Birdsong

El cant dels ocells

The Three Kings wander through the desert in search of baby Jesus, tangled in an existential whirlpool. They inhabit, as Albert Serra describes it, an absurd “land of nowhere,” a fleeting niche in historical time and space in which Christianity has not yet shaped its deeper meaning. The Wise Men are at the same time desperate seekers led astray and genuine icons of faith and devotion. Serra’s camera stands at a distance, paying its respects to the miracle of man.
Screening Schedule

No physical screenings scheduled.


Direction: Albert Serra
Script: Albert Serra
Cinematography: Neus Ollé, Jimmy Gimferrer
Editing: Àngel Martín, Albert Serra
Actors: Lluís Carbó, Lluís Serrat Batlle, Lluís Serrat
Production: Andergraun Films, Eddie Saeta
Producers: Montse Triola, Luis Miñarro
Art Direction: Jimmy Gimferrer
Format: 35mm
Color: B&W
Production Country: Spain
Production Year: 2008
Duration: 98΄
Contact: Andergraun Films
Awards/Distinctions: Grand Prix – Entrevues FF 2008, Best Director, Best Cinematography, Best Film in Catalan Language – Gaudí Awards 2009

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.

Filmography

2006 Honor of the Knights
2008 Birdsong
2013 Story of my Death
2016 The Death of Louis XI
2019 Liberté
2022 Pacifiction