This March, in honor of International Women’s Month, Instituto Cervantes de Manila (Intramuros branch) presents the 2026 edition of Espacio femenino, an annual film showcase highlighting cinema made by and about women. Curated by the platform Filmtopia, this year’s series delves into adolescence—a stage of transformation, uncertainty, and self-discovery—through the lens of female and diverse perspectives.
Adolescence has long been a rich terrain in cinema: a time of intensity, rupture, and beginnings. Espacio femenino 2026 approaches this period beyond clichés of romance, rebellion, or trauma, exploring the emotional depth, contradictions, and personal growth that define the journey from childhood to adulthood. These films capture moments of vulnerability and instinctive strength, portraying the negotiation with societal norms and the shaping of identity in this transitional phase.
Film Programme
Sica (Spain, 2023 – 91 min)
📅 March 3, 2:00 PM | Directed by Carla Subirana
Languages: Galician and Catalan | Not recommended for children under 7
Set against the rugged Galician coast, Sica follows a young girl navigating grief after her father disappears in a shipwreck. On her journey along the cliffs, she forms an unexpected connection with Suso, a storm-chasing boy, confronting memory, loss, and the unpredictable forces of nature.
Jone, a veces (Spain, 2025 – 87 min)
📅 March 10, 2:00 PM | Directed by Sara Fantova
Languages: Spanish and Basque | Not recommended for children under 12
In her feature debut, Sara Fantova explores identity and father-daughter dynamics amidst Bilbao’s Semana Grande festival. Jone experiences first love while facing her father’s Parkinson’s disease, marking the fragile threshold between girlhood and adulthood.
L’edat imminent (Spain, 2024 – 74 min)
📅 March 17, 2:00 PM | Directed by Colectivo Vigilia
Languages: Catalan and Spanish | Suitable for all audiences
This tender portrait examines adolescence through the bond between a grandmother and her teenage grandson. Bruno navigates youth, work, and responsibility, learning to let go as his grandmother moves to a care home, revealing the emotional weight of growing up.
Tengo sueños eléctricos (Costa Rica/France/Belgium, 2022 – 103 min)
📅 March 24, 2:00 PM | Directed by Valentina Maurel
Languages: Spanish and English | Not recommended for children under 16
Valentina Maurel’s debut feature captures the turbulence of adolescence: forbidden desires, simmering anger, and emotional rupture. Eva, caught in the crossfire of her parents’ divorce, seeks her voice, artistic ambition, and a path through the inherited tensions of her family.
This edition of Espacio femenino invites audiences to experience adolescence as a space of growth, resistance, and identity-making, portrayed through the intimate and nuanced perspectives of women filmmakers.
