Notes on…

The Permanent Picture(2023)

Dir. Directed by Laura Ferrés

Cambridge Film Festival 2023: Film #15

A dry and deliberately alienating satire that probably requires more knowledge of contemporary Catalonian society, culture and politics to appreciate in full. The rather clinical shots seem to dare the viewer into seeing this film as being emotionally cold, but I suspect something else might be going on that's just out of reach. Or maybe I'm wrong, and, to quote the film itself: a banana is a banana.

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Synopsis: In a town in rural southern Spain, Antonia, a teenage mother, disappears in the middle of the night, leaving her baby behind. Fifty years later in Barcelona, Carmen, an introverted casting director, is looking for people to share their experiences of arriving in a new city. In her search, Carmen meets Antonia, an impulsive woman who intrudes into her loneliness. Who says that time heals all wounds?