Ourense, September 30, 2025. The first preview of the documentary Habitar o baleiro was presented today at the 30th edition of the Ourense International Film Festival (OUFF). The documentary seeks to address the lights and shadows of the Galician countryside, focusing on its complexity and the need to preserve it in order to safeguard life and the natural environment.
“We just witnessed it with this summer’s forest fires: without the rural world there is no life, because without people in the villages, all of society is at risk. We want to show a very complex reality without romanticism or clichés,” said photographer from Ourense and executive producer of the piece, Brais Lorenzo.
The preview of the documentary, directed by Miguel Riaño, explores the home care received by dependent people in Pereira, a village of 32 inhabitants in the municipality of Entrimo (Ourense).
“Pereira’s is one of the many stories we are working on for the documentary. Some will be in the final piece and others not, but all of them shape what is happening in Galician villages and towns, especially in Ourense and Lugo. This work is proving to be as complex as it is necessary and enriching. We are working tirelessly to reflect the most honest image possible,” explained Riaño.
“From the beginning, we presented Habitar o baleiro as an oxymoron: people talk about emptiness and depopulation where people still live. We want to show that there is a lot of life in the rural world, and what is lacking is planning to preserve it,” added journalist and co-producer Cláudia Morán.
The documentary Habitar o baleiro has the support of OUFF and the Ourense Provincial Council, as well as funding from a crowdfunding campaign on Goteo. The official presentation of the feature film will take place next year, 2026, at the 31st edition of the Ourense festival.
Habitar o baleiro is a project created by a group of journalists –Morán, Alba Moledo, Manolo Broa, Sergio Pascual, and Alba R. Saavedra–, together with Lorenzo and Riaño, as well as Thomas Harris and Juan Carlos García, from the audiovisual team Metropolis.coop.
