Albert Serra

On the French Polynesian island of Tahiti, the High Commissioner of the Republic and French government official De Roller (Benoît Magimel) is a calculating man with flawless manners. His somewhat broad perception of his role brings him to navigate the high end ’establishment’ as well as shady venues where he mingles with the locals. Especially since a persistent rumor has been going around: the sighting of a submarine whose ghostly presence could herald the return of French nuclear testing. (grasshopperfilm.com)

The Thessaloniki International Film Festival presents the third part of the project "Spaces" with the participation of seven renowned directors from all over the world. In "Spaces #3" the filmmakers share with us the short films that they have prepared at home, presenting an image of the quarantine which tears down all borders. (filmfestival.gr)

Madame de Dumeval, the Duke of Tesis and the Duke of Wand, libertines expelled from the Puritan court of Louis XVI, sought the support of the legendary Duke of Walchen, a seducer and free thinker from Germany, alone in a country where hypocrisy and false virtue reigned. Their mission: to export libertinage to Germany, a philosophy of enlightenment based on the rejection of morality and authority but also, and above all, to find a safe place to continue their misguided games. (imdb)

Louis XIV is no newcomer to Albert Serra's filmography, the hero of his latest opus to date, THE DEATH OF LOUIS XIV (2016). ROI SOLEIL features a twin, even though, in the game of differences, it turns out that there are quite a few. Instead of Jean-Pierre Léaud, a non-professionnal actor whom Serra already worked with in his first films (imdb)

August 1715. After going for a walk, Louis XIV feels a pain in his leg. The next days, the king keeps fulfilling his duties and obligations, but his sleep is troubled and he has a serious fever. He barely eats and weakens increasingly. This is the start of the slow agony of the greatest king of France, surrounded by his relatives and doctors. (festival-cannes.com)

An encounter between two other legendary figures of world literature -- Casanova and Count Dracula -- in this deliciously eccentric and exquisitely detailed riff on the historical costume drama. (tiff.net)

A short film following a male singer's performance in a night club.

Between takes, Serra's cast and crew watch, bicker, argue, eat and wait for Albert. There are echoes of Truffaut's Day for Night in the appealing simplicity of Serra's approach. The Lord Worked Wonders in Me, however, is more than just a film about filmmaking. Lyrical absurdism, an uncompromising cinematic vision and the attention to composition evidenced in his earlier features all combine to provide a commentary on a 21st-century quest with earlier antecedents. (bfi.org.uk)

Filmmaker Albert Serra specifically conceived the series The Names of Christ (2010) for the exhibition Are You Ready for TV? It consists of 14 episodes, with a total duration of 193 minutes, and is based on the book The Names of Christ (1572-1586), by Friar Luis de León. Serra constructs a narrative based on a free, poetic structure, which ironically deconstructs the conventions and grammars of the film, art and television worlds. (KG)

Experimental movie. No dialog. Only one color, changing according to the music. (KG)

Traces the Three Wise Men as they journey to pay their respects and bring gifts to Jesus Christ.

A short film by Albert Serra, made in conjunction with his third feature film, Birdsong, from a small reference by Dante to the King Arrigo VII (Henry VII) in "Paradise" from "The Divine Comedy." (evene.fr)

This short film is included in the coffret "cinéastes de notre temps" dedicated to Jean Marie Straub et Danielle Huillet (the spanish edition). In this Serra'as tribute to the couple, he shows his actor Lluis Serrat (Sancho in Honor de Cavalleria, and one of the three wise men in El cant dels Ocells) in his real life as a worker in the village. (KG)

Quixote and Sancho canter off, directionless, in search of adventures. On the way, their discussions tackle spiritual, chivalrous and practical matters... and their friendship deepens.

First of the director of "Honor of cavallería", a level of almost monumental distraction. At heart it is not so different from its "Quijote". If the protagonists of "Crespià" left from the town to the mount they would be taken like personages of Cervantes. (Aguadilu)