Teresa Villaverde 

Portugal/France

Villaverde's observation of these kids' intelligence, understanding and vibrancy makes The Mutants much more a tribute to the qualities of those who she says "teach us a moving lesson about life and the world." 

Villaverde decided on a movie to replace her original plan for a documentary on how one's childhood affects later life, based on those whose have suffered the effects of poverty. She spent eighteen months visiting some of Portugal's Institutes for Social Rehabilitation which house young offenders and neglected kids aged from 9-18. The Portuguese authorities refused her request to use these youngsters for the movie so she turned to similar non-state institutions. 

She says the youngsters she discovered were "extraordinary" and working with them was "paradise". Her initial worries about the kids' inability to learn their lines were dispelled through the use of mechanical readings rather than rehearsals, guessing they would save their best for the shoot. Before shooting the movie's birth scene, Villaverde infused young actress Ana Moreira with confidence; "I just told her "You'll do it. You'll see." Ana did much more than I could have asked for." 

Villaverde was forced to be more inventive during the filming than previously with her idiosyncratic movie sometimes featuring both the heads of its protagonists and its frames upside-down.

This is Villaverde's third feature after her award-winning movies Adult Age (1991) and Two Brothers and a Sister (1994). Once again, her hands-on approach is manifest. Expecting to always script her movies, she says "I don't think I could direct a film written by anyone else." Stephen Mackey