El Planeta is an absurdist comedy film directed and written by Amalia Ulman. The film stars Amalia Ulman, Ale Ulman (Amalia's real-life mother), Nacho Vigalondo, Zhou Chen and Saoirse Bertram.[3]
El Planeta | |
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Directed by | Amalia Ulman |
Written by | Amalia Ulman |
Produced by |
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Starring |
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Cinematography | Carlos Rigo Bellver |
Edited by |
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Production company | Holga's Meow Pictures |
Distributed by | Utopia[1] |
Release date | |
Running time | 79 minutes |
Countries |
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Languages |
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The film had its world premiere at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival on January 30, 2021.[2]
An absurdist comedy, the film centers on the story of a mother and daughter facing eviction in post-crisis Spain and scamming their way to a more comfortable lifestyle. The film is loosely based on the real-life Spanish mother-daughter petty-crime duo Justina and Ana Belén.[4]
The cast includes:[5]
Ulman wrote, produced, and directed the feature, which stars herself and her mother in the latter's debut performance on the silver screen.[4] The film was shot in black and white in Gijón, the Spanish town where Ulman grew up.[7]
The film had its premiere in the 2021 Sundance Film Festival on January 30, 2021, in the World Cinema Dramatic Competition section.[8]
On March 17, 2021, Utopia acquired the US distribution rights to the film.[7] On July 16, 2021, Static Vision announced their acquisition of the Australian and New Zealand rights to the film.[9]
The film was selected for screening at the Brisbane International Film Festival and the Sydney Film Festival in October and November 2021 respectively.[10] The film was also selected to screen at the 2021 edition of the Melbourne International Film Festival, before the in-person element of the festival was cancelled.[9]
As of May 2022[update] review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes surveyed 41 critics and, categorizing the reviews as positive or negative, assessed 39 as positive and 2 as negative for a 95% rating. Among the reviews, it determined an average rating of 7.5 out of 10.[11]
El Planeta has been nominated for and won a number of awards. Wins have included:[14]