"‘Alcarràs’ Director Carla Simón On Harvesting Peaches, Learning From Each Film
Carla Simón’s first feature “Summer 1993” was a knockout; a Generation Kplus and Best First Feature award winner at the 2017 Berlinale and Spain’s 2018 Oscars submission, winning three Spanish Academy Goya Awards. The di" "--START AD- #TheMummichogblogOfMalta Amazon Top and Flash Deals(Affiliate Link - You will support our translations if you purchase through the following link) - https://amzn.to/3CqsdJH Compare all the top travel sites in just one search to find the best hotel deals at HotelsCombined - awarded world's best hotel price comparison site. (Affiliate Link - You will support our translations if you purchase through the following link) - https://www.hotelscombined.com/?a_aid=20558 “So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets."" #Jesus #Catholic. END AD---" "rector has since become a reference within a new wave of Catalan women filmmakers that have broken out to considerable box office and festival success.
Now, Simón competes in Berlin’s main competition with her sophomore effort “Alcarràs,” exploring her own roots through her adoptive mother’s family.
Set in the so-called Catalan Far West, in a small village near Lleida, the film is shot entirely using non-professional actors. “Alcarràs” tells the story of a family who make their living harvesting peaches and are forced to abandon the lands they have been taking care of for sixty years under a perpetual verbal agreement with the landowner. After the landowner’s death, his heirs no longer recognize the agreement and want to change the situation.
“Alcarràs” is sold by MK2 and produced by Elástica Films, Avalon, Vilaüt Films and Kino Produzioni.
How is “Alcarràs” a follow-up of “Summer 1993,” and a step forward in your career?
The continuity is in the tone, in looking for a special realism in the actors, in this case non-actors, with the aim to keep them all “alive.” However, “Alcarràs” needed much more structure, especially for the work on the point of view. Whereas in “Summer 1993” we just followed the protagonist continuously, here we have twelve separate characters. As far as camera planning, “Alcarràs” required a very different effort.
Beyond the tone and structure, can you talk about the visual proposal of the film’s rural environment?
For me, the camera must tell the story for the characters; love them, caress them without the viewer perceiving other stylistic details. In the end, the visual proposal has its own poetry, but it’s deeply rooted in the land, which is what the film is about. Where do I put the camera? For me it should go where the character and their emotions dictate. This has been my philosophy, although I realize that I like long shots, because it keeps the feeling of being with the characters.
In times of gentrification, you tackle a family’s attachment to the land…
Agriculture is the theme of the film and was a key reason for me to make the film. My uncles grow peaches in Alcarràs and, like them, there are many other people who are really screwed, because it is very difficult to engage in family farming at present. I would certainly like to raise awareness about this. The severe changes that are being suffered and why this type of agriculture is not protected. Ultimately, it is this form of agriculture that is most respectful to the earth.
In a rural environment and being a film with so many characters, the work with sound must have been another decisive element…
When you’re working with many people, a lot of things happen at once and the cinema becomes two-dimensional. You can play with perspective, but what really gives you the feeling that there’s a lot going on at the same time is the sound, and we worked on this thoroughly.
“Summer 1993” was remarkable for the performances of its non-pro actors. Did you change your directing methods in “Alcarràs”?
It was a similar process but m