‘Sirât’, the original Movistar Plus+ film directed by Oliver Laxe, confirms its status as a favorite in the Official Selection of the 78th Cannes Film Festival, where it has been awarded the Jury Prize, ex aequo with the German film Sound of Falling by Mascha Schilinski.
Oliver Laxe praised the Cannes Festival in his acceptance speech:
“I believe that’s what the Cannes Festival does. It brings us together here, we come from different cultural latitudes, in this wonderful mirror that is cinema, to see everything with new eyes, as if it were for the first time. So, long live difference, long live cultures, and long live the Cannes Festival.”
With this Jury Prize, Oliver Laxe becomes the only Spanish filmmaker to be awarded in every one of his participations at the Cannes Film Festival. Today’s recognition is one of the highest honors, one that Spanish cinema had not achieved at the French event since Viridiana (1961) by Luis Buñuel.
Sirât was presented at Cannes on May 15, in a screening followed by a standing ovation and the agreement of the specialized press, which described it as “brilliant,” “bold,” and “impactful.”
Sirât is the fourth feature film by the Galician director, who has participated in Cannes with all his previous works and has received awards each time:
- O que arde (Jury Prize in the Un Certain Regard section),
- Mimosas (Grand Prize of the Critics’ Week), and
- Todos vós sodes capitáns (his debut, which won the FIPRESCI Prize at the Directors’ Fortnight).
The film is written by Oliver Laxe and Santiago Fillol (also co-writer with Laxe of O que arde and Mimosas), and stars Sergi López (winner of the César Award for Best Actor and the European Film Award for Best European Actor for Harry, He’s Here to Help) and young Bruno Núñez (La Mesías), alongside Stefania Gadda, Joshua Liam Herderson, Tonin Javier, Jade Ouki, and Richard Bellamyun—a group of actors experiencing their first time on screen, a common feature in Laxe’s films.
