# Schoolgirls (film)

Schoolgirls (also known as The Girls; Spanish: Las niñas) is a 2020 Spanish coming-of-age drama film written and directed by Pilar Palomero, starring Andrea Fandos and Natalia de Molina.
The film won the Goya Award for Best Film, along with Best New Director and Best Original Screenplay for Palomero, and Best Cinematography for Daniela Cajías, from a total of nine nominations, at the 35th Goya Awards. Cajías became the first woman to win the Cinematography Goya. At the 8th Feroz Awards, the film won Best Drama Film, Best Director and Best Screenplay from a total of six nominations.

## Plot

Celia, an 11-year-old girl, studies at a nuns' school in Zaragoza in 1992. Celia is a good girl: a responsible student and a considerate daughter. The arrival of a new classmate opens a small window through which Celia discovers a whole new world. Together with her new friend and some older girls, Celia enters a new stage of her life: adolescence, a period of firsts. She feels the need to experiment, try new things, and stop being a little girl, even if that entails confronting her mother and everything that once meant comfort and security.

## Cast

* Andrea Fandos as Celia
* Natalia de Molina as Adela
* Zoe Arnao as Brisa
* Julia Sierra as Cristina
* Francesca Piñón as Madre Consuelo
* Ainara Nieto as Clara
* Elisa Martínez as Leyre
* Carlota Gurpegui as Vanessa

## Production

The film is an Inicia Films (Valérie Delpierre) and BTeam Prods (Alex Lafuente) production, with the participation of RTVE, TVC, Televisión de Aragón, and Movistar+, and backing from ICAA and ICEC. It boasted a €1.2 million budget.

## Release

The film premiered in the 'Generation K Plus' section of the 70th Berlin International Film Festival in February 2020. Its festival run also included screenings at the Brussels International Film Festival (winning the Jury Prize in Directors' Week), and the 23rd Málaga Film Festival (winning the Golden Biznaga). Distributed by BTeam Pictures, Schoolgirls was released theatrically in Spain on 4 September 2020.

## Reception

Schoolgirls holds a 90% approval rating on review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes based on 10 reviews, with an average rating of 8.1/10.

## Awards

| Awards | Category | Nominated | Result |
| Forqué Awards | Best Fiction Picture | Best Fiction Picture | Won |
| Forqué Awards | Best Actress | Andrea Fandos | Nominated |
| Forqué Awards | Cinema and Education in Values | Cinema and Education in Values | Nominated |
| Feroz Awards | Best Drama Film | Best Drama Film | Won |
| Feroz Awards | Best Trailer | Best Trailer | Nominated |
| Feroz Awards | Best Director | Pilar Palomero | Won |
| Feroz Awards | Best Screenplay | Pilar Palomero | Won |
| Feroz Awards | Best Actress | Andrea Fandos | Nominated |
| Feroz Awards | Best Supporting Actress | Natalia de Molina | Nominated |
| Goya Awards | Best Film | Best Film | Won |
| Goya Awards | Best New Director | Pilar Palomero | Won |
| Goya Awards | Best Original Screenplay | Pilar Palomero | Won |
| Goya Awards | Best Supporting Actress | Natalia de Molina | Nominated |
| Goya Awards | Best Cinematography | Daniela Cajías | Won |
| Goya Awards | Best Editing | Sofia Escudé | Nominated |
| Goya Awards | Best Art Direction | Mónica Bernuy | Nominated |
| Goya Awards | Best Costume Design | Arantxa Ezquerro | Nominated |
| Goya Awards | Best Original Song | "Lunas de papel" by Carlos Naya | Nominated |
| Ariel Awards | Best Ibero-American Film | Best Ibero-American Film | Nominated |
| Platino Awards | Best Ibero-American Film | Best Ibero-American Film | Nominated |
| Platino Awards | Best Ibero-American Debut Film | Pilar Palomero | Won |
| Platino Awards | Best Screenplay | Pilar Palomero | Nominated |
| Platino Awards | Best Cinematography | Daniela Cajías | Nominated |
| Platino Awards | Best Editing | Sofia Escudé | Nominated |
| Platino Awards | Best Art Direction | Mónica Bernuy | Nominated |