The director’s debut film competes with seven other films in the official section
The Canarian actress Aïda Ballmann participates in the premiere of the film L’Àvia y el Foraster (The Grandmother and the Stranger; 2024/Aire de Cinema, Alhena Production/Spain/116′), at the Alicante International Film Festival, which celebrates its 21st edition. The debut feature by director Sergi Miralles is presented for the first time to the public at the Kinépolis theater this Thursday, May 23, after passing through the Spanish Screenings Content promotion section in the industry area of the Malaga Festival, MAFIZ, last March. The film competes with seven other films in the official section of the Alicante film festival.
Ballmann is part of a cast headed by Carles Francino, Neus Agulló and Kandarp Mehta, in the leading roles, along with Maria Maroto, Empar Ferrer, Manuel Cancharl, Amparo Oltra, Isabel Rocatti, Rosa Epós, Estela Martínez and Jordi Ballester, among others. Shot in June and July 2023 in Algar de Palància (Valencia), the film featured Víctor Entrecanales in photography. The production has the participation of À Punt, 3 Cat and Radio Televisión Española.
With a script by Mila Luengo, María Mínguez and Sergi Miralles, this dramatic comedy talks abaut Enric, who, in the midst of a life crisis, returns to the town to attend his grandmother’s funeral. There he discovers the relationship that Teresa, a dressmaker by profession, had with Samir, the Pakistani fruit seller, who is actually a great tailor who had to emigrate from his country. Ballmann plays Julia, Enric’s wife. Since Julia has not been able to travel to accompany him, they keep in touch virtually. Her intention to support him is disturbed by Enric’s crisis, which affects their relationship.
The actress, born in El Hierro to German parents, says that “when reading the script, I immediately felt identified with one of the main themes of this film: being a stranger in the eyes of others in a place you choose to live, regardless of how long you have been there.” During her childhood, her physique – different from the common one – made her integration difficult. “I wanted to be normal, like the rest,” she emphasizes.
That is why she is so interested in “prejudices being talked about in fiction; I believe that human beings are all equal, regardless of our cultures, religions, beliefs or skin color. I would love for us to feel at home wherever we choose to live. However, the fear the unknown and whom is diffrent contributes to a rejection attitude, even racism or xenophobia, towards those who come from outside.”
Strengthened by the different roots that nourish her, genetics and the environment of her childhood, and by “the cultural mix that has defined me as a person,” the actress is convinced of the need to “review our beliefs; If we don’t do it, we miss out on many opportunities to get to know others, who could also give us something new and different and, in some way, enrich us.” Her role also allows her to reflect on the power of love and its ability to mutually strengthen people who truly love each other, even in the midst of difficulties.
Aïda Ballmann
Aïda Ballmann could recently be seen in the series Operación Barrio Inglés, on La 1, season now available on Rtveplay. In this period series about the network of spies in Huelva in the Second World War, she plays Miss Eva, an English double agent, but a Nazi. Regarding this experience, she has commented that “this character allowed me to be mysterious and ambiguous, to reveal, but not completely, to always leave a question in the air and, above all, not to reveal what I may be feeling or thinking… When Miss Eva appeared in the plot took a new direction and I liked that because, although it had few appearances, they were definitive for the direction of the story.”
Ballmann trained as a text actress in Gijón, Seville, Barcelona, Madrid and Germany with Stanislavski and Meisner techniques. She worked for several years as a specialist and theater actress, before turning to the seventh art. She debuted as the protagonist in the film shot in English The extraordinary tale, by Laura Alvea and José Ortuño. Spanish and international feature films followed, including: La velocidad de nuestros pensamientos, from Nacho Chueca; Die Insel, de Lars Ostmann; El gigante y la sirena, from Roberto Chinet; Atlánticas, from Guillermo García López, Los europeos, from Víctor García León; Gleich, from Jennifer Castañeda; La metamorfosis, from Narciso de Hamed Alizadeh, in addition to this latest foray directed by Sergi Miralles that is presented in Alicante.
She has also participated in successful series. In addition to Operación Barrio Inglés, stand out Una vida menos en Canarias, Endlich Witwer, Crossfire, Lo que escondían sus ojos, El tiempo entre costuras, Águila roja, Brigada de fenómenos and Malviviendo. For her acting work, she has received four awards as best actress in Film Bizarro (2013), Cardiff International Film Festival (2014), Festivalito (2015) and Leoncio Morales (2017), she has several nominations, including the Association of Film Writers of Andalusia (ASECAN, 2014) and at the Vienna International Film Awards (VIFA, 2022), and excellent reviews in magazines such as Hollywood Reporter.
Recently, apart from having returned to the stage with Recetas para el alma, by La carbonería de la Lola, she has expanded her experience as a director with her debut feature, the documentary Sand Path, which has visited more than 40 festivals.
