WITHOUT MEN

Director: Gabriela Tagliavini
Year:  2011
Duration:  86 min.
Country:  United States United States
Screenplay:  Gabriela Tagliavini (Novel: James Canon)
Music:  Carlo Siliotto
Photography:  Andrew Strahorn
Distribution:  Eva Longoria, Christian Slater, Kate del Castillo, Oscar Nuñez, María Conchita Alonso, Paul Rodríguez, Judy Reyes, Mónica Huarte, Fernanda Romero, Guillermo Díaz, Yvette Yates
Producer:  Indalo Productions / Venus Films
Genre: Romantic comedy. Magical realism. Homosexuality
​
Described as a "comedy with magical realism", Without Men, arises from a  adaptation of the well-known novel "The village of the widows", by the Colombian writer James Cañón.  It had its pre-premiere at the Los Angeles Latino Film Festival (Laliff).
 
Without men  takes place in a remote Latin American jungle (filmed in Santa Barbara, California) and  tells the adventures of a group of women who are forced to fend for themselves after their men have been recruited to participate in the guerrilla.
 
The women take over the town, Rosalba (Eva Longoria) leads a group of women who fend for themselves when their men leave.  This situation will force the females to play male roles and, in some cases, even fall in love with each other, as happens with the characters of Cleotilde (Kate Del Castillo) and Rosalba.  
 
Of the only two men left in the town, one serves as a priest (Óscar Núñez) who breaks his vows of chastity due to the situation in the town and the second is a young man named Julio (played by Bolivian Reynaldo Pacheco) to the which women disguise to avoid their recruitment.
​
The beautiful and always sensual María Conchita Alonso represents Lucrecia, the owner of the town's brothel where she must teach women to satisfy themselves.  Virgelina (Yvette Yates) plays the virginal daughter of Lucrecia.
​
"I teach women how to give pleasure to men and to pleasure themselves since men are not there," says Alonso about the film.
​
When the men, accompanied by an American journalist, Gordon (Christian Slater)  they return and claim power, a battle of the sexes breaks out. Through humor and fantasy, the story not only introduces us to a world of magical realism, but also touches on important issues such as identity and the role of women in society, always in a comedy tone.
​
The interesting thing about the movie is that  It is not associated with stereotypes of Latin women, but rather emphasizes "the strength of women" in a story about female power, marinated with some lesbian scenes.
​
Speaking of female power in the film industry, and no longer in an unknown town plagued by the guerrillas, the director of the film believes that although Hispanic actresses have witnessed a change in perception about themselves, "there is still much to do "at the production and management level.
​