In this edition of Screen’s Cannes Close-Up series of interviews, Spanish filmmaker Elena López Riera explains how the festival allows her open doors with international producers, and reveals which director she saw proposing at a party.

López Riera’s short film Pueblo and follow-up feature El Agua both premiered at Directors’ Fortnight, whilst her latest, The Southern Brides, is playing at Critics’ Week this year.

“It’s a documentary about the sexuality of older women and also about my relationship with my inheritance as a woman from the south of Spain,” says López Riera of the project.

“My producer has been arranging meetings with producers from Europe and also from the States,” adds López Riera. “This is a territory I don’t know yet. After El Agua premiered in Cannes two years ago, we had some interest from production companies from Los Angeles so we are trying to open new doors.”

Cannes Close-Up sees leading figures from the international film industry give their inside insight into their careers and navigating the Cannes Film Festival, with interviews set to run throughout the event.

Watch the full interview above.

This edition of Cannes Close-Up is sponsored by the Spanish Trade Commission ICEX.

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