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Sin pecado concebida: A War Between the Spiritual and the Sexual by Gastón Rodríguez

Gustavo R. Gallardo

The film Sin pecado concebida (2021), written and directed by Gastón Rodríguez Hernández, was presented at the 19th edition of the Morelia International Film Festival (FICM) in the Fiction Feature Film Section.

In a press conference, the director said that the film is about religion, but approached from the mother's nucleus and her relationship with her son: "For us in Mexico, the mother is too sacred, it is a very strong bond, I wanted to deal with this story because it touches me in a personal way too."

Elaborating on the film, Rodríguez Hernández says that Sin pecado concebida "is a war between the spiritual –something that cannot be seen, but is felt– and, at the same time, the physical issue of sex; it's an interesting issue within the film, how these two elements at some point collapse," and at the same time, collapse the relationship between mother and son.

Actress Marta Blanc, who plays the mother, mentioned that like in Mexico, the mother is a protective figure in Spain "and that was my greatest challenge because I am not lucky enough to be a mother (...) I come from a very strict family, I have lived as an overprotected daughter, and just like it happens with the character, by protecting the children, you end up pushing them away."

Art director Arielli Serpa said that the director conveys his message, but the film is open to many interpretations so that the audience, depending on their context, can give it the meaning they prefer: "I am from Brazil and it is like in Mexico, with a very present family, religion is very dominant, and it is curious how other cultures will have another type of interpretation."

Sin pecado concebida tells the story of a woman with aspirations to be a nun but becomes pregnant in the process. After several years away from Spain and living a quiet life in a small town in France, her mother will try to prevent her son from making the same mistake as her when an unwanted woman breaks into their home.