Artist talk: Albert Serra

Albert Serra, born in 1975 in Banyoles, Spain, boasts a portfolio spanning ten feature films, short films, video installations, and theatrical productions. Recognised for his bold and thought-provoking cinema, Serra challenges established norms and conventions with his subversive narratives. Drawing from European myths and literature, he reinterprets the tales of iconic figures like Don Quixote, Casanova, and Dracula to explore contemporary themes such as freedom, obscured power dynamics, and moral ambiguity.

His debut film Honor de cavalleria (2006) was selected by Cahiers du Cinéma as one of the ten best films of 2007. He won the Golden Leopard at Locarno Film Festival in 2013 for Història de la meva mort (2013), and bagged the Prix Jean Vigo in 2016 for La mort de Louis XIV (2016). Liberté received the Un Certain Regard - Special Jury Prize at Cannes Film Festival in 2019. Pacifiction (2022), his most recent feature film, was selected for the Golden Palm competition at Cannes in 2022. For Documenta 13 he made Three Little Pigs, a 101-hour film presentation based on the historical figures of Goethe, Hitler and Fassbinder.

Moderator Erika Balsom is a scholar and critic based in London, working on cinema, art, and their intersection. She is Reader in Film Studies at King’s College Londonand holds a PhD in Modern Culture and Media from Brown University. In addition to her academic scholarship, Erika is a member of the London Film Critics Circle and writes regularly for publications such as Artforum, Cinema Scope, and 4Columns.