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Angela Molina: A life in cinema, a journey through memory

For Angela Molina, cinema has been less a career than a lifelong conversation with art, memory and human vulnerability. The celebrated Spanish actor and jury member of the 30th IFFK revisited this journey, spanning over five decades, during an In Conversation session with director-producer Sebastian Arvale.

Speaking with warmth and candour, Molina reflected on her formative collaborations with some of world cinema’s most iconic filmmakers. Recalling her association with Luis Buñuel when she was just 22, she described the Spanish auteur as her true mentor. Buñuel, she said, had asked to meet her to watch the rushes together, a gesture that marked the beginning of a profound personal and artistic bond. Sensitive to her personal grief at the time, he became a protective, almost grandfatherly presence in her life. Her later collaboration with Pedro Almodóvar in Carne Trémula, Molina noted, further expanded her emotional and performative range, while working with Ridley Scott left a lasting imprint on both her artistic discipline and worldview.

Turning to her recent film Polvo Serran, Molina described it as an intricate meditation on love, autonomy and the right to choose one’s own death. Music and contemporary dance, she explained, operate within the film as psychological refuge rather than ornamentation. She spoke highly of director Carlos Marquette, calling him one of the most sensitive and promising voices of his generation.

Molina also spoke of her enduring connection with India, recalling her first visit at the age of 22 and the sense of wonder the country evoked, a memory that continues to resonate decades later. The session concluded with an animated interaction with the audience, whose questions drew out further reflections, lending the conversation an intimate and contemplative close.