Belén Funes wins the Goya for Best New Director for 'A Thief's Daughter'

In A Thief's Daughter, a former student of the ESCAC, she masterfully directs Greta Fernández in her life as a young single mother with a complicated relationship with her father.

Belén Funes has won the Goya for A thief's daughter finally prevailing over Salvador Simó Busón for Buñuel in the Labyrinth of the Turtles, Galder Gaztelu-Urrutia for EThe hole and Aritz Moreno for Advantages of traveling by train.

After the success of Arantxa Echevarría with Carmen and Lola and Carla Simón with Summer 1993, who by the way gave her the award, a woman returns to impose herself in the category of those who are making their debut in directing.

In A thief's daughter, a former student of the ESCAC, masterfully directs Greta Fernández in her life as a young single mother with a complicated relationship with her father. It was precisely to her that he dedicated the award in a concise speech.

Funes highlighted how "the story of the film has been written by a man, but based on a very female character. It has been a very hard film that comes out of the effort of many people, like all films".

The young director also wanted to underline the role of the director of photography Neus Ollé, who rolled with a ARRI Alexa Mini (in 16mm mode). "With her we have put two heads together to think about what was the best way to approach the film and be honest with the reality we portray. It was not a show for me, it was simply a portrait, a photo...", Belén Funes commented to Panorama.

The film, Shot handheld camera, marks a studied, but at the same time, fresh choreography based on how the characters move. In addition, Funes has achieved a naturalness that has convinced the Academy by dispensing with makeup, which forced them to constantly retouch their faces

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