Summer 1993

Carla Simón

Spain, 2017 - 99'

An emotive story of childhood and growing up that gave Carla Simón a place on the world cinema map.

Plot

Spain, summer 1993. Following the death of her parents, six years old Frida faces the first summer with her new adoptive family in the Catalan province. Before the season is over, the girl has to learn to cope with her emotions and her parents have to learn to love her as their own daughter. Punctuated by moments of youthful exuberance and mature ruminations, this coming of age drama, set amongst summery hues, is an extraordinarily moving snapshot of being a child in an adult world, anchored by flawless performances by its two young stars.

#debut #comingofage #catalancinema #mourning #debut #awards

Full Cast and Crew

Director: Carla Simón

Writers: Carla Simón

Film Editing: Ana Pfaff, Didac Palou

Cinematography: Santiago Racaj

Music: Pau Boïgues, Ernest Pipó

Carla Simón

Carla Simón (born 1986) is a film writer and director raised in a small Catalan village. She studied Audio-visual Communication in Barcelona and in California. In 2011 she was awarded a scholarship by La Caixa for a Master’s program at the London Film School, where she directed the short films BORN POSITIVE, LIPSTICK, LAS PEQUEÑAS COSAS and LLACUNES.

SUMMER 1993 (2017) is her autobiographical debut. It won the Best First Feature Award and the Generation Kplus Grand Prix at the Berlinale, along with three Goya awards, including Best New Director. The film collected more than 30 prizes all over the world, it was selected to represent Spain at the 2018 Oscar Academy Awards and it got the Discovery nomination at the European Film Awards. In 2018, during the 71st edition of the Festival de Cannes, Carla received the Kering|Women In Motion Young Talent Award. The prize, which aims to help female film makers gain visibility and recognition, was accompanied by a 50.000€ grant that contributed to support Alcarràs.

Her last short films are IF THEN ELSE and CORRESPONDENCE, an epistolary conversation with Dominga Sotomayor shown in Visions du Réel, New York Film Festival or San Sebastian. ALCARRÀS is Carla’s second feature. It took part in the Torino Script Lab, Nipkow Program, MFI and Cannes Residency. The film was selected at the main competition in Berlinale 2022 and won the Golden Bear Award. The film has been chosen as Spain’s Oscars Academy Awards entry.