Albert Serra (born in 1975) is a Spanish artist/filmmaker who burst into public recognition with Honor de Cavalleria (IFFR 2007), a ‘slow cinema’ reworking of the legend of Don Quixote and Sancho Panza. This film laid the template for his future explorations: treating figures from mythology (the Magi in El cant dels ocells, IFFR 2009) or history (La Mort de Louis XIV, IFFR 2017), or myth and history combined (Casanova meets Dracula in Història de la meva mort, IFFR 2014); an unusual, original approach to the recreation of past times and cultures; an uncompromising use of film form often designed to frustrate conventional, narrative viewing habits. In recent years, his focus has turned to diverse styles of decadence, in Liberté (IFFR 2020) and his latest, Pacifiction (IFFR 2023), which has topped many ‘Best of 2022’ lists worldwide.
Serra is a deliberately polarising figure, almost as well-known today on the festival circuit for his Godard-style provocations (“right-wing film critics are the best”) as for his works. He has created a truly ‘intermedial’ art practice, crossing between stage, gallery installation and cinema. In this dialogue, Serra discusses his latest work and his connection with IFFR.
