Josefina Molina
| Josefina Molina Reig | |
|---|---|
| Born |
14 November 1936 Andalucía, Spain |
| Nationality | Spanish |
| Occupation | Film director, screenwriter |
| Years active | 1966-1998 |
| Website | http://www.josefinamolina.es/ |
Josefina Molina Reig (born in Cordoba, November 14, 1936) is a Spanish feature film director, screenwriter, TV producer and scene director. She was one of the first female directors in Spain and is also known for directing such notable feature films as Función de noche (1981) and Esquilache (1988), as well as the television series Teresa of Jesus (1984).Esquilache was entered into the 39th Berlin International Film Festival.Teresa de Jesús won several awards, including the Antena de Oro (1984), and the TP de Oro (1985, Best National Series).
Josefina Molina was born in 1936 in Cordoba, Spain, in to a middle class family. Her father was a Cordovan shopkeeper who traded in shoes and drugstore products. Her mother was a Catalan woman in charge of the housework and child care. The family business was very successful and despite the economic postwar difficulties she did not suffer any kind of deprivation.
Thanks to her parents stable financial situation, little Josefina was able to attend prestigious schools in Cordoba such as Hermanos de la Salle, where she was taught how to write and basic mathematics or Escolapias de Santa Victoria, where she finished high school.
She finished high school in 1969 and had the possibility to access Baccalaureate because her family belonged to the merchant bourgeoisie. In this way, Josefina decided to make the most of the academic education (mainly because her mother's determination) which her parents were able to offer her.
Her first contact with the world of cinema took place in the exhibition hall of her hometown, where her parents used to take her on Sunday afternoon. In addition, she also had a great love of reading and due to that, at the early age of thirteen, she discovered such important literary work as Episodios Nacionales (National Episodes) by Galdós (1843 - 1920). This collection of novels decisively influenced Josefina's vocation as a narrator, as well as her pronounced tendency towards realism. However, it was not until she was fifteen years old when Josefina saw the movie El río (The River) by Jean Renoir (1951), that her keen interest in telling stories through films awoke.
In her youth, she enthusiastically joined several groups of Cordovan intellectuals, all encouraged by artistic curiosity. She regularly attended projections and discussions organized by the Cineclub Senda (Senda Film Club) and Cineclub del Círculo de la Amistad (Circle of Friendship Film Club). She also attended the Círculo Juan XXIII (Juan XXIII Circle), the gathering place for the most progressive Cordovan youth during the Franco dictatorship. There she established the basis of the theatre group Teatro Ensayo Medea. Driven by a bold feminist spirit, it was leading this group that she worked for the first time as a theatre director, bringing on stage Casa de Muñecas (Dollhouse), from the Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen (1828-1906). The first night of this play, which took place at the Salón Liceo del Círculo de la Amistad (Friendship Circle Lyceum Hall), was a resounding failure, both because of the poor conditions of the building and because the audience was simply not prepared for this kind of play. The message expressed by Ibsen was way too forward-looking and direct to be easily understood.
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