In a world of turbulent uncertainty, we need hopeful films with a view of the future, that show us the obdurate human spirit in all its glory. I cannot imagine a better duo than filmmaker Maryam Touzani and veteran actress Carmen Maura to bring such a film to life.

Calle Málaga is neither naive nor hectoring in the way that it presents the conflict between mother Maria Angeles (Maura) and daughter Clara (Marta Etura) over who holds the ultimate rights to the family home in Tangier.

While Clara is indifferent to her mother’s desires and financial grasping, she in a way must be, as she has a child to support and feels progressively enclosed by the financial trappings of alimony payments and costly rent. Maria Angeles, on the other hand, is totally ingrained in the community of her small street in Tangier. For Maria Angeles, to leave Tangier and move with Clara to the Spanish suburbs would be a fate worse than death. While Clara is a woman hardened by modernity and the incumbency upon women to work, Maria Angeles remains a member of a bygone world where financial pressures rested solely with the husband.

It is through this generational conflict that Calle Málaga bears to us the revelation of hope. The threat of losing her home is what shakes Maria Angeles out of her everyday routine and demands that she rediscover her own self-sufficiency and even take a gander at new love. Meanwhile Clara is direly taxed by the dispute with her mother, and through her progressive visits to Tangier ultimately softens, remembering the comforts of home. The old cliche that through conflict we grow is completely reinvigorated by Calle Málaga—perhaps the best film at this year’s TIFF.

Feature Image: courtesy of TIFF.