Alcarràs (film)
Alcarràs is a 2022 Spanish-Italian drama film directed by Carla Simón. It is set and shot near Alcarràs, Catalonia, in Catalan, featuring a non-professional cast of actors. The plot concerns a family drama about the disappearance of traditional peach-harvesting activities. It won the Golden Bear at the 72nd Berlinale, becoming the first Catalan-language film to do so. Plot. Set in Alcarràs, Catalonia, the plot consists of a family rural drama concerning the disappearance of agricultural activities, revolving around the intention to install solar panels in an agricultural plot hitherto occupied by a peach orchard , bringing the members of the Solé family to a stand off. Production. The screenplay was penned by the director Carla Simón alongside Arnau Vilaró. The film was produced by Avalon PC, Elastica Films and Vilaüt Films alongside Kino Produzioni and TV3, with the participation of TVE and Movistar+ and the support of ICAA, , Creative Europe's MEDIA, Eurimages, MIBACT and . Shooting began on 1 June 2021 in the area of Alcarràs, province of Lleida, with the shooting window constrained to Summer due to the seasonal nature of the film's setting pertaining peach harvest cycles. The cast is formed by  non-professional actors from the province of Lleida. Shot in Catalan, the entire cast used the local Western dialect of the Catalan language pertaining to the area. Filming wrapped after 8 weeks of shooting. María Zamora, Stefan Schmitz, Tono Folguera and Sergi Moreno were credited as producers. Release. The film screened in the official competition of the 72nd Berlinale on 15 February 2022. The film also screened at the 25th Málaga Festival in March 2022. Initially announced to run as part of the competitive list of the festival's official selection, the festival and the film producers agreed to screen  the film out of competition instead. It was thus screened in Málaga on 19 March 2022. Co-distributed by Avalon DA and Elastica Films in Spain, the film was theatrically released on 29 April 2022. Starting with a distribution limited to 169 theatres, the film was the most watched debut film in its opening weekend, and third film overall (first in Catalonia). Reception. Reviewing for "The Telegraph", Tim Robey rated the film with 5 out of 5 stars, considering that the film "manages a light, improvisatory mastery, an immaculate hold on tone, and a grave yet sunlit tableau of an  ending, with each one of these faces turned in collective mourning, that I'll never forget". Fionnuala Halligan of "ScreenDaily" wrote that "Alcarràs" constitutes a "profoundly authentic and moving contemplation of the fragility of family, and, again, childhood" considering the film to have "all the hallmarks of a very specific film with emotionally wide appeal, a thoughtful essay which can also rattle and hum". Guy Lodge of "Variety" considered that "Alcarràs" confirmed "the strength and consistency of Simón's directorial voice" after "Summer 1993", also writing that it "balances a bristling political conscience against its tenderly observed domestic drama". Writing  for "Little White Lies", Caitlin Quinlan considered that the film "strikes a deft balance between idyllic reminiscence and melancholy for a cherished place", while also "delivering a poignant tale about the impact of industrial development on agriculture". Sergi Sánchez of "Fotogramas" considered that Simón gets to "translate into images what many neorealist filmmakers pursued unceasingly": "Truth, this time of a changing space and time, which appeals to the collective without losing the thread of the individual".