Catalan filmmaker Pere Vilà Barceló talks about rape in “When a River Becomes the Sea.” But he never, ever intended to show it.
“We’re focusing on trauma and the process of healing. It’s a long and complex journey that many women shared with us in great detail – sometimes even more so than the assault itself,” he tells Variety.
Premiering at Karlovy Vary Film Festival, his intimate drama is about “moments that don’t appear in news headlines,” he explains.
“It explores the margins of the emotional, psychological and social aftermath that often remains invisible. For us, this wasn’t only a cinematic choice. It was a matter of respect.”
He adds: “We even shot a courtroom scene but chose to leave it out to avoid re-victimization and any sense of voyeurism or sensationalism. Many survivors describe the judicial process as a second assault, since they often face institutional violence as well. Being doubted, retraumatized or treated without sensitivity.”
That’s what happens to Gaia as well. The young archaeology student – played by Claud Hernández – is unable to speak about what happened to her for the longest time. When she finally reveals her boyfriend assaulted her, she’s met with doubt and dismissal.
“It’s something I’ve heard again and again. Victims are doubted, isolated and dismissed, while the aggressor goes on with his life as if nothing happened, without even being fully aware of the harm he has caused,” observes the director.
“This points to a lack of education, and to the fact that both men and women are raised within a patriarchal society. That’s also why I wanted to introduce this archaeological concept – not just as a metaphor, but as a scientific and evolutionary approach. The professor explores historical roots of patriarchy: when did it begin, how did it take shape and who enforced it?”
Produced by Xavier Pérez Díaz for Fromzerocinema, “When a River Becomes the Sea” is “not just a film,” says Vilà Barceló, but a project “rooted in social activism and awareness.” One that allowed him to connect with several associations of survivors of gender-based violence.
“These collaborations have helped us bring visibility to their voices and their message,” he says, mentioning testimonies of more than 100 women who have experienced physical and psychological violence, as well as insights from psychologists specialized in the field.
“I’m also working on a series of documentary pieces, including interviews and reports, that – together with the film – can serve as educational and pedagogical tools to foster reflection and awareness.”
The whole project started eight years ago, when he was leading a filmmaking workshop at a high school in his hometown.
“When it came to decide the subject of the short film the students would make, someone suggested addressing sexual abuse. Some of the young girls – just 14 or 15 years old – began to share personal experiences of abuse they’d gone through. It deeply affected me.”
He wanted to better understand the issue.
“I started conducting interviews with the survivors of all ages. It has not only changed the way I see the world; it has changed me, profoundly. As a person, as a filmmaker, I carry these stories with me.”
At one point in the film, desperate and confused, Gaia wonders: “Is it always going to be like this?”
“It’s not just a moment of despair – it’s a moment of disorientation. She no longer recognizes herself. She doesn’t understand the person she has become, or why someone, against her will, has forced this change upon her,” he says about the scene.
“I remember one interview with a 14-year-old girl who gave a powerful description of how she felt. She said: ‘It’s like someone unzipped me, took everything out, scrambled it all up, then stuffed it all back inside and zipped me up again.’ When Gaia asks that question, what she’s really asking is: ‘Will I ever go back to who I was?’ And sadly, the answer is no.”
Instead, she’ll go through a painful process that’ll “lead her to become someone else, with a deeper understanding of herself.” And she’ll do it with the help of her father (Àlex Brendemühl), even though he feels helpless at first.
“Her father finds himself unable to communicate with someone he’s known since the day she was born. He has no idea how to reach her. She enters a new emotional code that neither he, nor most of the people around her, are equipped to understand. They haven’t been taught how to process or recognize certain emotions.”
Vilà Barceló couldn’t ignore the fact that sexual violence also “profoundly affects the fathers, brothers and partners of many women.”
“That’s why it felt essential to focus on his ongoing effort, his struggle to understand something that, to him, was unimaginable,” he notes, intending to portray the kind of masculinity “that’s not toxic, but compassionate.”
“Most people are not prepared, or sometimes not even willing, to face situations like the one portrayed in the film. Her father, despite not having that emotional education, chooses to look directly at his daughter and stay by her side. His presence is quiet, but for me, that’s a powerful gesture.”
He says: “Men also need to be a part of the struggle for equality and that starts with caring for the people we love. This is an issue that should affect all of us, regardless of gender.”