Paz Vega is solidifying her career as a director with Ana no, her second film after Rita (2024). The new project, presented at the Cannes Film Festival, is set in Francoist Spain of the 1960s and focuses on the story of a woman from Almería.
The film adapts a novel by Agustín Gómez Arcos and features Ángela Molina in the lead role. According to Vega, the plot narrates the final journey of a mother from Almería to prison to give her son a last embrace, a journey that is both a path towards her own death and a process of self-discovery.
“"It's a journey towards her death, but also of light and self-discovery. I connected deeply with the novel because it's about a mother who gives everything. The strength we mothers have moves me greatly."
Vega highlighted her connection to the novel for its portrayal of maternal strength and for focusing on an elderly woman, a character often invisible in contemporary society. The choice of Almería as the main setting underscores the story's connection to a land marked by resilience and the capacity to evoke emotion from the everyday.
In addition to Ana no, Vega has another project in development titled Hadas, which will explore the relationship between siblings and unfulfilled dreams, set in the 1990s. The filmmaker prefers to set her stories in past eras, arguing that current technology detracts from the 'soul' of narratives.
On a personal level, Vega is navigating a transitional period marked by her separation from Orson Salazar, the father of her children, and finds stability in cinema to focus on her work and build a filmography with its own identity.
