Heroine

Heroína

2005 · Spain · 100 min

Director: Gerardo Herrero
Screenplay: Ángeles González-Sinde
Music: Lucio Godoy
Cinematography: Alfredo Mayo, Alfredo F. Mayo
Editing: Carmen Frías

Awards: Mestre Mateo Award for best supporting actor; Premio Mestre Mateo a la mejor interpretación femenina secundaria

Cast

Adriana Ozores

Javier Pereira

Carlos Blanco Vila

María Bouzas

César Cambeiro

Luís Iglesia

What it is about

Galicia, late 1980s. Drug trafficking spreads through the region and hundreds of young people fall into heroin addiction. Pilar watches her son Fito move from petty theft to more serious crimes, and decides to treat him not as one more criminal but as a sick person. Together with other mothers she founds an association and confronts the traffickers, which brings threats against her family.

How it was made

Directed by Gerardo Herrero from a screenplay by Ángeles González-Sinde, the film was shot in Vigo and Pontevedra. It is based on the figure of Carmen Avendaño, founder of the association Érguete, and the drug lord Sito, played by Cándido Pazó, is modelled on Laureano Oubiña. Lucio Godoy's score sits alongside songs by Siniestro Total and Golpes Bajos, plus a track by Antonio Vega about drug problems.

Reception and legacy

Critics were mostly negative, pointing to a lack of political depth and a somewhat stiff staging. They did agree, however, in praising Adriana Ozores's performance, which earned her a Goya nomination and a Mestre Mateo nomination. The film won two Mestre Mateo Awards, for best supporting actor and best supporting actress.