Sinopsis
Frida (Laia Artigas), a six-year-old girl, faces the first summer of her life with her new adoptive family after the death of her mother. Away from her immediate environment, in the middle of the countryside, the girl will have to adapt to her new life.
Carla Simón (Barcelona, 1986) is one of the most prominent voices in contemporary Spanish cinema. Her work is characterised by a strong autobiographical component and an intimate look at the family, memory and the Catalan rural world. After studying Audiovisual Communication at the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona and completing her training at the London Film School thanks to a scholarship, she began directing short films and documentaries, before making the leap to feature films.
Her debut came with "Summer 1993" (2017), a story inspired by her own childhood after the death of her parents from AIDS. With a delicate and naturalistic style, the film narrates the adaptation of a girl to her new life with her aunt and uncle in a rural environment. The work conquered critics and audiences, was selected as a Spanish candidate for the Oscars and won the Best First Film Award and the Grand Jury Prize in the Generation Kplus section at the 2017 Berlinale, as well as the Goya for Best New Director.
In "Alcarràs" (2022), Simón delved into the life of a family of peach farmers in western Catalonia. Shot with non-professional actors, the film authentically shows the disappearance of a way of life threatened by modernity. The film made history by winning the Golden Bear at the Berlin Film Festival, the first time a Spanish director had received this award.
Her third feature film, "Romería" (2025), delves into family memory from another perspective: a young woman's search to know the story of her biological father in Galicia. Presented in the official section of Cannes, the film closed what many critics call Simon's "family memory trilogy", consolidating her as a filmmaker of reference on the international scene.
Throughout her career she has received the Spanish National Cinematography Award (2023) and the Creu de Sant Jordi (2025), among other recognitions. With a poetic and deeply human style, Carla Simón has turned the personal into the universal, placing her cinema at the centre of global conversation.
Year of Production: 2017
Time: 97’
Country: Spain
Language: Catalan
Director: Carla Simón
Cast: Laia Artigas, Bruna Cusí, David Verdaguer
Production: Valérie Delpierre, Stefan Schmitz, María Zamora
Script: Carla Simón
Director of Photography: Santiago Racaj
Production Companies: Avalon, Inicia Films
International Sales: New Europe Film Sales
Distribution: Avalon
Selected at the Berlin Film Festival (Winner of the Best First Feature Award and Best Prix of the Generation Kplus International Jury), BAFICI (Winner of the Best Director Award, International Competition), London Film Festival (Winner of the Sutherland Award - Honourable Mention), Malaga Film Festival (Winner of the Golden Biznaga for Best Spanish Film, Best First Film, Signis Award, Feroz Puerta Oscura Award, and Duia Ayaso Award), winner of 3 Goya Awards for Best New Director, Best Supporting Actor, Best New Actress)
