Few debuts in recent Spanish cinema have offered so much with so little as that of Irene M. Borrego. A highly personal portrait of her aunt Isabel Santaló, a painter of the 1950s and 60s who today lives humbly in her flat on the outskirts of Madrid, La visita y Un Jardín Secreto ends up showing, through the patient observation of a very old lady who refuses to vindicate herself, the past of silence and incomprehension faced by many generations of women artists. As if that were not enough, it is a new opportunity to listen to the wise voice of Antonio López (El sol del membrillo), the only painter of his generation capable of remembering something of her. A true revelation. (SdB)
Málaga Film Festival 2022
Irene M. Borrego is a filmmaker and co-founder of the production company 59 en Conserva, which she also manages. As a producer, she has worked with filmmakers such as Manuel Muñoz Rivas and Alexis Delgado. Her work as a director includes various shorts, and La Visita y Un Jardín secreto is her first feature film.