While speaking to Variety ahead of receiving a Donostia Career Achievement Award from the San Sebastian Film Festival, García reflected on her mixed feelings: “It is a great honor – and an enormous responsibility – for me to receive this award. This is the first time it has been given to someone who is not an actor or actress, or a director. The fact that I’ve been considered worthy of it as a producer means that all eyes are on me – on how I will explain or represent this choice.”
“I feel truly happy, yet at the same time overwhelmed by the responsibility of being the first,” she says: adding: “I entered the world of cinema almost by chance—working as a production secretary on Pedro Olea’s film, ‘Pim, pam, pum… ¡fuego!,’ back in 1975. Not even in my wildest dreams did I imagine I would find my place in this industry.”
She notes that there were no film schools during those times and that it was not even part of her life plan. All she knew was that she was fascinated by cinema, loved going to the movies, but that it felt like a world far removed from her own.
“It was during my first time on a set where I witnessed the magic that surrounds a film shoot: the way every crew member works with a certain freedom, even an organized chaos – and yet, at the call of the assistant director, they all stop and move in perfect coordination, like a ballet or an orchestra, following a single direction. From then on, I was hooked.”
She recalls that during the ’70s, women were relegated to minor positions in the production department, either as secretaries or in wardrobe, editing or script supervision, not much more. “I happened to be more naturally suited to production tasks, and I felt comfortable getting to know every member of the crew and facilitating everything related to their work. Things like contracts, registering workers with Social Security – purely organizational tasks. On that first film, I didn’t have much of a chance to explore beyond that. But the next project I worked on was the TV series ‘Curro Jiménez,’ and it was there that I truly confirmed that my calling was production – organizing, supporting the teams and the director, and making sure they had everything they needed. That’s when I decided to follow that path. And I believe I wasn’t wrong,” she says.
Her award comes as the brothers Pedro and Agustín Almodóvar mark the 40th anniversary of their El Deseo production company. She has worked closely with them since a year after they founded it, working on every single Almodóvar project since his 1986 drama “Matador” and most recently on his latest, “Bitter Christmas” (“Amarga Navidad”), now in post.
She recalls that she first met Almodóvar while he was preparing his short film “F— … F— … Fuck Me, Tim!,” Her friend Félix Rotaeta, an actor who was producing the short at the time, thought she could help get the project off the ground. “Unfortunately, as there was no funding, we met, had some conversations, but then I was called back to continue working on ‘Curro Jiménez.’ I was a single mother and needed the income, so I returned to the series,” she says.
She then joined him on “Matador” after he had already made four films. From then onward, she was involved in all of his projects up to the present day, from his iconic career-launching comedy “Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown” to his Oscar-winning dramas “All About My Mother” and “Talk to Her” and his first English-language feature, “The Room Next Door.”
It’s been a beautiful journey – at times incredibly challenging – but always a path that made me feel deeply fulfilled, because with each film with Pedro, I grew alongside him, and with each film, his ambitions and needs became greater.”
Along the way they have developed a nearly telepathic form of communication. “Working with him for so many years makes everything easier. We understand each other effortlessly. I can tell when one of his ‘yeses’ isn’t truly a yes. I immediately sense if something excites him – or doesn’t. I think that just by looking at each other, we know exactly what the other wants. And that helps a great deal,” she reflected, adding: “Beyond the purely professional or technical aspects – which Pedro has continued to master and refine over time, as have I and all those around him – there’s something deeper: a shared understanding of desires that aren’t always clearly expressed in words. Knowing each other so well makes that process of connection and interpretation much simpler.”
Her 50-year trajectory as a producer also includes collaborations with the likes of Álex de la Iglesia, Isabel Coixet, Diego Galán, Julia Solomonoff, Mónica Laguna, Belén Macías, Félix Sabroso, Salvador del Solar and Luis Ortega, among others.
She has shepherded the select third-party projects that El Deseo has boarded, which count among some of the finest films made in Spanish or from in part Spain in the last 20 years: Damian Szifron’s “Wild Tales,” Guillermo del Toro’s “The Devil’s Backbone,” Lucrecia Martel’s “Zama,” Pablo Trapero’s “The Clan” and most recently, Cannes Jury Prize winner “Sirât,” by Oliver Laxe.
“When we produce films by other directors, the first thing we look for is a script that moves us, interests us, makes us laugh—something that connects with us personally and feels like a story worth telling. Our involvement in these projects is total. At El Deseo, we approach each one in a way that ensures our spirit, our way of doing things, is always present,” she says.
“And on a personal level, beyond all those essential elements – whether the story deserves to be told, whether it moves me or makes me laugh – what I look for is the kind of relationship I’ll be able to build with that director. I want us to become a true team: honest, committed to the project, and working together to help the film grow, to help it succeed,” she adds.
Reflecting on the future of El Deseo in an industry impacted by changing viewing habits and ever-dominant streaming platforms, she reflects: “Not much has changed at its core. I mean, we’re a company that develops very few projects, and we treat each one in an artisanal way. We strive to make each film unique, dedicating exceptional time and care, with a clear intention of creating something lasting. We want the films we make to feel like ‘forever films’ – those that stay with you. And sometimes, the platforms actually help us achieve that by providing funding and making it possible to bring those kinds of projects to life.”
The 73rd San Sebastian Film Festival runs over Sept. 19-27.
Esther Garcia, Credit: Jose Haro
