Cerrar los ojos / Close Your Eyes: dir Víctor Erice (2023)

The Spirit of the Beehive director’s first feature in 30 years used a film-within-a-film structure to ruminate on memory, ageing and cinema itself. A famous Spanish actor, Julio Arenas, disappears while filming; although his body is never found, the police conclude that he has suffered an accident on a cliff by the sea. Then many years later, the mystery is brought up once more by a TV show that tries to evoke the actor, offering unseen images of the last scenes he filmed …

This Spanish film shows as part of the European Film Festival, organised by the Delegation of the European Union to the UAE in partnership with the Cultural Foundation Abu Dhabi and Ras Al Khaimah Art. Through a curated selection of titles ranging from award-winning productions to emerging voices in European cinema, and with impressively discounted ticket prices, the Festival aims to highlight the richness and diversity of Europe’s film landscape.