Program 18: Carmen & Lola (Carmen y Lola)

In Spanish with English subtitles.

Carmen & Lola is the coming-of-age story of two young girls in the Roma (gypsy) community on the outskirts of Madrid.

17-year-old Carmen goes through the motions of her traditional gypsy life: helping with her younger siblings, selling her family’s wares at the street market, assisting her mother with chores. One day soon, she’ll get married to a boy of her parents’ choosing, have a bunch of babies, and pretty much become her mother. This is how life goes for a gypsy girl.

Until she meets 16-year-old Lola. Lola is slightly more liberated than Carmen, which Carmen finds alluring. While Lola has a mother who wants more for her than an illiterate life just like her own, her father is traditional, and eschews any attempt at education or Lola bettering herself, because why? What’s the point? When Lola and Carmen meet, the fascination is instantaneous. Lola likes birds, graffiti, and girls, and while Carmen is initially horrified, her horror doesn’t last long.

But the Roma community frowns upon homosexuality or independent women who want to make their own decisions about how they live their lives. With the exception of one understanding teacher, Carmen and Lola are on their own and find themselves up against what feels like an army. And if they want to be together, if they want better lives for themselves, they’ll need to make some tough choices and battle their way through.

~ Georgia Beers

Awards & Accolades

• Jury Award, Best First Feature: Ibero-America Competition – Guadalajara Int’l FF
• Jury Award, Cine Latino Award – Palm Springs International Film Festival
• Futurewave Youth Jury Award – Seattle International Film Festival
• Official Selection – Cannes Film Festival
• Official Selection – Milan International Lesbian and Gay Film Festival
• Official Selection – Frameline SF Int’l LGBTQ+ Film Festival
• Official Selection – Outfest LA LGBT Film Festival
• Official Selection – TIFF New Wave (Toronto)