“People are very interested in what’s being made in Spain, even though we sometimes may not believe it”
– The Spanish actress appears in one instalment of Audiovisual From Spain’s Where Talent Ignites, a campaign that ICEX is using to promote and export the country’s creativity around the globe
Bárbara Lennie trod the red carpet of Cannes’ Palais des Festivals this year as one of the cast members in Bitter Christmas, but she was also present on the Croisette as part of the Where Talent Ignites campaign, organised by ICEX’s Audiovisual From Spain (see the news), which promotes national talent abroad.
Cineuropa: You’ve been an Almodóvar girl thanks to your work in The Skin I Live In and Bitter Christmas, but you’ve also been an ICEX actress, as you have appeared in two of its short films, last year’s La causa del accidente que provocó el incendio and this year’s La Tarara.
Bárbara Lennie: And I want to continue being both things. The first short is totally bonkers, but it’s very powerful. If people you like and you enjoy working with keep calling you, then you just go for it.
Apart from that, it’s a crack team, including production company Canada.
Absolutely. Sometimes, it’s so difficult to find places where things are made possible for you… Cinema isn’t easy, whether you’re shooting features or short films, so when someone calls you up and everything is easy, you have to say yes.
This idea of exporting, of partaking in this promotion of Spanish talent all around the world, never ceases to fascinate.
Yes, when you travel the world with the films, you get a really beautiful feeling when showing what you have made to other people from different cultures – and in general, people welcome it with open arms. Folks are very interested in what’s being made here, in Spain, even though we sometimes may not believe it.
It’s a complex we’ve suffered from for a long time…
Totally. This interest in our cinema is relatively recent. When I started out, at the age of 15, shooting on 35 mm, we were light years away from this situation we’re able to enjoy now.
In La Tarara, you blend fashion with cinema: it’s a nice pairing.
And it wasn’t easy. In that regard, Canada, which I ended up filming with, handles those responsibilities very well. Because it’s quite complicated: you have to tell a story in just a few minutes while highlighting the importance of this or that aspect. It’s about making an advert that’s not only an advert, but which has an artistic identity, meaning and soul. I think they do it in a unique and talented way. It’s surprising, as fashion is slipped in poetically, and in the end, it enters into a dialogue with what’s happening and transforms the main character in a certain way.
What’s more, in this work, you once again acted alongside your colleagues from the set of Bitter Christmas, such as Milena Smit and Rossy de Palma.
Yes, we worked together again, and it’s always a pleasure. In any situation, everything is just better with Rossy there. She’s incredible, so talented…
She also exports the image of Spain abroad.
She’s probably one of those who do it the most and the best. She’s just Rossy de Palma, more than whoever she’s worked with, more than anything else. She’s whatever she wants to be, and that’s incredible: she has a knack for many things, and she capitalises on that. She has that ability to always be herself and to always be someone else.
Even though it’s a minor drama that we see portrayed in La Tarara, you can still discern a certain festive atmosphere.
It’s a total party. We had quite a good time shooting it. It was hot and it was crazy, like all night shoots, but it was fun. It was beautiful to share those moments with people I admire and love.
Much has been said about the excellent crop of Spanish movies at Cannes this year, with three features in the Official Section, but what did you make of it?
There’s a very clear interest, with many people wanting to know more and approaching you with curiosity. It’s real, not a one-off phenomenon. I’m happy about this historic moment. We always have to fight for it and be very careful it doesn’t evaporate: we have to consolidate it through a favourable pathway. It’s a beautiful thing that as a collective, we feel proud of each other; it’s much better than that traditional Spanish jealousy, as solidarity is bigger than that and is much more interesting.
Lastly, are we likely to see you in any other movies soon?
I start shooting a feature in September. I can’t wait to film and to begin a powerful creative process. I can’t talk about it yet, but it’s quite a significant change in register in terms of my career.
(Translated from Spanish)
