Honour of the Knights

Honor de cavalleria

This overtly minimalistic take on Cervantes’ legendary novel has no windmills; there is just the wind, the sun, the trees, and the grass. Two roaming male figures, Don Quixote and his loyal servant Sancho Panza, wonder around a savage landscape, unspoiled by human intervention. The two companions seek adventure, crave for the unexpected, daydream in silence, contemplate on high ideals and discuss the trivia of their everyday routine. Albert Serra’s debut pays tribute to cinema masters Ozu, Bresson and Pasolini, oozing a profound and unrefined humanism.

Screening Schedule

No physical screenings scheduled.

Direction: Albert Serra

Script: Albert Serra

Cinematography: Christophe Farnarier, Eduard Grau

Editing: David Gallart, Angel Martin

Sound: Joan Pons, Jordi Ribas

Music: Ferran Font, Cristian Vogel

Actors: Lluis Carbo, Lluis Serrat, Albert Pla,Lluis Carbo, Lluis Serrat, Jordi Pau, Eliseu Huertas, Montse Triola, Jimmy Gimferrer, Angel Martin, Jordi Ribas, Gloria Maso

Production: Andergraun Films

Producers: Albert Serra, Montse Triola

Co-production: Eddi Saeta, Notro Film

Format: 35mm

Color: Color

Production Country: Spain

Production Year: 2006

Duration: 104΄

Contact: Andergraun Films

Awards/Distinctions: FIPRESCI Prize – Viennale 2006, Best New Director, Best Film in Catalan Language – Barcelona Film Awards 2006

Albert Serra

Born in Banyoles in 1975, Albert Serra is a Catalan artist and director. Having studied philosophy and literature, he wrote plays and produced different video works. He gained international recognition with his first long feature, Honor of the Knights, a free adaptation of Don Quijote played by non-professional actors from his village. The film was presented at Cannes’ Directors’ Fortnight in 2006. For his second film, Birdsong, Serra took inspiration from a traditional Catalan Christmas song, El cant dels ocells, and worked with the same group of people to tell the story of the Three Wise Men following their guiding star to find Jesus. In 2013, the Centre Pompidou in Paris gave him a carte blanche for correspondence with the Argentinian director Lisandro Alonso. The same year he received the Golden Leopard in Locarno for his new film Story of my Death, inspired by Casanova’s memoirs. The Death of Louis XIV starring Jean-Pierre Léaud as the Sun King was presented in the Official Selection of Cannes Film Festival 2016. Liberté, starring Helmut Berger, Marc Susini, Baptiste Pinteaux, is the cinematic recreation of his 2018 Berlin Volksbühne play of the same name, which won the Special Jury award at the 2019 Un Certain Regard selection at Cannes. In 2022, he returned to Cannes in the Official Competition Section, with Pacifiction.