It is with utmost honor and excitement that we announce this homage to the illustrious works of the cinematic Spanish maestro Carlos Saura in the city of Los Angeles.

Receiving the honorary award just a few days before his death, the Goya awards recognized Carlos Saura as, “one of the fundamental filmmakers in the history of Spanish cinema.” On a perpetual exploration of Spanish identity, he began making films during the Franco regime and continued until his death in early 2023 at the age of 91.

Through allegory-rich storytelling, Saura was able to dodge censors who controlled the country’s media. His third film THE HUNT, about a hunting trip gone awry, evoked memories of the brutal Spanish civil war. The year after Franco’s death, Saura won a special jury award at Cannes for CRÍA CUERVOS…which shifts between the difficult realities of a traumatic childhood in a broken country and the fantasy created to cope with it.

Saura’s later career involved youth and dance, particularly the flamenco culture of southern Spain. With HURRY, HURRY!, Saura creates a classic of the quinqui or Spanish exploitation film genre. Using actual teenage delinquents, the group of kids descend into a hopeless oblivion of drugs, disco and grand theft auto.

Vividly capturing the flamenco culture and dance, Saura’s flamenco trilogy comprised of BLOOD WEDDING, CARMEN, and LOVE, THE MAGICIAN remain some of the greatest films on dance. Following legendary flamenco dancer and choreographer, Antonio Gades and his dance company as a fictionalized versions of themselves, the films follow rehearsals of iconic plays and operas from Georges Bizet and Federico García Lorca. This flamenco trilogy set the stage for a later exploration of the Argentine dance in the film TANGO.

CRÍA CUERVOS...

SAT AUG 5, 2023 | 7:00 PM

In Spanish with English subtitles. FORMAT: 35mm.

Cría cuervos y te sacarán los ojos.

Carlos Saura’s political and psychological masterpiece CRÍA CUERVOS . . . (a title derived from the Spanish proverb, “raise crows and they’ll peck out your eyes”) finds eight-year-old Ana, in the twilight of the Franco dictatorship, living in Madrid with a stern aunt as she mourns the death of her mother. Between fantasy and reality, Ana and her sisters try their best to grow up in a country that is only just beginning to emerge from the shadows.

HURRY, HURRY!

THU AUG 10, 2023 | 10:00 PM

In Spanish with English subtitles. FORMAT: 35mm.

“Cría cuervos y te sacarán los ojos.”  Carlos Saura’s political and psychological masterpiece CRÍA CUERVOS . . . (a title derived from the Spanish proverb, “raise crows and they’ll peck out your eyes”) finds eight-year-old Ana, in the twilight of the Franco dictatorship, living in Madrid with a stern aunt as she mourns the death of her mother. Between fantasy and reality, Ana and her sisters try their best to grow up in a country that is only just beginning to emerge from the shadows.

CARMEN

TUE AUG 22, 2023 | 7:00 PM

In Spanish with English subtitles. FORMAT: DCP.

A group of dancers rehearse choreographer Antonio Gades’ flamenco-infused production of Prosper Merimee’s Carmen. As he begins to fall madly in love with the lead, Laura, his affection mutates into jealousy and the rehearsal begins to reflect the tragedy they are performing.

BLOOD WEDDING

SAT SEP 2, 2023 | 1:00 PM

In Spanish with English subtitles. FORMAT: DCP.

Following choreographer Antonio Gades’ flamenco-inspired adaptation of Federico Garcia Lorca’s BLOOD WEDDING, Carlos Saura uses gripping camerawork and heart-pounding rhythmic editing to evoke the experience of moving with the dancers every step of the way.

TANGO

WED SEP 6, 2023 | 10:00 PM

In Spanish with English subtitles. FORMAT: 35mm.

Flamboyant. Colorful. Sensual. This is the seductive world of TANGO, stunningly brought to life by acclaimed director Carlos Saura, Grammy-winning composer Lalo Schifrin and Oscar-winning cinematographer Vittorio Storaro. Set against the backdrop of a director’s passionate love affair with his art and the beautiful young woman, who is the mistress of the main investor of the film, TANGO expresses the love and hate, life and art, sins of the past and the hope for the future that take placplace during casting process.