Alegría

<img src="https://data.ajff.org/sites/default/files/2022-01/web_embed_Laurel_JuryInCompetition_02.png" style="max-width: 20%; width: 20%; border-width: 0px; margin-left: 10px; float: right;" />In this luminous melodrama of tradition and reconciliation set along the Spanish coast, women of various faiths gather for an exotic Sephardi wedding, testing the bonds of family and friendship. For years, Alegría sought distance from her Jewish heritage and her past. But, for her niece’s wedding, she reluctantly returns home to Melilla, a Moroccan port city where Christian, Jewish, and Muslim cultures converge. As chaotic nuptial preparations bring their differences to the fore, Alegría and the diverse women in her orbit begin to sense the love and strength that binds them. In the titular role, Cecilia Suárez leads a first-rate European-Latino ensemble in this whimsical, uplifting debut inspired by director Violeta Salama’s background growing up in Melilla.