'Sirât', the original Movistar Plus+ film directed by Oliver Laxe, confirms its status as a favourite in the Official Selection of the 78th Cannes Film Festival, which has honoured it with the Jury Prize.

Oliver Laxe praised the Cannes Film Festival in his acceptance speech: “I think that's what the Cannes Film Festival does. It brings us together here, from different cultural backgrounds, in this wonderful mirror that is cinema, to see everything with new eyes, as if for the first time. So, long live difference, long live cultures, and long live the Cannes Film Festival”.

'Sirât' was presented at the Cannes Film Festival on 15 May, followed by a standing ovation and unanimous praise from critics, who described it as ‘brilliant’, “risky” and ‘shocking’.

With this Jury Prize, Oliver Laxe becomes the only Spanish filmmaker to have won an award in all of his appearances at the Cannes Film Festival. This award is the highest recognition, placing him alongside Luis Buñuel, who won the Palme d'Or with 'Viridiana' (1961), and Carlos Saura, who won the Jury Prize with  'La prima Angélica' (1973) and the Grand Jury Prize with  'Cría cuervos' (1976).

'Sirât' is the fourth feature film by the Galician filmmaker, who has participated with all his previous films in the Cannes Film Festival and has been awarded on all occasions: 'Fire Will Come' (Jury Prize in the Un Certain Regard section), 'Mimosas' (Grand Prize of the Critics' Week) and 'You Are All Captains' (his first film, which won him the FIPRESCI Prize at the Directors' Fortnight).

The film is written by Oliver Laxe and Santiago Fillol (also co-writer with Laxe of 'Fire Will Come' and 'Mimosas'), and stars Sergi López (César Award for Best Actor and European Film Award for Best European Actor for 'With a Friend Like Harry') and young Bruno Núñez Arjona ('La Mesías') alongside Stefania Gadda, Joshua Liam Henderson, Tonin Janvier, Jade Oukid and Richard Bellamy, a group of actors who have faced their first film experience, something common in Laxe's films.

The film's technical team is made up of renowned professionals such as Oriol Maymó ('The Invisible Line', 'Eye for an Eye', 'The Next Skin') as production manager, Mauro Herce as director of photography (Goya Award for Best Photography for 'Fire Will Come'), Laia Ateca ('Mantícora', 'Perfect Life', 'The Grandmother') as art director, Nadia Acimi ('Fire Will Come', 'Mes frères, et moi', 'Mimosas') as costume designer and musician Kangding Ray as composer of the soundtrack.

The film, which will hit cinemas on 6 June, distributed by Bteam Pictures, is produced by Movistar Plus+ in collaboration with Filmes Da Ermida, El Deseo, Uri Films and 4A4 Productions. International sales are handled by The Match Factory.

Synopsis

A man (Sergi López) and his son (Bruno Núñez Arjona) arrive at a remote rave in the mountains of southern Morocco. They are looking for Mar, their daughter and sister, who disappeared months ago at one of these parties that never end. They hand out her photo over and over again, surrounded by electronic music and a kind of freedom they have never known. There, they decide to follow a group of ravers in search of one last party to be held in the desert, where they hope to find the missing young woman.

About Movistar Plus+
Movistar Plus+ is the leading audiovisual entertainment offering of the Telefónica Group in Spain. Its proposition includes bold original productions and the best premium sports content, films, series, documentaries and programmes, in addition to the best functionalities and on-demand access so users can enjoy watching television wherever, however and whenever they wish.

Movistar Plus+ was born as a film producer in 2013 under the Telefónica Studios brand. Some of the co-produced titles are "Palm Trees in the Snow", "Regression", "Tadeo Jones", " My Big Night", "Anacleto Secret Agent", "Wild Tales", "Requirements To Be A Normal Person", "To Steal From A Thief", "Toro", "Altamira", "Truman", "Smoke & Mirrors", " Gold" or "Champions". In 2019, Movistar Plus+ released its first original fiction film, “While at War“, by Alejandro Amenábar, followed by “Canallas”, by Daniel Guzmán, and “Prison 77“, by Alberto Rodríguez and "I'm Nevenka" by Iciar Bollain. Movistar Plus+ has announced the production of Original feature films by prestigious directors Oliver Laxe, Rodrigo Sorogoyen, Alberto Rodríguez, Javier Calvo and Javier Ambrossi, Alauda Ruiz de Azúa and Ana Rujas.