David Farnor | On 16, May 2019

Elisa & Marcela, Netflix’s new film about a forbidden love in Spain, arrives this June, and a new trailer gives us our first glimpse of the black-and-white romance.

Based on true events, the film is set in Galicia, 1901, and follows Elisa Sánchez Loriga, who adopted a male identity to marry another woman, Marcela Gracia Ibeas, marking the first same-sex marriage in Spain. Elisa and Marcela meet at the school where they both work. What begins as a close friendship ends in a romantic relationship that they must keep secret. Marcela’s parents are suspicious and send her abroad for a couple of years. When she returns, the reunion with Elisa is magical and they decide to share a life together. Now the focus of social pressure and gossip, they decide to map out a plan. Elisa will leave town for a time in order to come back disguised as Mario and be able to marry Marcela. But nothing will be that easy for this forbidden love.

The film stars two-time Goya award-winner Natalia de Molina (Kiki, Love to Love, Food and Shelter), Greta Fernández (Sunday’s Illness, Amar), Tamar Novas (The Sea Inside, Broken Embraces), Sara Casasnovas, María Pujalte (It’s for Your Own Good, Los misterios de Laura), Francesc Orella (Mirage, Merlí), Manolo Solo (The Fury of a Patient Man, The Plague) and Lluís Homar (Broken Embraces, Julia’s Eyes). It is directed by Isabel Coixet (The Bookshop) and premieres on Netflix on 7th June. Here’s the trailer:

 

Elisa & Marcela is available on Netflix UK, as part of an £9.99 monthly subscription.

 

Netflix delves into Spanish history for Elisa & Marcela

10th May 2018

Netflix is delving into Spanish history for its third Spanish original film, Elisa & Marcela.

After receiving international critical acclaim for her award-winning The Bookshop last year, director Isabel Coixet embarks on a project in development for over 10 years that tells the story of the first homosexual marriage ever registered in Spain.

In 1885, Elisa and Marcela meet at the school where they both work. What begins as a close friendship ends in a romantic relationship that they must keep secret. Marcela’s parents are suspicious and send her abroad for a couple of years. When she returns, the reunion with Elisa is magical and they decide to share a life together. Now the focus of social pressure and gossip, they decide to map out a plan. Elisa will leave town for a time in order to come back disguised as Mario and be able to marry Marcela. But nothing will be that easy for this forbidden love.

Shot in black and white between Catalonia and Galicia, the film stars two-time Goya award-winner Natalia de Molina (Kiki, Love to Love, Food and Shelter), Greta Fernández (Sunday’s Illness, Amar), Tamar Novas (The Sea Inside, Broken Embraces), Sara Casasnovas, María Pujalte (It’s for Your Own Good, Los misterios de Laura), Francesc Orella (Mirage, Merlí), Manolo Solo (The Fury of a Patient Man, The Plague) and Lluís Homar (Broken Embraces, Julia’s Eyes), amongst others. It is produced by Rodar y Rodar (The Orphanage, Julia’s Eyes) in association with Film Factory.

“Elisa & Marcela is a project that I have dreamt about, imagined and had the desire to develop for a very long time,” says Coixet. When I discovered the story of these two women that challenged not only society but the Church and conventionalism with such bravery and incredible passion at the time, I knew it was a story I wanted and needed to tell.”

Elisa y Marcela will be released globally only on Netflix in 2019.

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