This absorbing animated effort tells the tale behind an inimitable cinematic talent and one of his most controversial works: avant-garde Spanish filmmaker Luis Buñuel and his 1933 short documentary Las Hurdes.

When L’Age D’Or premiered to widespread cries of blasphemy, including from his own mother, Buñuel’s career took a tumble. Unable to secure funding for his next feature, he conceived of an ethnographic documentary about an impoverished Spanish region instead. It took a lottery win by sculptor Ramón Acín to finance the production – and that’s just the beginning of this wild, anarchic and continually surprising chapter of the acclaimed director’s life.

Using animation to vivid effect, director Salvador Simo recognises Buñuel’s unique brilliance, yet never shies away from his difficulties – or willingness to manipulate Las Hurdes to shock and provoke. Incorporating footage from the short itself, including confronting scenes involving animals, this inventive making-of film proves as challenging and rewarding as its iconic subject.

“Frankly, it was a brilliant choice to use such an expressionistic medium to examine how surrealist filmmaker Luis Buñuel bent reality to his own ends.” – Variety

Contains images of archival animal cruelty