In 2023, a group of young women in their early 20s entered a perfumery store in Bilbao, Spain, only to find themselves closely followed by several shop assistants. Not long before this incident, two sisters were stopped and subjected to a humiliating search by police officers in the changing room of a clothing store, forced to strip down to their underwear.
When the sisters asked the police why they were being searched, the officers refused to explain their actions. When they questioned whether the search was due to their Roma descent, one officer threatened to report them for accusing him of racism. But they’re no fools; Roma women understand their daily struggle while shopping: the feminine wish to be seen and the ethnic shame of being perceived.
Two months prior to these incidents, film director Lara Izagirre met Tamara Clavería, the chairwoman of the Association of Roma Women in the Basque Country (AMUGE), by chance. They immediately connected. Izagirre longed to work as a creator again after producing the internationally acclaimed film 20,000 Species of Bees.
After reading about the troubling events, Izagirre visited Clavería at AMUGE’s location in the Otxarkoaga neighborhood of Bilbao. She suggested, referring to the incidents, “I think we could do something with this.” Clavería and her colleagues enthusiastically agreed to collaborate on a story or any idea Izagirre wished to pursue. And so, Izagirre found the ordinary female heroes for her next storytelling project, which aims to be more of a distribution mechanism for civic virtue than an exercise in aesthetics.
That attitude is not without cause.
Last year, Izagirre held a casting call in the Otxarkoaga neighborhood, looking for local young talent who would realistically portray the characters in a short movie. The movie should humanize Basque Roma women and tell their shopping struggles as truthfully and realistically as possible. Instead of traditional auditions, Izagirre and actress Naira Carmona organized acting workshops in the neighborhood.
However, in an interesting twist, most Roma women who showed up at the acting workshops were from older generations. Over six months, Izagirre and Carmona trained these women in improvisational acting, ultimately leading to the creation of the documentary Empoderío. This project pushes beyond the camera frame and contributes to the overall evolution of the characters and the medium. Izagirre explores societal issues in her film through social realism and amplifies marginalized voices.
Empoderío has been funded by the Art4Change program of the La Caixa Foundation and the Basque Government (Diputación Foral de Bizkaia). It will be presented at the San Sebastián Human Rights Film Festival on April 5th at the Teatro Victoria Eugenia.
“We believe that acting training can empower these women and help them navigate life. It enhances their ability to express themselves and boosts their confidence,” says Izagirre. Many of the activities in the acting workshops involved improvisation, allowing these women to talk about their problems and experiences in a way that was both therapeutic and filled with humor—conversations they might not have had otherwise.
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Basque Roma women often experience anxiety while shopping in downtown Bilbao; even buying gifts during Christmas can be stressful. If they are identified as Roma due to their slightly darker skin, their clothing, or the way they speak, they cannot shop peacefully in most stores. Some manage to go unnoticed when alone, but when they are in a group, a security guard usually follows them. This leads to feelings of distress, harassment, and shame due to public scrutiny and stigmatization because it is not an isolated incident. They believe this treatment stems from a culture where store and security staff commonly view them as potential thieves simply because they are Roma.
This discrimination severely limits their shopping options, forcing them to form a kind of social ghetto. They avoid leaving their neighborhood in Bilbao to shop in places where they feel more comfortable and less vulnerable, opting instead for businesses whose owners know them.
For Izagirre, the acting workshops aimed to help people see these women from a different perspective. She prioritized character development with distinct motivations, desires, and flaws to portray a thought-provoking theme and build a bridge to the audience against stereotypes.
“Very often, when we form opinions about Roma women, it’s out of pure ignorance,” explains Izagirre. “When you are with them, you realize they are just like you and me. Media typically shows people of Roma descent negatively when they commit crimes or misdemeanors. I want to show them singing, laughing, acting, performing, creating stories, and having fun.”
Each session of the acting workshops and every story told can help reduce the stigma surrounding their struggles, which might otherwise feel isolating. It gives voice to and platforms for their experiences that are often overlooked.
The film explores social realism, allowing Izagirre to delve into the complexities of human nature, engage with broader social issues of stigmatization in our society, and craft a story that truly reflects the city in which they live.
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Through collaboration between the crew and the participants of the acting workshops, this documentary took a conscious position to learn together. This meant taking time for the Roma women to choose themes to improvise on, decide on characters, and determine the tone. They watched and discussed the documentary together, collectively deciding on scenes to exclude, and with laughter and joy, they expressed their excitement about seeing themselves on the screen. Izagirre’s goal with this documentary is purposeful. While social realism can take many forms, her intent with the film is to create empathy for Roma women, who may be perceived as different.
When Izagirre asks the women what they hope the documentary will achieve, most express a desire for it to inspire non-Roma women to connect with shared human experiences. They hope that the next time a non-Roma woman witnesses a troubling incident in a shop, she may stop to check on them or ask if something is wrong.
“You never know what impact a documentary might have,” Izagirre adds. “But locally, we can arrange a few screenings to raise awareness in our city, Bilbao. I believe it could also serve as an important educational resource for schools.”
The documentary Empoderío inspires a new approach to storytelling in film, emphasizing character depth and poetic social realism, where reality and fiction blend, with the hope of leaving a lasting legacy both in the city and beyond. As one Roma woman summarized at one point in the film, “I’m left wanting more; I don’t want to go back to real life.”
Watch the trailer of Empoderío
