Lead by a New Generation of Filmmakers, Spain Gets Back on the International Radar
variety.comJohn Hopewell Chief International CorrespondentIn February, Carla Simon’s “Alcarràs” walked off with Spain’s first Berlin Golden Bear in nearly 40 years as Spain notched up its biggest main competition presence at the Berlinale since 1997.This May, Spain has four movies selected for Cannes – Albert Serra’s Competition entry “Pacifiction”; Rodrigo Sorogoyen’s “The Beasts,” in Premiere; Elena López Riera’s Directors’ Fortnight bow “The Water”; and José Luis López Linares’ “Goya, Carrière and the Ghost of Buñuel,” a Cannes Classics doc feature.
That reps a Cannes presence roughly on par with recent standout years such as 2018 and 2019.With Netflix launching “Through My Window” in February, three of the streaming giant’s five most-watched non-English language movies are from Spain.
The big money is now in TV. Meanwhile Spanish cinema, a darling of arthouse crowds during Spain’s 1975-1982 transition to democracy, is once more back on the international radar, though faced by huge challenges led by a possibly lasting plunge in cinema admissions.Several factors are in play.
Led by Simón, a new generation of (often women) filmmakers in Catalonia and beyond are making movies often intimately grounded in the filmmakers’ immediate realities, breathing authenticity but spangled by knowing psychological detail.“A crop of new talent is exploring another form of filmmaking and being highly creative and very touching,” says Latido Films head Antonio Saura, citing “Alcarrás” and the Latido-sold “Lullaby,” from Alauda Ruiz de Azuá, a finely observed mother-daughter relationship drama set on the Basque Coast.Other countries want to do business in Spain, as well.
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