Carla Simón Pipó (born 22 December 1986) is a Spanish film director. Both her 2017 debut feature ''

Summer 1993 ''Summer 1993'' ( ca, Estiu 1993) is a 2017 Catalan-language Spanish drama film directed and written by Carla Simón. The film premiered in the Generation section at the 67th Berlin International Film Festival, where it won the GWFF Best First F ...

'' () and her second feature, ''

Alcarràs Alcarràs is a municipality in the ''comarca'' of the Segrià in Catalonia. It includes a small exclave to the south. Etymology Of Arabic origin, in ancient documents (12th century) it appears with the form ''Alcaraz''. According to Arabist ...

'' (which won the

Golden Bear The Golden Bear (german: Goldener Bär) is the highest prize awarded for the best film at the Berlin International Film Festival. The bear is the heraldic animal of Berlin, featured on both the coat of arms and flag of Berlin. History The winn ...

at the 72nd Berlinale, the first

Catalan-language Catalan (; autonym: , ), known in the Valencian Community and Carche as ''Valencian'' (autonym: ), is a Western Romance language. It is the official language of Andorra, and an official language of three autonomous communities in eastern Spa ...

film to do so), were submitted to the

Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS, often pronounced ; also known as simply the Academy or the Motion Picture Academy) is a professional honorary organization with the stated goal of advancing the arts and sciences of motio ...

to represent Spain for Best International Feature Film at the 90th and

95th Academy Awards The 95th Academy Awards ceremony, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), will honor films released in 2022, and is scheduled to take place at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles, California on March 12, 2023. Comed ...

, respectively.

Biography

Simón was born 22 December 1986 in

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

and spent her youth in the Catalan village of

Les Planes d'Hostoles Les Planes d'Hostoles is a village and municipality in the province of Girona and autonomous community of Catalonia, Spain. The municipality covers an area of and the population in 2014 was 1,694. From 1900, Les Planes d'Hostoles was linked to Gi ...

. By the age of six, both her parents died of AIDS so she had to live with her uncle and his family in

Garrotxa Garrotxa () is a comarca (county) in Girona, Catalonia, Spain. Its population in 2016 was 55,999, more than half of them in the capital city of Olot. It is roughly equivalent to the historical County of Besalú. Geography Garrotxa borders t ...

in northern Catalonia. In 2009, Simón graduated from studying film science at the

Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona The Autonomous University of Barcelona ( ca, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona; , es, Universidad Autónoma de Barcelona; UAB), is a public university mostly located in Cerdanyola del Vallès, near the city of Barcelona in Catalonia, Spain. ...

. In 2010, she studied television work at Televisió de Catalunya and later at the

London Film School London Film School (LFS) is a film school in London and is situated in a converted brewery in Covent Garden, London, neighbouring Soho, a hub of the UK film industry. It is the oldest film school in the UK.

. During her time in London she directed the documentary film ''Born Positive'' and the short film ''Lipstick.'' Her youth experience was the background to her first film which premiered in 2017. ''Summer 1993'' was filmed in 2017, and became Simón's first feature film production. The film is about a young girl and her reaction to and ways of handling her parents' sudden death. The film was produced by Inicia Films y Avalon P.C. and the filming took place over six weeks in rural Garrotxa where Simón grew up. The film has received plenty of attention at various film festivals where it was shown. It has won over thirty awards, amongst them the award for Debut Film at the

Berlin Film Festival The Berlin International Film Festival (german: Internationale Filmfestspiele Berlin), usually called the Berlinale (), is a major international film festival held annually in Berlin, Germany. Founded in 1951 and originally run in June, the festi ...

. It was also chosen as Spain's submission for Best Foreign Film at the 90th Academy Awards, the second film in Catalan to be submitted to the award ever. Simón's 2022 film, ''

'', won the

at the seventy-second edition of the

Berlinale The Berlin International Film Festival (german: Internationale Filmfestspiele Berlin), usually called the Berlinale (), is a major international film festival held annually in Berlin, Germany. Founded in 1951 and originally run in June, the festi ...

, becoming the first

film to receive this award.

Filmography

Direction

*2009 – ''Lovers'' *2009 – ''Women'' *2012 – ''Born Positive'' *2013 – ''Lipstick'' *2014 – *2017 – ''

'' *2018 – ''Después también'' *2020 – ''Correspondencia'', co-directed with Dominga Sotomayor *2022 – ''

'' *2022 – ''Carta a mi madre para mi hijo''

Scriptwriter

*2012 – ''Born Positive'' (documentary film) *2013 – ''Lipstick'' (short film) *2017 – ''Summer 1993'', feature film *2018 – ''Después También'' (short film), co-scripted with Aina Clotet *2022 – ''Alcarràs'' (feature film), co-scripted with Arnau Vilaró

Awards and nominations

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Simon, Carla 1986 births Living people Film directors from Catalonia Spanish women film directors Directors of Golden Bear winners 21st-century Spanish screenwriters