Albert Serra

Albert Serra

Birth : 1975-10-09, Banyoles, Catalonia, Spain

History

Albert Serra (born October 10, 1975; Banyoles, Catalonia) is a Catalan filmmaker, contemporary artist and manager of the production company Andergraun Films, set up by Montse Triola primarily to produce Serra’s films. Besides writing, directing and producing films, Albert Serra writes and produces plays. Graduated in Spanish literature and comparative literature at the University of Barcelona, where he also studied art history. Serra has been called “one of the most singular and radical filmmakers working today.” He is also a big fan of classical music and chess. “I’m not interested in forcing a meaning onto a filmic story. In fact I’d even rather the audience know more than I do about the meaning of my films.”

Profile

Albert Serra
Albert Serra
Albert Serra
Albert Serra
Albert Serra
Albert Serra
Albert Serra
Albert Serra

Movies

Pacifiction
Screenplay
Island of Tahiti. French government official De Roller is a calculating man with impeccable manners, capable of dealing with both high society and the locals he frequents in shady joints.
Pacifiction
Editor
Island of Tahiti. French government official De Roller is a calculating man with impeccable manners, capable of dealing with both high society and the locals he frequents in shady joints.
Pacifiction
Producer
Island of Tahiti. French government official De Roller is a calculating man with impeccable manners, capable of dealing with both high society and the locals he frequents in shady joints.
Pacifiction
Writer
Island of Tahiti. French government official De Roller is a calculating man with impeccable manners, capable of dealing with both high society and the locals he frequents in shady joints.
Pacifiction
Director
Island of Tahiti. French government official De Roller is a calculating man with impeccable manners, capable of dealing with both high society and the locals he frequents in shady joints.
Vienna Waltz
Director
Viennale 2022 Trailer
My Influences
Editor
In “Spaces #3”, 7 internationally acclaimed directors shot, after commissioning by the Thessaloniki International Film Festival, a short film at home, making their own timely comment on the new reality that we live in. The project is inspired by the book “Species of Spaces” by the French novelist, filmmaker, documentalist, and essayist, Georges Perec and the days of quarantine. The idea is to create a film at home, using the environment, the people or the animals in that space. The only outdoor areas that may be used are outdoor living spaces, such as the terrace, the garden, the balcony and the stairwell. “My influences” is Albert Serra’s submission.
My Influences
Himself
In “Spaces #3”, 7 internationally acclaimed directors shot, after commissioning by the Thessaloniki International Film Festival, a short film at home, making their own timely comment on the new reality that we live in. The project is inspired by the book “Species of Spaces” by the French novelist, filmmaker, documentalist, and essayist, Georges Perec and the days of quarantine. The idea is to create a film at home, using the environment, the people or the animals in that space. The only outdoor areas that may be used are outdoor living spaces, such as the terrace, the garden, the balcony and the stairwell. “My influences” is Albert Serra’s submission.
My Influences
Director
In “Spaces #3”, 7 internationally acclaimed directors shot, after commissioning by the Thessaloniki International Film Festival, a short film at home, making their own timely comment on the new reality that we live in. The project is inspired by the book “Species of Spaces” by the French novelist, filmmaker, documentalist, and essayist, Georges Perec and the days of quarantine. The idea is to create a film at home, using the environment, the people or the animals in that space. The only outdoor areas that may be used are outdoor living spaces, such as the terrace, the garden, the balcony and the stairwell. “My influences” is Albert Serra’s submission.
Liberte
Editor
1774, shortly before the French Revolution, somewhere between Potsdam and Berlin. Madame de Dumeval, the Duke de Tesis and the Duke de Wand, libertines expelled from the puritanical court of Louis XVI, seek the support of the legendary Duc de Walchen, German seducer and freethinker, lonely in a country where hypocrisy and false virtue reign. Their mission is to export libertinage, a philosophy of enlightenment founded on the rejection of moral boundaries and authorities, but moreover to find a safe place to pursue their errant games, where the quest for pleasure no longer obeys laws other than those dictated by unfulfilled desires.
