Skip to main content
Berlin returns to former glory while Rotterdam stalls
RITA di SANTO recommends a series of films that address admirably present-day concerns
taviani

AFTER last year’s virtual edition, Berlin’s huge film festival returned this year to in-person events, with a boldly international programme the scope of which we we haven’t seen for some time.

The Golden Bear went to Alcarras by female Spanish director Carla Simon is a semi-autobiographical, bittersweet tale about belonging, set in her native village (Alcarras). Simon focuses solidly on the earth, and those who work it, examining society’s fractured relationship with agriculture and the disappearance of the old way of life.

The grandfather of the family was given the right to farm the land by the wealthy Pinyol clan during the Spanish civil war, in the days when your word was your bond. Nothing exists on paper, and the new Pinyol now wants to tear down the peach orchards to build fields of solar panels. With stunning camerawork in deliberately natural colour, it is an elegant film, acted with real power and a strong feeling for its ordinary farmers.

Liberation webinar, 30 November2024, 6pm (UK)
Support the Morning Star
You have reached the free limit.
Subscribe to continue reading.
More from this author
on falling
Interview / 18 March 2025
18 March 2025
RITA DI SANTO speaks to Laura Carreira about her study of workers in an Amazon warehouse,  On Falling
jaffa
Interview / 6 November 2024
6 November 2024
In the second of a two-part report RITA DI SANTO speaks to Palestinian film-maker Mohammed Almughanni
Cannes
Cannes film festival 2024 / 26 May 2024
26 May 2024
RITA DI SANTO casts an eye over the winners - and the overlooked films - from this year’s festival
megapolis
Cannes Festival 2024 / 21 May 2024
21 May 2024
RITA DI SANTO assesses the political reaction to Francis Coppola’s epic, self-funded depiction of the decline of the US empire