Harpooned by Thierry Frémaux and unceremoniously relegated to the Cannes Premiere section, the critically acclaimed Close Your Eyes(which topped the ICS Awards, and was voted #3 on Film Comment contributors Best Undistributed Films of 2023 list) will see the light of day in the U.S. After landing the #2 film on that same list in Lisandro Alonso’s Eureka, The Film Movement folks continue their shopping of Spanish-language cinema with Víctor Erice’s fourth solo feature (and perhaps last outing). This was a comeback film for the The Spirit of the Beehive – his first time behind the camera in three decades. A theatrical release is to be expected in the current or next quarter.
This is about a famous Spanish actor, Julio Arenas, who disappears while filming a movie. Although his body is never found, the police conclude that he has suffered an accident at a cliff by the sea. Many years later, the mystery is brought up once more by a TV program that tries to evoke the actor, offering as a scoop images of the last scenes in which he participated, shot by his close friend, director Miguel Garay. Manolo Solo, Jose Coronado, Ana Torrent, María León, Helena Miquel star.
Update: This will have its theatrical premiere in August at New York’s Film Forum and in Los Angeles before going wide. A release to all leading digital outlets and the home entertainment marketplace will follow.
Eric Lavallée is the founder, CEO, editor-in-chief, film journalist and critic at IONCINEMA.com (founded in 2000). Eric is a regular at Sundance, Cannes and TIFF. He has a BFA in Film Studies at the Mel Hoppenheim School of Cinema. In 2013 he served as a Narrative Competition Jury Member at the SXSW Film Festival. He was an associate producer on Mark Jackson's This Teacher (2018 LA Film Festival, 2018 BFI London). In 2022 he served as a New Flesh Comp for Best First Feature at the 2022 Fantasia Intl. Film Festival. Current top films for 2022 include Tár (Todd Field), All That Breathes (Shaunak Sen), Aftersun (Charlotte Wells).
