The Hunt

In his characteristic style, Carlos Saura conceals a sweeping allegory of post-Franco Spain beneath a seemingly simple story. Three Falange veterans arrive in a sun-scorched, barren landscape for the titular hunt. The gathering gradually turns into a confrontation with unresolved traumas—the wounds and bitterness of the past buried beneath the surface. Against this austere backdrop, the director constructs a vivid tapestry of symbols reflecting the fabric of the nation. With The Hunt, Carlos Saura made his mark on the international scene—not only did he win the Silver Bear for Best Director at the Berlin Film Festival, but he also left a lasting impression on fellow filmmakers. Sam Peckinpah (Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid, Straw Dogs) later recalled that watching The Hunt changed his perspective on cinema. The striking images of the Castilian wilderness, meanwhile, are the debut work of Luis Cuadrada, a cinematographer who would go on to shoot, among others, Víctor Erice’s legendary The Spirit of the Beehive.

Julia Palmowska

Carlos Saura (1932–2023) – Spanish film director and screenwriter, regarded as one of the most important figures in Spanish cinema. He came from a family with strong artistic traditions, which shaped his interests and sensibility. In 1957 he completed his studies in film directing in Madrid—where he had also studied engineering and journalism—debuting with the documentary La tarde del domingo (Sunday Afternoon). He then made The Delinquents, a film blending documentary and fiction. In 1966, with The Hunt, Saura began a nearly twenty-year collaboration with producer Elías Querejeta, which afforded him a degree of creative freedom during the dictatorship of General Franco. During this period he focused primarily on psychological and family dramas that subtly alluded to the political realities of the Iberian Peninsula. Marked by lyricism and dreamlike imagery, and drawing on Spanish literature (Calderón, Sender, Lorca) as well as painting (Ribeiro, Murillo, Goya), Saura’s films stand out as deeply original auteur works. He also achieved mastery in dance- and music-based cinema, including his operatic films Salomé and Carmen, and his celebrated ballet films with Cristina Hoyos and Antonio Gades, such as Blood Wedding.

16th New Horizons IFF Catalogue