Liberte
Producer
1774, shortly before the French Revolution, somewhere between Potsdam and Berlin. Madame de Dumeval, the Duke de Tesis and the Duke de Wand, libertines expelled from the puritanical court of Louis XVI, seek the support of the legendary Duc de Walchen, German seducer and freethinker, lonely in a country where hypocrisy and false virtue reign. Their mission is to export libertinage, a philosophy of enlightenment founded on the rejection of moral boundaries and authorities, but moreover to find a safe place to pursue their errant games, where the quest for pleasure no longer obeys laws other than those dictated by unfulfilled desires.
Liberte
Screenplay
1774, shortly before the French Revolution, somewhere between Potsdam and Berlin. Madame de Dumeval, the Duke de Tesis and the Duke de Wand, libertines expelled from the puritanical court of Louis XVI, seek the support of the legendary Duc de Walchen, German seducer and freethinker, lonely in a country where hypocrisy and false virtue reign. Their mission is to export libertinage, a philosophy of enlightenment founded on the rejection of moral boundaries and authorities, but moreover to find a safe place to pursue their errant games, where the quest for pleasure no longer obeys laws other than those dictated by unfulfilled desires.
Liberte
Director
1774, shortly before the French Revolution, somewhere between Potsdam and Berlin. Madame de Dumeval, the Duke de Tesis and the Duke de Wand, libertines expelled from the puritanical court of Louis XVI, seek the support of the legendary Duc de Walchen, German seducer and freethinker, lonely in a country where hypocrisy and false virtue reign. Their mission is to export libertinage, a philosophy of enlightenment founded on the rejection of moral boundaries and authorities, but moreover to find a safe place to pursue their errant games, where the quest for pleasure no longer obeys laws other than those dictated by unfulfilled desires.
Personalien
Editor
In an ambiance loaded with tension, intellectual doubts and creative frustration, Rainer Werner Fassbinder writes and teaches the staging of a theater piece about the 18th century Libertiage at a great theater in Berlín.
Personalien
Writer
In an ambiance loaded with tension, intellectual doubts and creative frustration, Rainer Werner Fassbinder writes and teaches the staging of a theater piece about the 18th century Libertiage at a great theater in Berlín.
Personalien
Director
In an ambiance loaded with tension, intellectual doubts and creative frustration, Rainer Werner Fassbinder writes and teaches the staging of a theater piece about the 18th century Libertiage at a great theater in Berlín.
Helmut Berger, My Mother and Me
Self
My mother googles the film hero of her youth: Helmut Berger. She is shocked: only an addicted shadow of the former icon seems to be left. She decides to halt the obvious catastrophic decline of the once “most handsome man in the world”. As a consequence, this one-time god of the screen is suddenly sitting on my mother’s sofa in Nordsehl in Lower Saxony. And he stays put - for several months. While he trustingly rolls out his whole life before us, the dividing lines between film team, world star and family intermingle. This is a film about ageing, rising and falling - and about the fact that it is sometimes possible to regain an element of dignity in life.
Love Me Not
Thanks
A powerful international army assigns a regiment the task of guarding a mysterious man, held in a maximum security prison in the middle of the desert. Soldier Salome, daughter of Commander Antipas, becomes obsessed with him... Eros and Thanatos together reminding us that truth is based on beauty and love.
Roi Soleil
Editor
Catalan director Albert Serra’s follow-up to his magisterial The Death of Louis XIV is another forensic documentation of the Sun King’s final breaths. Here, however, Versailles is replaced with the glow of the gallery.
Roi Soleil
Producer
Catalan director Albert Serra’s follow-up to his magisterial The Death of Louis XIV is another forensic documentation of the Sun King’s final breaths. Here, however, Versailles is replaced with the glow of the gallery.
Roi Soleil
Director
Catalan director Albert Serra’s follow-up to his magisterial The Death of Louis XIV is another forensic documentation of the Sun King’s final breaths. Here, however, Versailles is replaced with the glow of the gallery.
The Death of Louis XIV
Producer
August 1715. After going for a walk, Louis XIV feels a pain in his leg. The next days, the king keeps fulfilling his duties and obligations, but his sleep is troubled and he has a serious fever. He barely eats and weakens increasingly. This is the start of the slow agony of the greatest king of France, surrounded by his relatives and doctors.
