Hay Forum Sevilla 2024

British filmmaker Stephen Frears has without doubt been one of the most influential filmmakers over recent decades, with many of his films having become cultural touchstones. His movies are known for their exploration of social class, and historical and cultural contexts, in both biographical and fictional narratives. Above all, they display their own distinctive and very personal style, making Frears a true master of the seventh art of cinema.

The Queen (2006; 97 minutes). After the death of Princess Diana of Wales in a car accident in Paris in August 1997, Queen Elizabeth II was faced with an unforeseeable chain of events that came close to irreparably and irrevocably damaging the British Crown. Full of wit and pathos, the film paints a magnificent portrait of the royals and especially Elizabeth II (majestically portrayed by Helen Mirren) in the days following Diana's death. The film focuses in particular on the relationship between the Queen and British Prime Minister Tony Blair (Michael Sheen). The film won an Oscar, two Golden Globes and two BAFTA.

The film will be presented by Irene Hernández Velasco and Marta Medina. Journalist, Hernández Velasco has worked at El Mundo, where she was correspondent in New York, Rome, London and Paris. She joined El Confidencial as is head of the culture section in 2023. Medina has been a film critic for El Confidencial since 2016 and is a regular contributor to Historia de nuestro cine on TVE 2.

The screening will be in the original English version with subtitles in Spanish

British filmmaker Stephen Frears has without doubt been one of the most influential filmmakers over recent decades, with many of his films having become cultural touchstones. His movies are known for their exploration of social class, and historical and cultural contexts, in both biographical and fictional narratives. Above all, they display their own distinctive and very personal style, making Frears a true master of the seventh art of cinema.

Dangerous Liaisons (1988; 120 minutes). A blockbuster set in pre-revolutionary France, with an all-star cast (Glenn Close, John Malkovich, Michelle Pfeiffer, Uma Thurman and Keanu Reeves) and a deliciously perverse cast. Close plays the villainous Marquise de Merteuil, who, having been dumped by her latest lover to marry the young and virtuous Cecile de Volanges, decides to take her revenge. To do so, she turns to the Viscount of Valmont, a former lover with whom she shares an appetite for the game of seduction. Valmont's mission is to corrupt the chaste Cecile. The film has won numerous awards, including three Oscars.

The State of the Union (2019; 10 minutes). TV series written by Nick Hornby and directed by Frears. It tells the story of a married couple in crisis who attend couples' counselling sessions and who, before going to the psychologist each week, meet in a pub to go through it all: the past, their differences and complicities, sex and love, infidelity, expectations and disappointments, even Brexit.

The film and the series will be presented by Irene Hernández Velasco and Marta Medina. Journalist, Hernández Velasco has worked at El Mundo, where she was correspondent in New York, Rome, London and Paris. She joined El Confidencial as is head of the culture section in 2023. Medina has been a film critic for El Confidencial since 2016 and is a regular contributor to Historia de nuestro cine on TVE 2.

The screening will be in the original English version with subtitles in Spanish

Film director Stephen Frears has played a key role in constructing and shaping British identity through film. From his beginnings as a theatre assistant, then as a director at the BBC and finally, as a filmmaker in his own name, Frears dazzled with My Beautiful Laundrette (1985), and gone on to portray themes ranging from class inequalities in Hidden Business (2002) to the pomp and pageantry of the monarchy in The Queen (2006) and Queen Victoria and Abdul (2017). He ventured into comedic, voyeuristic cinema in Dangerous Liaisons (1988) and adaptations of contemporary bestsellers such as High Fidelity (2000). He has given us westerns, noir, comedy and thrillers, with his meticulous attention to mise-en-scène, characters, intelligent and ironic dialogue, without forgetting his commitments to social and political issues. Throughout his career, Frears has said he wanted to make "to make the kind of smart mainstream films he grew up with but now seem endangered by the blockbuster.” With a transatlantic career, he has twice been nominated for an Oscar for best director, and has won BAFTA and EMMY awards. Of his films, The Queen won an Oscar, and Dangerous Liaisons won three. He released the TV miniseries The State of the Union in 2019.

Frears will talk about his career with Marta Medina, screenwriter and film critic at El Confidencial and a regular contributor to Historia de nuestro cine on TVE 2.

Presented by Caroline Michel, chair of Hay Festival Foundation.

Event in English with simultaneous translation into Spanish.