Becoming Ana

Becoming Ana is a 2024 drama film directed by Marta Nieto, who also stars alongside Noa Álvarez and Nahuel Pérez Biscayart.

Plot

The plot follows the plight of museum guard Ana, who needs to learn to grapple with her 8-year-old child Son's exploration of self-identity and trans youth.

Production

Nieto first began to develop the project for her feature film debut in 2019 within the Spanish Film Academy's 'Residencias Academia de Cine' program. As a part of the process, she wrote and directed the short film Son, which screened at the Seminci and LesGaiCineMad. She then joined forces with Beatriz Herzog to write a "bigger, more complex" film. The film is an Elastica and Avalon co-production with Mr Fields and Friends Cinema and Studiocanal, with the participation of RTVE, Movistar Plus+, and À Punt and the backing from Ayuntamiento de Madrid, the Madrid regional administration, ICAA and. served as director of photography. Shooting locations included Madrid.

Release

The film had its world premiere at the 69th Valladolid International Film Festival on 21 October 2024, in competition for the Golden Spike. Distributed by Elastica Films, it was scheduled to be released theatrically in Spain on 13 December 2024. The release date was later set for 10 January 2025.

Reception

of El País wrote that "the uneveness of the situations is constant in a work that is as ambitious as it is difficult to crystallize".
Pere Vall of Fotogramas rated the film 4 out of 5 stars, billing it as a "a film with strong social and sociological overtones, but which does not rule out a foray into fantasy".
Philipp Engel of Cinemanía rated Becoming Ana 3 out of 5 stars, declaring it "a film that makes a virtue of modesty", "although it runs the risk of seeming too self-absorbed".