New Film ‘Islas’ Premieres After Tenerife Shoot
‘Islas’ is the title of the new feature film directed by Argentine filmmaker Marina Seresesky, who is based in Spain, and marks the return to the big screen for actress and singer Ana Belén. The film was shot entirely in Tenerife and premiered in cinemas last Friday, 27 February.
A Story of Past and Present
The film tells the story of Amparo (Ana Belén), an actress who now lives her intense life only in the past. When she decides to put a melodramatic end to so many memories in a hotel that is also not what it used to be, she meets a young man (Manuel Vega) with whom she begins to forge an unexpectedly deep relationship.
Filming in Puerto de la Cruz
This production is by E-media Canary, in association with AF Films, Match Point, Meridional Producciones and BTF Media, with Frank Ariza, Félix Rodríguez and Álvaro Lavín serving as executive producers. Filming took place between 6 and 31 May 2024, primarily at the Hotel Alúa in Puerto de la Cruz. The production also moved briefly to the area of Rojas, on the coast of La Matanza.
The Challenge of a Busy Location
Félix Rodríguez, production director at AF Films, one of the film’s production companies, explains that location was very important for this project. The director chose this specific place during the pandemic, “when the hotel was completely empty,” so the start of filming, when the establishment was already operational with some 600 rooms open to the public, was completely different from what was expected. Rodríguez recalls that the film is set precisely in a hotel that seems old-fashioned, so working with so many people around was a real challenge. Even more so when the film set also became the accommodation for a good part of the crew.
Local Talent and Economic Impact
But the locations were not the only Canary Islands detail included in this film. Each of the technical teams involved in the production included Canarian workers. The Tenerife Film Commission estimates that the average daily investment for a shoot on the island can exceed €77,000, reaching a global total of €117 million for the whole of 2025.
Ana Belén’s Return to Cinema
Prior to the release of ‘Islas’, Ana Belén’s last cinematic project dated back to 2016, when the Madrid-born artist worked under Fernando Trueba’s direction in ‘La reina de España’ to play the character of Ana. Despite the years since her last film, the singer and actress has remained linked to cinema, presenting the Goya Awards gala in 2024 alongside Javier Ambrossi and Javier Calvo.
Exploring Loneliness and Connection
During the promotion of the film, Ana Belén has said her character “is a woman with a very clear idea in her head that, however, will change in just two days.” She states the film has “powerful and emotional scenes, strong on an emotional level, because we talk about the loneliness she encounters.” The star also praised director Marina Seresesky, who comes from an acting background: “so it’s wonderful to work with her: there is a great understanding when it comes to telling this story.” She added that the film has been “a new and great challenge, because the many years worked do not make the challenge minimal… on the contrary, it is greater.”
Marina Seresesky, whose film ‘Empieza el baile’ won the audience award at the Málaga Festival in 2023, delves into the theme of loneliness in ‘Islas’. The director has explained that “we are all islands in a society that looks without seeing, where empathy is a devalued quality, and we believe an abyss separates us from the other, from those who are not like us.” She comments that in this story, “two beings meet despite differences, wounds and silences, and we thus witness the eruption of two volcanoes that have been dormant for a long time.”
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