The Queen Sofía Spanish Institute (QSSI) brings Spanish film to the U.S. through their support of the 60th New York Film Festival (NYFF). The QSSI provided Film at Lincoln Center a grant for the purpose of supporting Spanish-speaking artists bringing their work to the NYFF.
Presented by Film at Lincoln Center, NYFF highlights the best in world cinema and takes place September 30–October 16, 2022. An annual bellwether of the state of cinema that has shaped film culture since 1963, the festival continues an enduring tradition of introducing audiences to bold and remarkable works from celebrated filmmakers as well as fresh new talent.
The NYFF, in its 60th year, once more showcases the work of young Spanish-speaking directors and is dedicated to introducing and promoting international directors. 32 films produced in 18 different countries comprise the Main Slate in venues across the city including works by Spanish and Spanish-speaking directors.
This year, this grant supported two films made by Spanish filmmakers:
- Alcarràs by Director Carla Simón
- Pacifiction by Director Albert Serra
Alcarràs
Carla Simón, 2022, Spain/Italy, 120m
Catalan and Spanish with English subtitles
North American Premiere
Winner of the Golden Bear at this year’s Berlinale Festival, Carla Simón’s follow-up to her acclaimed childhood drama Summer 1993 is a ruminative, lived-in portrait of a rural family in present-day Catalonia whose way of life is rapidly changing. The Solé clan live in a small village, annually harvesting peaches for local business and export. However, their livelihood is put in jeopardy by the looming threat of the construction of solar panels, which would necessitate the destruction of their orchard. From this simple narrative, pitting agricultural tradition against the onrushing train of modern progress, Simón weaves a marvelously textured film that moves to the unpredictable rhythms and caprices of nature and family life. A MUBI release.
Click here for more information on the NYFF premiere of Alcarràs.
Pacifiction
Albert Serra, 2022, France/Spain/Germany/Portugal, 162m
French with English subtitles
U.S. Premiere
Catalan filmmaker Albert Serra reconfirms his centrality in the contemporary cinematic landscape with this mesmerizing portrait of a French bureaucrat (a monumental Benoît Magimel) drifting through a fateful trip to a French Polynesian island with increasing anxiety. Pacifiction charts the various uneasy relationships that develop between Magimel’s autocratic yet avuncular High Commissioner, De Roller, and the Indigenous locals (including nonprofessional actor Pahoa Mahagafanau in a hypnotic breakthrough as De Roller’s trusted right hand and maybe lover) who operate essentially under his faux-benevolent thumb, many of whom we meet at a resort that caters to the prurient exoticism of foreign tourists. Serra’s gripping, atmospheric thriller is a slow-building fever dream that lulls before catching us by surprise with the depths of its darkness, a film that allows its incisive social commentary about the remnants of colonialism to surface through quiet observation and aesthetic audacity. A Grasshopper Film and Gratitude Films release.
Click here for more information on the NYFF premiere of Pacifiction.
The QSSI is proud to partner with NYFF.
Photos courtesy of FLC.
