After her overwhelming debut with Estiu 1993, Barcelona-born director Carla Simón continues her path to success with Alcarràs. She started by winning the Golden Bear at the Berlinale and continued filling movie theaters with her intimate story about a family of farmers who see everything they had been forced to disappear. Now, she has been pre-selected as one of the three finalists for the Oscar race.
This was announced this Thursday by actress María Pedraza, known for her roles in Élite and La casa de papel, at the headquarters of the Film Academy. Along with Alcarràs, Cinco Lobitos by Alauda Ruiz de Azúa, starring Catalan actress Laia Costa, and As bestas by Rodrigo Sorogoyen will compete for the golden statuette. The film that will end up competing for Best International Film will be announced on September 13. The Spanish title selected to compete in the last edition of the Oscars was El buen patrón, but it ended up being Pedro Almodóvar's Madres paralelas that received two nominations for Best Actress, with Penélope Cruz, and Best Original Score.
Simón (Barcelona, 1986) fascinated everyone with her first feature film, Estiu 1993, an autobiographical film in which she presented herself by telling her childhood. Through little Frida, Simón explained her mother's death from AIDS in a slow and delicate story, which left many without tears in reserve. With Estiu 1993, Simón made her first foray into the big screen, earning the applause of the public and critics, being selected to represent Spain at the Oscars, and being awarded at the Berlinale as the best debut film of the festival.
A graduate in Audiovisual Communication from the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB), Simón has also trained abroad, at the University of California and the London Film School. In addition to her feature films, the Barcelona-born director and screenwriter has also signed shorts such as Lipstick, Las Pequeñas Cosas, Después También, and Llacunes, in which she revisits the figure of her mother.