UTA has signed Spanish filmmaker Carla Simón — whose acclaimed second feature “Alcarràs” is Spain’s entry for the best international feature at the 2023 Academy Awards — for representation in all areas.
“Alcarràs,” which Simón wrote and directed, focuses on the life of a family of peach farmers in a small Catalonian village, which was inspired by her adoptive mother’s family. The film premiered at the 2022 Berlin Film Festival — where it won the prestigious Golden Bear, becoming the first Catalan-language film to receive the honor — and has screened at nearly 100 international film festivals, including the New York Film Festival.
Produced by Maria Zamora, Stefan Schmitz and Tono Filguera and co-produced by Giovanni Pompili, “Alcarràs” is the second in a planned trilogy of films. Simón made her feature directorial debut in 2017 with “Summer 1993” — an autobiographical film, which won the best first film award at Berlinale and served as Spain’s best international feature entry at the 2018 Oscars — and she’s currently working on her third feature, “Romeria,” which focuses on the journey of a young woman trying to build family memories. Elastica Films is producing the upcoming project.
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“I want to continue with my realistic approach but break with it to some degree to explore other things. I think it’s important to say of every movie: ‘I don’t know how to do it; I have to learn how to do it,'” Simón told Variety in October, predicting what’s to come for her career.
Simón is also an accomplished short film writer and director, whose projects have screened at film festivals across the world. For example, her 2022 short “Letter to My Mother for My Son” screened at Venice as part of the Miu Miu “Women’s Tales” anthology series. In 2018, Simón was presented the Kering Women in Motion Young Talent Award at the Cannes Film Festival.
In addition to UTA, which will help Simón find new directorial, writing and production opportunities in film and television, she continues to be represented by manager Majós Martínez.
Additional reporting by Emilio Mayorga.
