Summer 1993
This filmic memoir, set in the summer of 1993, is the debut feature film from Catalan director Carla Simón. Six year old Frida (Laia Artigas), orphaned after her mother dies of AIDS-related pneumonia, is relocated from Barcelona to live with her uncle Esteve (David Verdaguer), aunt Marga (Bruna Cusí) and four year old cousin Anna (Paula Robles) in the sunny Catalonian countryside. Summer 1993 (Estiu 1993) closely focuses on Frida’s interactions with her new nuclear family and the rural environment during this sensitive time, and captures the fragility of childhood grief, displacement, confusion and loneliness.
After the death of her mother, six-year old Frida (Artigas) is uprooted from Barcelona to live with her mother’s brother and his family in rural Catalonia. Frida is akin to some of the great child protagonists of Spanish cinema, like those in Carlos Saura’s Cría Cuervos and Victor Erice’s The Spirit of the Beehive, and Simón sensitively tracks her emotional journey as she works through her grief and adapts to new surroundings.
Summer 1993 (Estiu 1993), Dir. Carla Simón, Spain, 2017, 97 mins, Spanish with English subtitles
Watch a trailer for the film here.
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