The Death of Louis XIV
Director
August 1715. After going for a walk, Louis XIV feels a pain in his leg. The next days, the king keeps fulfilling his duties and obligations, but his sleep is troubled and he has a serious fever. He barely eats and weakens increasingly. This is the start of the slow agony of the greatest king of France, surrounded by his relatives and doctors.
The Death of Louis XIV
Screenplay
August 1715. After going for a walk, Louis XIV feels a pain in his leg. The next days, the king keeps fulfilling his duties and obligations, but his sleep is troubled and he has a serious fever. He barely eats and weakens increasingly. This is the start of the slow agony of the greatest king of France, surrounded by his relatives and doctors.
The Death of Louis XIV
Editor
August 1715. After going for a walk, Louis XIV feels a pain in his leg. The next days, the king keeps fulfilling his duties and obligations, but his sleep is troubled and he has a serious fever. He barely eats and weakens increasingly. This is the start of the slow agony of the greatest king of France, surrounded by his relatives and doctors.
Singularity
Screenplay
The film takes place in Ireland – an Ireland where people speak Catalan with a Fassbinder accent – from the 1930 to today, and follows in several parallel directions the sprawling saga of two rival gold mines, the exploitation of artists by Capital, and the simultaneous opening of a brothel where women do not like men. Because he does things his own way, Albert Serra’s most narrative and wordy film was not meant for cinema: produced by the Venice Biennale, it was part of an installation, its chapters shown simultaneously on several screens. Singularity could very well have been called “Velvet Goldmine”, as it sings the meeting of brothels and tunnels, of a golden stud and lustful bodies (both shown as abstractions).
Singularity
Director
The film takes place in Ireland – an Ireland where people speak Catalan with a Fassbinder accent – from the 1930 to today, and follows in several parallel directions the sprawling saga of two rival gold mines, the exploitation of artists by Capital, and the simultaneous opening of a brothel where women do not like men. Because he does things his own way, Albert Serra’s most narrative and wordy film was not meant for cinema: produced by the Venice Biennale, it was part of an installation, its chapters shown simultaneously on several screens. Singularity could very well have been called “Velvet Goldmine”, as it sings the meeting of brothels and tunnels, of a golden stud and lustful bodies (both shown as abstractions).
Cubalibre
Director
An homage from Serra to one of his idols, Rainer Werner Fassbinder, shot in a nightclub full of characters that resemble the ones of Fassbinder films. The title comes from the favourite drink of “Beware of the Holy Whore” characters.
Cubalibre
An homage from Serra to one of his idols, Rainer Werner Fassbinder, shot in a nightclub full of characters that resemble the ones of Fassbinder films. The title comes from the favourite drink of “Beware of the Holy Whore” characters.
An Afternoon in Geneva
Production Coordinator
In 1973, towards the end of the Franco regime, the famous catalan writer Mercè Rodoreda bumped into the literary critic Josep Maria Castellet in Geneva where she lived exiled and she invited him to tea at her house. The writer was a most discrete person and maintained everything that concerned her wrapped in secrecy. Indeed she herself had become a secret or perhaps, even a maker of secrets. However that afternoon, strangely, she opened up and shared many intimacies.
Story of My Death
Editor
Casanova meets a new servant who will witness his last moments in life, from a castle with its libertine 18th century atmosphere to the poor, shadowy Northern lands. There, his rationalist way of thinking and mundane world will succumb to a violent and romantic force, represented by Count Dracula.
Story of My Death
Producer
Casanova meets a new servant who will witness his last moments in life, from a castle with its libertine 18th century atmosphere to the poor, shadowy Northern lands. There, his rationalist way of thinking and mundane world will succumb to a violent and romantic force, represented by Count Dracula.
Story of My Death
Screenplay
Casanova meets a new servant who will witness his last moments in life, from a castle with its libertine 18th century atmosphere to the poor, shadowy Northern lands. There, his rationalist way of thinking and mundane world will succumb to a violent and romantic force, represented by Count Dracula.
