Irene Baqué: stories of sisterhood

From a mother gently swaddling her child to breast cancer survivors bonding over their darkest moments, bilingual Spanish filmmaker Irene Baqué sensitively crafts woman-centric scenes that resonate with universal truths. 

You don't always need an expert to talk about specific issues. You don't need a doctor, you can just talk to a girl who has anxiety.

In her documentaries and photography alike, seemingly mundane moments from everyday life are transformed into moving and nostalgic reflections on womanhood and community. They’re a celebration of the emotional and the domestic,  realms often overlooked in commercial media, yet rich with meaning and potential for human connection.

Above: a collection of Baqué's photography and behind the scenes imagery. 

"I grew up in the 90s, when taboo topics like anxiety and anorexia were always portrayed with this image of a girl in the corner of a dark room, you know, crouched over," she explains, "but real people aren’t going to feel represented by that. These issues are much closer to us than we think.”

I always have in mind that no matter what my creative ego wants, it has to be a second priority. I need to make sure that I'm protecting the person on camera.

The director's interest in capturing human stories, with a focus on identity, gender, youth culture, and social justice, developed in the early days of her six-year stint as a video journalist at liberal British periodical, The Guardian. “When you first start in a newspaper like that,” she explains, “you end up telling the stories that your editor tells you to do. But I wasn't always that interested in the stories they wanted me to cover. I started pitching ideas that excited me, and those always happened to be about women.”

Above: Baqué on set of her recent short Last Days of Summer

Earning the trust of her superiors to cover these topics, however, was a battle in itself. Only as far back as a decade ago, stories around body image, birth control, mental health or gender identity would have editors squirming in their seats, but Baqué continued to advocate for her subjects as being the most appropriate voices to share their own experiences. 

“I would have to explain to the big editors why we had to launch this film, as we were talking about these traumatic issues, from the perspective of young girls. I said you don't always need an expert to talk about specific issues. You don't need a doctor, you can just talk to a girl who has anxiety.”

But The Guardian’s journalistic format only lent itself to so much aesthetic exploration. After six years, during which time she developed an unparalleled sensitivity and sense of responsibility towards her subjects - which, she says, remains the most integral aspect of her work; “I always have in mind that no matter what my creative ego wants, it has to be a second priority. I need to make sure that I'm protecting the person on camera, because that piece is going to be online and has their face and their name on it,” Baqué eventually turned to a medium that would allow her more room to nurture her creative vision. 

 Talking about body dysmorphia in a colourful film, people will feel relieved. It’s like saying, ‘you can go through these issues and still live in a colourful world’

“I fell into the commercial world from doing branded documentaries,” she adds, “I still really enjoy that - telling stories with a small crew. It felt good to have more freedom in what I wanted to say, and how I wanted to say it”. Although her transition from journalism to commercial film was far from instant, as she explained: “I guess that took about three years. Where I had made a name for myself at The Guardian, I had a specific style of filmmaking - so it was quite hard. I remember no one would hire me.”

Her first commercial was a vibrant, soulful short for Boiler Room x Ballantine's, capturing Madrid’s reggaeton music scene. An exciting and pivotal moment in Baqué’s career, it was the first time she’d worked with a five-person crew, including a sound recorder and a DOP.

It wasn’t long later that her love for intimate female narratives and captivating visuals converged in the form of a campaign for Pandora, produced by Vice. “Those are films that people still really like today, because they were very honest and real,” she adds.

I want to make these films so women understand that we all experience the same things.

From Pandora's Sisterhood Stories to her powerful International Women's Day film Resilience Resides, Baqué delivers deeply affecting topics through reflective and gentle visuals that feel like a sisterly hug - a style which she partially owes to the books, films, and artists that have inspired her, but also a mission to contrast the cold and unrelatable ways these subjects were represented in the media while she herself was growing up. 

Infused with bright colours, vibrant textiles, and honest representations of real bodies, they offer a raw and introspective glimpse into the messy and sentimental parts of life which often go uncelebrated.  “It’s just about making topics more approachable. The moment that you portray them in a specific way, for example, talking about body dysmorphia in a colourful film, people will feel relieved. It’s like saying, ‘you can go through these issues and still live in a colourful world’.” 

Running throughout her work is an almost spiritual feeling of sisterhood, aimed at creating a sense of unity between women across the world. “I want to make these films so women understand that we all experience the same things. Obviously, some of us are more privileged than others,” she says. “But I make films about specific women in different countries, so that my friends at home can watch it and be like, ‘oh, look, same’."

It's just this manic way of working where I follow a lot of people on Instagram.

But when covering such a diverse array of characters, from retired sex workers living on a remote farm in Mexico (in her upcoming film, Perfume de Gardinias), to breast cancer survivors willing to bear all on camera, how on earth does she find her cast? Well, the internet, of course.

“It's just this manic way of working where I follow a lot of people on Instagram”, she jokes. Growing up in the golden age of Tumblr, the internet has been a continuous form of visual and conceptual inspiration for Baqué, and the spontaneity of working with non-actors is something that has always excited her.

We casted all of these women who’d had breast cancer, and they didn't know each other. What happened on the day in the studio was just so amazing.

Her powerful short film for Breast Cancer charity Think Before You Pink being an excellent case in point, which came to fruition after she reached out to the organisation through social media. “We casted all of these women who’d had breast cancer, and they didn't know each other. What happened on the day in the studio was just so amazing. There was also a really young woman, which was really shocking, as I guess that broke a lot of taboos.”

Or equally as poignant, her gorgeously-crafted and reflective short, Bare, which saw the director casting women in London directly from Instagram. “I brought them into a studio and we talked about our skin, and how it's not this perfect, smooth thing that people see on TV.” Standing in their underwear, having never met before, they openly discussed their skin's imperfections. “They’re the scars of our life, like permanent tattoos on our skin that tell the stories of our lives.”

Baqué takes inspiration from filmmakers including Alice Rohrwacher, Lucrecia Martel, and Sofia Coppolla, as well as writers such as Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie - particularly her novel, Americanah, and Elena Ferrante’s series of books My Brilliant Friend, all of which celebrate relationships and home life through whimsical, pastell vignettes or rich, elaborate descriptions, with an attention to details that can really only be attributed to female creators. 

I like to spend time on my research phase. I don't rush things. When I'm ready to tell a story, I'll find a way of applying for funding.

In her recent personal film, Can Carreras - Last Days of Summer, Baqué indulged in her favourite aspects of all of her inspirations. “This film means a lot to me, because the cast is my family. It was an exercise in taking inspiration from all of those references from directors I love, and following my intuition to make something very personal with complete creative freedom.”