The Catalan director and screenwriter Carla Simón (Barcelona, 1986) collected this Saturday, within the framework of the San Sebastián festival, the National Cinematography award that was awarded to her last June. The director, who became known with Estiu 1993 and, with her second film, Alcarràs, won the Golden Bear at the Berlinale last year, has defended independent, multilingual and uncensored cinema and has stated that the recognition comes to her in "times of change" that he considers both "exciting" and "fragile."
"Finally there are more women making films and we are facing a timid democratization of our craft, there are ways of working that are already considered obsolete and stories that have never been told, but at the same time films and works are still censored for political reasons or for us. We censor ourselves to be politically correct," she stated in a highly applauded speech in which she was accompanied by the Minister of Culture Miquel Iceta, the first vice president Nadia Calviño and the filmmakers Elena López Riera and Meritxell Colell.
"In 2023, works will be censored for political reasons in places in our country," he commented in a clear allusion to the controversy over the screening at the San Sebastián competition of Don't Call Me Ternera, Jordi Évole's interview with former ETA member Josu Ternera. "It seems absurd to me that someone would ask that a documentary that they have not seen not be shown, just by reading a synopsis, because you cannot judge what this film will be like. Nobody can ask that it not be shown right now. There is freedom of expression," he said. .
During his speech at the Tabakalera cultural center, Simón stressed the need to protect independent cinema "with soul and risk" because it needs "time, care, thought and rigor." And he has thanked all those filmmakers who "paved the way", citing, among others, the Belgians Agnès Varda and Chantal Akerman, but also the Spanish filmmakers Josefina Molina, Pilar Miró, Icíar Bollaín and Isabel Coixet.
Simón excitedly received the award from Minister Iceta. "With only two feature films you have marked the history of recent cinema in our country," said the politician in relation to the fantastic work achieved by the director in such a few years of career. Iceta has stressed that Simón represents a whole generation of new filmmakers. It is an award "for all your colleagues by profession and generation, for all the women who with your example and your struggle are making the world of cinema a more equal, diverse and better place," she said after remembering that her two films has filmed in Catalan.
"I am one of those who believe that languages multiply us and the wealth that Carla has incorporated, so local and universal, shows a way forward," said the minister just days after the approval of the reform of the Congress regulations that has been made official the use of Catalan, Basque and Galician in parliamentary activity.
In this regard, Simón has expressed that "art always comes before politics" and that "we live in a plural country." Regarding his next film, Romería, which will conclude his family and autobiographical trilogy, he has stated that he plans to shoot it next summer in Galicia and that he will do it in Spanish, Galician, Catalan and French. And he has announced what will be his new project, a flamenco musical that will be filmed in Barcelona.
"There are many flamenco musicals in Spain that we relate especially to the Franco era, but I feel that flamenco has continued to evolve, Saura explored it, like many other things, and I feel like doing it from new points of view," he concluded.