Story of My Death
Director
Casanova meets a new servant who will witness his last moments in life, from a castle with its libertine 18th century atmosphere to the poor, shadowy Northern lands. There, his rationalist way of thinking and mundane world will succumb to a violent and romantic force, represented by Count Dracula.
The Three Little Pigs
Director
A 101-hour long reflection on the construction of Europe, its cultural identity and its foundations through the complete adaptation of the texts ‘Conversations with Goethe’ by J. P. Eckermann, ‘Hitler’s Table Talks’ and ‘Fassbinder über Fassbinder: Die ungekürzten Interviews’ (a compilation of interviews with the German filmmaker Rainer Werner Fassbinder, which is used as a counterpoint to the first two books). The texts are read, page by page, by non-professional actors.
The Three Little Pigs
Stage Director
A 101-hour long reflection on the construction of Europe, its cultural identity and its foundations through the complete adaptation of the texts ‘Conversations with Goethe’ by J. P. Eckermann, ‘Hitler’s Table Talks’ and ‘Fassbinder über Fassbinder: Die ungekürzten Interviews’ (a compilation of interviews with the German filmmaker Rainer Werner Fassbinder, which is used as a counterpoint to the first two books). The texts are read, page by page, by non-professional actors.
The Three Little Pigs
Editor
A 101-hour long reflection on the construction of Europe, its cultural identity and its foundations through the complete adaptation of the texts ‘Conversations with Goethe’ by J. P. Eckermann, ‘Hitler’s Table Talks’ and ‘Fassbinder über Fassbinder: Die ungekürzten Interviews’ (a compilation of interviews with the German filmmaker Rainer Werner Fassbinder, which is used as a counterpoint to the first two books). The texts are read, page by page, by non-professional actors.
The Three Little Pigs
Writer
A 101-hour long reflection on the construction of Europe, its cultural identity and its foundations through the complete adaptation of the texts ‘Conversations with Goethe’ by J. P. Eckermann, ‘Hitler’s Table Talks’ and ‘Fassbinder über Fassbinder: Die ungekürzten Interviews’ (a compilation of interviews with the German filmmaker Rainer Werner Fassbinder, which is used as a counterpoint to the first two books). The texts are read, page by page, by non-professional actors.
60 Sekundit Üksindust Aastal Null
Director
An anthology of one-minute films created by 60 international filmmakers on the theme of the death of cinema. Intended as an ode to 35mm, the film was screened one time only on a purpose-built 20x12 meter public cinema screen in the Port of Tallinn, Estonia, on 22 December 2011. A special projector was constructed for the event which allowed the actual filmstrip to be burnt at the same time as the film was shown.
The Lord Worked Wonders in Me
Writer
Part of the crew of Honor of the Knights travels to La Mancha to see the real settings of Quixote’s life in order to shoot a film.
The Lord Worked Wonders in Me
Producer
Part of the crew of Honor of the Knights travels to La Mancha to see the real settings of Quixote’s life in order to shoot a film.
The Lord Worked Wonders in Me
Director
Part of the crew of Honor of the Knights travels to La Mancha to see the real settings of Quixote’s life in order to shoot a film.
The Lord Worked Wonders in Me
Self
Part of the crew of Honor of the Knights travels to La Mancha to see the real settings of Quixote’s life in order to shoot a film.
The Names of Christ
Producer
Episodic film, divided into 14 chapters, based on the play De los nombres de Cristo (1586), by Fray Luis de Leon and intended for exhibition "Are You Ready for TV?". Filmed partly in the rooms of MACBA (Museu d'Art Contemporani de Barcelona), is about the difficulty of naming or visually represent abstract concepts.
The Names of Christ
Writer
Episodic film, divided into 14 chapters, based on the play De los nombres de Cristo (1586), by Fray Luis de Leon and intended for exhibition "Are You Ready for TV?". Filmed partly in the rooms of MACBA (Museu d'Art Contemporani de Barcelona), is about the difficulty of naming or visually represent abstract concepts.
