Land of Ashes
(Ceniza Negra)

The first feature by Sofía Quirós Ubeda, Ceniza negra seems to be guided by a simple and patient ambition: to give full and complete meaning to the first name of her protagonist, Selva (jungle in English), a 13-year-old teenager. Between an isolated grandfather whom she loves and cares for and Helena, an elderly woman with whom she seems to a have woven a troubling sisterly relationship, Selva is in her element everywhere. Or rather she is the element, the presence that borders a world and the splendid archaic mystery of life. JB