35mm print! Preparing to devote her life as a nun, novitiate Viridiana (Silvia Pinal) is summoned to pay her uncle Don Jaime (Fernando Rey) one last visit before taking her vows. To make Viridiana, Luis Buñuel returned to his homeland of Spain, following his 22-year self-exile during the rise of Francisco Franco’s fascist regime. The film had its world premiere at the 14th Cannes Film Festival, winning the Palme d’Or. Following the premiere, the Vatican denounced the film as blasphemous, and the Spanish government banned the controversial film—Viridiana didn’t premiere in the country until 1977, two years after Franco’s death.

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