The Names of Christ
Director
Episodic film, divided into 14 chapters, based on the play De los nombres de Cristo (1586), by Fray Luis de Leon and intended for exhibition "Are You Ready for TV?". Filmed partly in the rooms of MACBA (Museu d'Art Contemporani de Barcelona), is about the difficulty of naming or visually represent abstract concepts.
The Names of Christ
Episodic film, divided into 14 chapters, based on the play De los nombres de Cristo (1586), by Fray Luis de Leon and intended for exhibition "Are You Ready for TV?". Filmed partly in the rooms of MACBA (Museu d'Art Contemporani de Barcelona), is about the difficulty of naming or visually represent abstract concepts.
Reading a Poem
Director
A 2010 Catalan language documentary directed by Albert Serra.
El asesino a sueldo
Bauçà
Director
Changing colors according to the music.
Cinematic Correspondences: Albert Serra – Lisandro Alonso
Self
The exhibition 'The Complete Letters' features epistolary works defined by cinematographic creation. This is an experimental communication format used between pairs of film directors. Although each director is situated in a location geographically distant from that of their partner, they are united by their willingness to share ideas and reflections on all that motivates their work. Within this space of freedom, the directors featured in the exhibition examine their affinities and differences, within an environment of mutual respect and simultaneity of interests and with notable formal variants established in each of the correspondences.
Cinematic Correspondences: Albert Serra – Lisandro Alonso
Director
The exhibition 'The Complete Letters' features epistolary works defined by cinematographic creation. This is an experimental communication format used between pairs of film directors. Although each director is situated in a location geographically distant from that of their partner, they are united by their willingness to share ideas and reflections on all that motivates their work. Within this space of freedom, the directors featured in the exhibition examine their affinities and differences, within an environment of mutual respect and simultaneity of interests and with notable formal variants established in each of the correspondences.
Birdsong
Editor
The Three Wise Kings travel in search of the Messiah, with unexpected obstacles on the way.
Birdsong
Writer
The Three Wise Kings travel in search of the Messiah, with unexpected obstacles on the way.
Birdsong
Director
The Three Wise Kings travel in search of the Messiah, with unexpected obstacles on the way.
Waiting for Sancho
self
Waiting for Sancho is an ontological investigation into a place where cinema becomes something more than cinema. Filmed in high-definition colour over five days in the Canary Islands of Fuerteventura and Tenerife, Waiting for Sancho is a kind of experimental “making of” the critically acclaimed El cant dels ocells (Birdsong_/_Le chant des oiseaux). A particular take on the Biblical story of The Three Kings en route to the baby Jesus, El cant dels ocells premiered at the Quinzaine des Realisateurs at Cannes 2008.
Fiasco
Director
SYNOPSIS Albert Serra’s piece for and audiovisual tribute to Chaplin the filmmaker… What is Chaplin’s legacy in contemporary cinema? It is not about producing films like Chaplin did, nor remembering the icon in a naïve fashion, but about finding traces of his cinema in their own individual looks.
Fiasco
self
SYNOPSIS Albert Serra’s piece for and audiovisual tribute to Chaplin the filmmaker… What is Chaplin’s legacy in contemporary cinema? It is not about producing films like Chaplin did, nor remembering the icon in a naïve fashion, but about finding traces of his cinema in their own individual looks.
L’alto arrigo
Director
A short film by Albert Serra, made in conjunction with his third feature film, Birdsong, from a small reference by Dante to the King Arrigo VII (Henry VII) in “Paradise” from “The Divine Comedy.”
Atlètic Club Banyoles
Director
The filmmaker Albert Serra and producer Àngel Martin present their last work on the web dedicated to the club Atlètic Club Banyoles and the authentic football.
Rússia
Writer
A poetic portrait of Lluís Serrat Massanellas, an unprofessional actor and friend of Albert Serra since working with him on Honour of the Knights, and his father, Lluís Serrat Batlle.
Rússia
Director
A poetic portrait of Lluís Serrat Massanellas, an unprofessional actor and friend of Albert Serra since working with him on Honour of the Knights, and his father, Lluís Serrat Batlle.
Honour of the Knights
Producer
Trusting in fate, Don Quixote and Sancho pursue their travels in search of adventure day and night. They ride through fields, talking about subjects as varied as spirituality, chivalry and daily life. A growing bond of friendship unites them.
