Use the search bar to find projects, completed films, and TFL community members.

Projects

Madre mía

A middle-aged manicurist must partner up with a frustrated writer to find her missing son before it is too late, or before they kill each other!

synopsis

On her fifty-fifth birthday, Dolores leaves her manicure salon colleagues standing with cake in hand to… go demand an explanation from her son for not even sending a WhatsApp message. When she arrives, the person who opens the door isn’t him, but Sara, forty-five years old and her son’s best friend… The two of them instantly can’t stand each other. But when Dolores is attacked in Rafa’s apartment (her son’s place), they both realise that maybe the boy isn’t just drunk at some after-party, but in danger. Since Santiago, the cop in charge of the case, doesn’t show much interest in the matter – especially because he’s busy hunting the “Grindr Ripper” – the two women have no choice but to join forces to search for Rafa… With the manicure salon as their investigation headquarters (with Dolores’ colleagues putting in their two cents), and in a search that leads these two women through gay saunas, Madrid’s BDSM world, and the Grindr universe, Dolores gradually gets to know who Rafa really is and learns to accept him. Meanwhile, suspects begin to emerge: maybe the Grindr Ripper? Or the homophobic TikTok’er whom Rafa outed? Or… perhaps Santiago, the police officer in charge? At the climax, Dolores discovers one final truth: Sara, as an act of pure friendship, is carrying Rafa’s child in her womb!

Director’statement

Wrapped as a crime story and in the tone of a dark comedy, with lots of colour, Chinese-made decorations, sequins, and latex, Madre mía talks about how difficult it is to be a middle-aged woman in an ageist society, that imposes a model of motherhood, and in which starting from scratch like Sara, or being a migrant like Dolores, can feel like an almost impossible task. It also talks about the dangers faced by the LGBTIQ+ community, with far-right movements which are increasingly present in social media, and with their leaders who incite rejection of others. That is why Madre mía also (or precisely because of this) talks about love. Many types of love. From mother to son, between friends, inter-generational love, or love of migrant communities who, despite not fitting together at all, unite forces, accept their differences and learn to love each other.

TFL PROGRAMME:
SeriesLab 2025

All the updates once a month in your mailbox, subscribe to the TFL newsletter.