained that in the more than ten years since the project began, she has discovered that there is something in common that “unites” all women. “Whether you come from India, Germany or another country, there is a common position that unites us when it comes to being a woman. And that unites us beyond speaking different languages,” she enthused.
“The Sultana’s Dream” is suitable for any audience, although Herguera revealed that he didn’t think about what audience when making it. “I just think about making the best film possible and what I would like to see,” he clarified.
The film, whose budget is just under two million euros, is being produced jointly by Spain and Germany. The film will be released in cinemas on November 17th by Filmin.
