Buñuel, un cineasta surrealista (Buñuel, a Surrealist Filmmaker). 2021. Spain. Written and directed by Javier Espada
. In Spanish; English subtitles. DCP. 83 min.
This new documentary by Javier Espada expands on his 2015 Tras Nazarin: Following Nazarin (shown at MoMA in 2022) to embrace the entirety of Buñuel’s career, from his childhood in Calandra, Spain (illustrated by 3-D photos taken by Buñuel’s father), through the experience of Surrealism in Paris, his brief sojourn at MoMA in the 1940s, his emigration to Mexico and the flourishing career that followed, and his late masterpieces filmed in France (but written in Mexico City). Establishing Buñuel’s links to Spanish literature and painting, visiting Buñuel’s homes and filming locations in Mexico and speaking with his surviving collaborators and relatives, Espada creates a full and nuanced portrait of this extraordinary international artist, whose wit, skepticism and profound respect for human frailty seems more necessary than ever today.