The daughter of street vendors eking out a living on the outskirts of Madrid, bombshell Carmen (Rosy Rodriguez) would never think to question the norms of her deeply religious, and highly marginalized, Roma community. Hemmed in by both a suffocating local patriarchy and larger anti-Roma prejudice, her life is shaping up to be one of early marriage and motherhood with a young man no less traditionalist than her father, with the remainder of her years spent cleaning house and cooking, with maybe even a small hairdressing job on the side. (“School stuff! Book stuff! But no wedding plans here!” barks her father as he balks at Carmen’s ideas about her future.) But when she unexpectedly crosses paths with thoughtful, rebellious graffiti artist Lola (Zaira Romero), who is also quietly pushing against the restrictions of their shared neighborhood, the pair find themselves caught between the electricity of first love and the harsh realities of navigating two hostile worlds, leading to a powerful moment of reckoning. Enriched with exuberant music performed by actual Roma musicians from the Madrid area, this is a smart, lively, and sexy debut feature from writer/director Arantxa Echevarria.

— Hebe Tabachnik

Director Biography 
Arantxa Echevarria is a Spanish production manager, director, and writer, whose short films and documentaries have played at international film festivals and whose De noche y de pronto (2013) was nominated for Best Fiction Short at the 28th edition of the Goya Awards. From an early age, Echevarria was fascinated by film and went on to study audiovisual communication; her first short film Panchito (2010) merely fueled her love for storytelling. Carmen & Lola, her debut feature film, premiered internationally in 2018.

Sponsored by Accion Cultural Española, Greater Seattle Business Association , Honorary Consulate of Spain in Seattle, The Tourist Office of Spain