Honour of the Knights
Screenplay
Trusting in fate, Don Quixote and Sancho pursue their travels in search of adventure day and night. They ride through fields, talking about subjects as varied as spirituality, chivalry and daily life. A growing bond of friendship unites them.
Honour of the Knights
Director
Trusting in fate, Don Quixote and Sancho pursue their travels in search of adventure day and night. They ride through fields, talking about subjects as varied as spirituality, chivalry and daily life. A growing bond of friendship unites them.
Sant Pere de Rodes
Director
Lluís Carbó and Lluís Serrat, i nubliables Quixote and Sancho d'Honor de Cavalleria, philosophize, improvise and rehearse, as if at the top of the world, under the eye of Albert Serra.
Super 8
Director
Short film.
Crespià, the Film not the Village
Writer
Loving cult film and idiosyncratic musical portrait of summer festivities in the Catalan village of Crespià, with early performances by the well-known faces from the work of Serra.
Crespià, the Film not the Village
Producer
Loving cult film and idiosyncratic musical portrait of summer festivities in the Catalan village of Crespià, with early performances by the well-known faces from the work of Serra.
Crespià, the Film not the Village
Director
Loving cult film and idiosyncratic musical portrait of summer festivities in the Catalan village of Crespià, with early performances by the well-known faces from the work of Serra.
A Valquíria
Screenplay
New film by Albert Serra. Plot TBA.
A Valquíria
Director
New film by Albert Serra. Plot TBA.
Black Out
Screenplay
A successful black theatre and opera stage director, a very demanding and determined person, is going through a prolonged and devastating spiritual ordeal, of unknown origin, to which she seems to have become accustomed. She lives in a permanent drunkenness, shocking and implausible but paradoxically controlled and with hardly any excesses. She has a growing fascination for the talent and magnetism of one of the actresses, whose career she wants to dominate, as she considers herself responsible and owner of her triumph.
Black Out
Director
A successful black theatre and opera stage director, a very demanding and determined person, is going through a prolonged and devastating spiritual ordeal, of unknown origin, to which she seems to have become accustomed. She lives in a permanent drunkenness, shocking and implausible but paradoxically controlled and with hardly any excesses. She has a growing fascination for the talent and magnetism of one of the actresses, whose career she wants to dominate, as she considers herself responsible and owner of her triumph.
Afternoons of Solitude
Screenplay
The first documentary to tackle the aesthetic side of bullfighting in all its complexity and to do so with the expressiveness and plastic and conceptual refinement of director Albert Serra.
Afternoons of Solitude
Director
The first documentary to tackle the aesthetic side of bullfighting in all its complexity and to do so with the expressiveness and plastic and conceptual refinement of director Albert Serra.
I Am an Artist
Self
A portrait of the world of contemporary art. A world full of extravagances and colorful characters, but suggestive of the contrast it represents with the normal life of most people. An artificial, theatrical and equivocal world but inhabited by innocence and blind faith in the transforming power of art. The film is a tribute to this world and to these people, with ironic and often provocative borders, but sincere in their admiration for the subversive power of the artists who always question, and in the most unexpected (sometimes involuntary) way, our system of values.
I Am an Artist
Writer
A portrait of the world of contemporary art. A world full of extravagances and colorful characters, but suggestive of the contrast it represents with the normal life of most people. An artificial, theatrical and equivocal world but inhabited by innocence and blind faith in the transforming power of art. The film is a tribute to this world and to these people, with ironic and often provocative borders, but sincere in their admiration for the subversive power of the artists who always question, and in the most unexpected (sometimes involuntary) way, our system of values.
I Am an Artist
Director
A portrait of the world of contemporary art. A world full of extravagances and colorful characters, but suggestive of the contrast it represents with the normal life of most people. An artificial, theatrical and equivocal world but inhabited by innocence and blind faith in the transforming power of art. The film is a tribute to this world and to these people, with ironic and often provocative borders, but sincere in their admiration for the subversive power of the artists who always question, and in the most unexpected (sometimes involuntary) way, our system of values.