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Return to Hansala (Spanish: Retorno a Hansala) is a 2008 Spanish film directed by Chus Gutiérrez which stars Farah Hamed and José Luis García Pérez. It won the Golden Pyramid Award at the 32nd Cairo International Film Festival and was also screened at the 2008 Dubai International Film Festival.

Plot

At the beginning of this decade the bodies of eleven young Moroccan immigrants who were trying to cross the Strait of Gibraltar appeared on the beaches of Rota. From their clothes, it was discovered that they all came from the same village, Hansala. The film tries to portray that event through the eyes of Martín, a funeral parlor owner who tries to make money on their deaths, and Leila, the sister of one of the dead boys. Together, they adventure into trying to repatriate the boy's body by van and live an intense moral experience that will lead them to question their beliefs.

The film begins with several bodies washing up on the Spanish shore, Playa de Getares, near the coastal town of Algeciras. One of them is the younger brother of Leila, a refugee living in the town. She had encouraged him to risk the boat crossing to Spain, against their family's wishes. After identifying her brother, Leila decides to repatriate his body, and face the wrath of her parents. Teaming up with a Spanish undertaker Martin, the pair embark on the hazardous trip to Leila's mountain village of Hansala in the Moroccan countryside. Leila's most fundamental beliefs are challenged, as she must face her family, and their grief, anger and love. Martin meanwhile is surprised by his welcome in the village. Director Chus Gutiérrez presents with great sensitivity the opposing viewpoints of her main protagonists, artfully, contrasting the lives of rich and poor, separated by only a few hundred miles.

Cast

• Farah Hamed [ca] as Leila
• José Luis García Pérez as Martín
• Adam Bounnouacha as Said
• Antonio de la Torre as Antonio
• Cuca Escribano [es] as Carmen
• Antonio Dechent as Manolo
• César Vea as Cirilo
• Miguel Alcíbar [es] as Pepe

Production

The film was produced by Maestranza Films and Muac Films. Shooting locations included Algeciras and Los Barrios. It was shot in Spanish, Arabic and Berber.

Release

The film premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival in September 2008. Its festival run also included Tangier, the Seville European Film Festival, the Valladolid International Film Festival (Seminci), and the 32nd Cairo International Film Festival, among others. It was theatrically released in Spain in 2009.

Awards

See also

• List of Spanish films of 2009

References

1. Boris Tarre, Marta (2016). "Sujetos itinerantes y relaciones bidireccionales centro-periféricas en Retorno a Hansala (2008) de Chus Gutiérrez ante un contexto migratorio peninsular actual de una crisis económica" (PDF). CIEHL. 23: 67.
2. Boris Tarre 2016, p. 67.
3. ^ "Retorno a Hansala / 7 alcantarillas". Cineteca Nacional Mexico. Retrieved 17 July 2022.
4. Colmeiro & Gabilondo 2016, p. 88.
5. "El festival de Toronto proyecta el filme que Chus Gutiérrez rodó en la comarca". Europa Sur. 5 September 2008.
6. Corte, Manuela de la (2 April 2009). "En Hansala tienen algo que hemos perdido: el saber estar en la vida". Granada Hoy.
7. Knoerrich Aldabo, Isabel (2011). "Retorno a Hansala. Migración entre naciones y regiones". Nation und Region: zur Aktualität intrakultureller Prozesse in der globalen Romania. LIT Verlag Münster. pp. 75–76. ISBN 978-3-643-10578-3.
8. "El drama de la inmigración irrumpe con 'Retorno a Hansala'". El Correo de Andalucía. 15 September 2009.
9. Colmeiro, José; Gabilondo, Joseba (2016). "Negotiating the Local and the Global: Andalusia, the Basque Country, and Galicia". In Labanyi, Jo; Pavlović, Tatjana (eds.). A Companion to Spanish Cinema. Wiley Blackwell. p. 88. ISBN 978-1-4051-9438-9.
10. "Retorno a Hansala » Premios Goya 2022".

• African Film Festival of Cordoba-FCAT (license CC BY-SA-3.0)
• Return to Hansala at IMDb

• 2008 films
• Films set in Andalusia
• Spanish drama films
• Films about immigration to Spain
• Films shot in the province of Cádiz
• Maestranza Films films
• 2000s Spanish films