A los libros y a las mujeres canto

A los libros y a las mujeres canto (To Books and Women I Sing) is titled after a cleverly rewritten quote from Virgil. This bold opening gesture already announces what lies at the heart of the film: the civilising role of women and literature.

María Elorza's first feature is structured around four portraits of women and their libraries (containing more than books). While there is much admiration in the director’s gaze, this documentary is the opposite of the heroic-epic narratives so characteristic of a male-centred culture: the director wants to give voice to (and sing with) the kinds of characters and stories that often remain at the margins of literature and cinema – while paying homage to the earthiness of these spirited women.

This is a film notable for its conscious anti-grandiosity: humble, playful, curious, complicit, and very affectionate. A los libros y a las mujeres canto combines interviews, archival material, photos, paintings, home movies, witty intertitles, song and film extracts. With this array of materials, Elorza interweaves a dialogue between film and literature, and between different generations of women. Founded on the belief that “literature doesn’t belong only to scholars or enlightened people”, this is a documentary where passion, commitment, preservation and transmission matter more than genius.

– Cristina Álvarez López