An intimate exploration of childhood grief, Summer 1993 fearlessly dramatises the director’s experience, age six, of her mother’s sudden death.
Set in the Catalan countryside of her youth, director Carla Simón mines what she calls the ‘bottomless pit of stories’ that make up her family’s history to tell the story of Frida -- a young, feisty, but vulnerable child, like Simón herself, whose mother dies of AIDS in 90s Spain. Forced to move in with her uncle’s family, Frida finds warmth and resistance as she struggles to adjust to her new surroundings.
Brought to life with grit and flair by Laia Artigas, Simón presents a psychologically complex portrait of love and loss through fine-combed emotional sensitivity – the kind of portrait we rarely see through the eyes of a young female protagonist.
Discover Carla Simon here.
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