UAB alumnus Carla Simón makes history as she wins the Berlinale Golden Bear Award

Carla Simón: "At the UAB, I learnt to read, reflect, and write with a critical eye; that stays with you forever, and it is something crucial when you are young".

The film "Alcarràs", by Carla Simón, is the first film in Catalan to win the top prize at the Berlin International FIlm Festival. It is the most important prize a Catalan film has been awarded in the history of Catalan cinema. The president of the jury, director M. Night Shaymalan, highlighted the "extraordinary interpretations" seen in the film, "from children to 80-year-old actors" and the capacity of the film to "show the tenderness and comedy of the family and a portrait of their dependence on the land". "Alcarràs" is set to be shown in cinemas in April.

The second feature film by Carla Simón, after her feature film debut "Estiu 1993", shows part of her personal universe as she narrates the story of the Solé family, who after generations of cultivating peaches, are forced to harvest them for the last time. Simón is very familiar with both the theme and the area in which the film was shot. Part of her family are also farmers living in this town, located in the Segrià region. And that is precisely why this film is also an advocacy for a way of life and a defense of the life of farmers.

Proud to have formed part of the UAB

Carla Simón i Pipó earned her bachelor's degree in Audiovisual Communication from the UAB Faculty of Communication Studies in 2009, and travelled to California to enrol in Film Studies thanks to a mobility grant. This experience is what led her finally to decide to pursue filmmaking and it was then that she travelled to London on a grant to study a master's degree at the London Film School.

The UAB Social Council awarded her the UAB Alumni Prize in 2018. In the acceptance speech video, the film director expressed how proud and grateful she was to have studied at the UAB: "My life at the UAB was very intense; I remember those years very fondly, they are very dear to me", she said. She went on to explain that, "when I finished secondary school I could have gone onto a film school, but I decided first to go to university and study Audiovisual Communication at the UAB, an I am very happy to have done so". Carla Simón also also said that at the UAB, "I learnt to read, reflect and write with a critical eye; that stays with you forever and it is something crucial when you are young". She pointed out that the UAB was not only where she developed academically, but also personally, as she participated in campus life intensely, doing theatre and watching films at the UAB.

UAB students had the privilege of hearing her speak again as Carla Simón gave the inaugural speech of the 2018 academic year at the Faculty of Communication Studies.

Carla Simón's 2017 feature film debut “Estiu 1993" also gained wide international recognition: it was chosen to represent Spain in the 90th Oscars Academy Awards, it received the Best First Feature Award at the Berlinale, as well as prizes from other film festivals such as those held in Cannes, Istanbul, Odesa and Buenos Aires. The film also triumphed at the 2018 Gaudí Awards, where it received five awards. Carla Simón was also awarded Best New Director at the 2018 Goya Awards. 

More information:

Acceptance speech by Carla Simon for the Alumni Award at the Nit del Consell Social de la UAB 2018

UAB Alumni interviews Carla Simon

Film director Carla Simón inaugurates the 2018 academic year at the Faculty of Communication Studies