New 35mm print courtesy of the Academy Film Archive of Simon of the Desert. Inspired by the fifth-century Syrian saint, renowned for his devotion to asceticism while living on the platform of a pillar, Simon of the Desert is Buñuel’s satirical take on the legend, executed with his signature surreal flair. When Simon (Claudio Brook) reaches a 6-year, 6-month, 6-day period of living in prayer at the top of a column, his faithfulness is challenged by the shape-shifting Satan (Silvia Pinal). Simon of the Desert was the last Mexican film production the director worked on, as well as his final collaboration with acclaimed cinematographer Gabriel Figueroa.

Preceded by:  Land Without Bread
1933 | 30 min | Spain | Black-and-White | French | Not Rated | DCP

Shooting for less than a month with borrowed equipment and editing the film himself on his kitchen table, Luis Buñuel made something close to a straightforward documentary in Land Without Bread, a lightly fictionalized document of the Las Hurdes region in the autonomous Spanish community of Extremadura. A stark portrait of extreme poverty and the population who refuses to leave a seemingly “breadless” land, the director originally provided live narration with its initial silent exhibitions, later adding sound through music and his own voice as one of the narrators.

Academy Museum film programming generously funded by the Richard Roth Foundation.