Celia

Celia is a Spanish children's television series created by José Luis Borau in 1992 for the national Spanish public-service channel Televisión Española. It is based on the classic Spanish children's novels of the same name by Elena Fortún, primarily Celia, lo que dice (1929) and Celia en el colegio (1932). The books and television series tell the stories of a wild seven-year-old girl named Celia Gálvez de Moltanbán. In addition to focusing on Celia, the show touched lightly on Spanish life in the 1930s, such as the upcoming civil war, a changing nation, and the social issues and ideas at the time. Cristina Cruz Mínguez was cast as the titular character, and the script was adapted by author and screenwriter Carmen Martín Gaite. The creator, Borau, directed and produced the series. Though successful when it originally premiered, Celia was cancelled after six episodes. The sixth and final episode ended with a "to be continued" (Continuará), but the following episode was never released. Production After the "Celia" books by Elena Fortún had been brought to his attention by Spanish author and screenwriter Carmen Martín Gaite, director and producer José Luis Borau insisted on together creating a television adaptation of Fortún's works; Gaite was not convinced and was not sure the project would work. When the project was finally green-lit by Televisión Española, a search began for a seven-year-old girl to play the title role of Celia; then-inexperienced Cristina Cruz Mínguez was chosen out of over 2,000 girls who auditioned for the part, though some sources suggested that around 3,000 girls auditioned. Many of the girls not chosen to play the title role were instead cast as other characters in the series, such as María Teresa, Celia's friend. A television documentary was produced, entitled "Buscando a Celia" ("Searching for Celia"), which showed the process of finding the right "Celia"; the documentary contained brief interviews with many different girls and some of their parents as well. When broadcast, the short documentary served as publicity for the upcoming series. Director José Luis Borau stated during the premiere ceremony of the series that he had had two reasons for his production: One, to pay homage to Elena Fortún, whom he described as one of the most important authors the children of Spain possibly ever had; and two, that the children of Spain "must be given the best.