With his surreal, poetic and historically inspired animated feature set for a limited U.S. release this summer, Spanish director Salvador Simó sat down for an on-camera discussion about bringing Luis Buñuel’s experience in Las Hurdes to life in Buñuel in the Labyrinth of the Turtles, using the particular magic of animation.
Synopsis: Paris, 1930. Salvador Dalí and Luis Buñuel are main figures of the Surrealist movement, but Buñuel is left penniless after a scandal surrounding his film L’Age d’Or. However, his good friend, the sculptor Ramón Acín, buys a lottery ticket with the promise that, if he wins, he will pay for his next film. Incredibly, luck is on their side, and so they set out to make the movie, an ambitious documentary on the Las Hurdes region in Spain. Both a buddy adventure and fascinating episode of cinematic history, Buñuel in the Labyrinth of the Turtles presents a deeply affecting and humanistic portrait of an artist hunting for his purpose.
Winner of the Annecy Jury Award for Feature Film 2019 and the Special Jury Prize of Animation Is Film 2018, Buñuel in the Labyrinth of the Turtles is produced Sygnatia and The Glow (Spain), in co-production with Submarine (Netherlands). Manuel Cristobal served as producer.
GKIDS is presenting Buñuel in the Labyrinth of the Turtles in select New York and Los Angeles theaters starting August 16.
