Alcarràs, by Carla Simón
At Walter Reade Theater - Howard Gilman Theater, Lincoln Center, New York
Thursday, October 6, 6:00pm
Friday, October 7, 8:45pm
Wednesday, October 12, 3:30pm
Saturday, October 15, 3:15pm
Q&As with Carla Simón on Oct. 6 & 7
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.
Like Carla Simón's (b. Barcelona, 1986) first feature film (Summer 1993), Alcarràs is a story based on personal experience, in this case, the death of her grandfather, as she explained to the Catalan News Agency (ACN) in an interview in Berlin.
"The loss of my godfather, who had always worked in the fields, made me appreciate his legacy and I wondered if those trees would really be there forever. And the answer, probably, is no," Simón said.
Her film, with a cast made up of non-professional actors, delves into the loss too of an entire way of life – small-scale family farms.
Pacifiction by Albert Serra
At Alice Tully Hall - Walter Reade Theater
Wednesday, October 5, 5:30pm
Thursday, October 6, 9:00pm
Q&As with Albert Serra on Oct. 5 & 6
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.
The New York Film Festival is a film festival held every fall in New York City, presented by Film at Lincoln Center. Founded in 1963 by Richard Roud and Amos Vogel with the support of Lincoln Center president William Schuman, it is one of the longest-running and most prestigious film festivals in the United States.