A God Without Dance

Synopsis

In rural Galicia in the late 1990s, María sets out to fulfil her mother’s final wish, just months before she dies: to see her granddaughter Lola make her First Communion. But María is an atheist and a single mother, while twelve-year-old Lola hasn’t set foot inside a church since her baptism.

Letter of Intent

A God Without Dance is the story of a rural Galician community navigating the murky waters of religious traditionalism—a legacy of the Franco regime—and the currents of modernity that were shaping new models of family and progress, which today define our society. It is a look back at the recent past to truly understand who we are today. “I will not believe in a God who cannot dance.” Much of our film is built around this quote from Nietzsche. The film is a journey from the rigidity of their bodies toward a freedom expressed through dance and song. It is as if all of this were a kind of trance that the characters must undergo to shed their fears and find the transcendence and spirituality that will make them happy. A journey and a movement that places the value of love above all else as the most powerful dogma of faith.

Director

Pedro Díaz (Ames, 1988) is a Galician filmmaker. His latest short film, La Entrega (2023), was nominated for a Goya Award, won the Mestre Mateo Award from the Galician Audiovisual Academy, and premiered in the International Competition at Clermont-Ferrand. He previously worked at Movistar+ as a director and directed numerous advertising campaigns. A God Without Dance is his first feature-length fiction film.