Arriving in commercial cinemas this week, the feature-length fiction debut “El agua nunca dolió” brings a San Juan childhood shaped by physical immobility to the big screen, exploring a 2001 horse-riding accident through the unsparing lens of humor rather than victimhood.
Written by Ana Clara Bustelo and Valentina Wiens, and directed by Bustelo, the indie project is produced by Pez Dorado Compañía Creativa alongside co-producers La Mayor Cine from Uruguay and Intropía Media from Spain. Following a world premiere at Mar del Plata’s Fuera de Campo festival, the film lands in San Juan theaters ahead of a national rollout across INCAA spaces.
The Bottom Line
- The film centers on Juana, a nine-year-old in a wheelchair recovering during the 2001 economic crisis.
- Production involved a hybrid, collaborative framework uniting San Juan talent with key creative heads from Buenos Aires and Córdoba.
- Screenings span Cinemacenter San Juan through November 18, followed by a scheduled December 10 premiere at Buenos Aires’ Cine Gaumont.
From a Personal Trauma to Collective Fiction
“The project arose from a personal experience, it was a bit like reconstructing those memories of what I had lived and the things that had happened, through fiction that has that so magical power to invite us to build other possible worlds,” Bustelo told Filo News.
The narrative draws directly from Bustelo’s own life at age nine, when a riding accident left her immobilized for nearly two years. Rather than leaning into solemnity, the film foregrounds Juana’s distinct personality and comedic timing.
“It surprised me a lot that they laughed,” Bustelo told Filo News regarding audience reactions, noting that a young wheelchair user felt uniquely represented because the film avoided pity.
Staging Childhood from a Lower Perspective
To capture Juana’s literal and figurative vantage point, the camera remains strictly at her eye level, cropping out adult faces and bodies to keep them largely out of frame. This visual restriction forces an intense focus on direct physical expressions.
A sophisticated sound design reinforces the aesthetic, born directly from the director’s own sensory memories of extended immobility. “As I couldn’t see what was happening, I listened a lot, like I developed my hearing a lot,” Bustelo told Filo News, describing how the film constructs a vast auditory off-screen space.
The story unfolds against the stark backdrop of Argentina’s 2001 crisis, marked by empty hospitals and scarce resources. For the director, completing the project offered unexpected personal closure, allowing her to revisit childhood memories and emotionally process the trauma.
Building Independent Cinema From the Provinces
Developing the feature from San Juan required overcoming years of funding hurdles, including the Raymundo Gleyzer contest, INCAA support, Uruguay's ACAU, and international development funds. “The path has been very long to get here, I think it is something that in general in Argentine cinema, especially in the provinces, we live when being far from some possibilities that are perhaps faster, it takes another time,” Bustelo told Filo News.
The production relied on a hybrid crew pairing local San Juan actors—such as Máxima Moral Fernández, Celina Carrascosa, Martín Aguado, Gema Zevallos, and José Annechini—with technical leads from Córdoba and Buenos Aires. This cross-regional collaboration deliberately flattened traditional set hierarchies.
“It became super horizontal the film in that sense, and I think it is the cinema we believe in, we believe that today in this so complex moment it is fundamental these schemes that allow us to build collectively,” Bustelo told Filo News.
| Screening Milestone | Location | Dates |
|---|---|---|
| San Juan Theatrical Run | Cinemacenter San Juan | November 13–18 |
| Federal Circuit | INCAA Spaces Nationwide | Beginning November 13 |
| Buenos Aires Premiere | Cine Gaumont | December 10 |
