Mar Colls Matar al padre / Killing the Father (Movistar+ 2018): a female Auteur between film and television in Spain Articles uri icon

publication date

  • October 2019

start page

  • 977

end page

  • 990

issue

  • 7

volume

  • 19

International Standard Serial Number (ISSN)

  • 1468-0777

Electronic International Standard Serial Number (EISSN)

  • 1471-5902

abstract

  • This article discusses the professional career of the Spanish screenwriter and director Mar Coll (Barcelona, 1981- ), with special focus on what is her only television series so far, Matar al Padre / Killing the Father (2018). Trained at the prestigious Escola Superior de Cinema i Audiovisuals de Catalunya, Coll debuted in 2008 with the feature film Tres dies amb la família (Three Days with the Family), for which she won the Goya Award as Best New Director. After a second feature film in 2013, Tots volem el millor per a ella (We All Want What's Best for Her), Coll received an offer to develop a series for the pay-TV platform Movistar+, which sought to make an ambitious commitment to fiction series with a strong authorial imprint as part of a brand-building strategy. It was the first time that Coll, who until then had developed her career exclusively within the framework of the independence of auteur cinema, did professional work for a media group. Studying the launch and reception of Matar al padre, the only one of the eight series released by Movistar+ during the 2017-2018 season directed by a woman, this article will consider how female authorship is articulated and perceived in Spanish contemporary television.

keywords

  • mar coll; spanish cinema and television; television authorship; television fiction; women filmmakers