Nachmittage der Einsamkeit

In the organizer's words:

The matador Andrés Roca Rey is considered a star among bullfighters. Accompanied by his toreros, the 28-year-old Peruvian travels from one Spanish arena to the next. The bloody business requires maximum concentration. We see him ritualistically dressing up in his elaborately embroidered, sequined clothes; we watch him as he travels to the bullring with his team of toreros and finally puts his own life in danger during the direct confrontation with the bulls. As the matador, he is the main torero, with all eyes on him as he dances around the bull to deliver the final blow in the grand finale of the fight. Serra has the procedure of dressing, car rides to the arenas, the individual steps of the bullfights and the return trips repeated over and over again as if in a loop. Charged with religiosity, tradition and blood, the film immerses its audience in a world that has existed for centuries and has been hotly contested for decades.

"Afternoons of Solitude", filmed in bullfighting arenas in Spain such as Las Ventas in Madrid and the Maestranza in Seville, documents the controversial spectacle with sober, haunting images. And so the matador's lonely hours and his prancing choreography in embroidered costume seem as alienating as the entire spectacle. And the bull's final seconds seem like an eternity.

E/F/Portugal 2024, 125 min. OmU, DCP, FSK: n.a., Director: Albert Serra