The joys and sorrows of a family of peach farmers are explored in Carla Simón’s delicate, semi-autobiographical second feature, a deserving winner of the Golden Bear at the 2022 Berlin Film Festival, which develops on the promise shown in her breakthrough film, Summer 1993. The film focuses on the dynamics of the Sole family, who are at risk of losing their orchard and home in the rural Catalan village of Alcarràs (where Carla Simón is from) where they have grown and harvested peaches for generations. Facing eviction from the local landowner, who plans to tear down the orchards to make way for fields of solar panels, the close-knit family must learn to face an uncertain future. A profoundly authentic and moving contemplation of childhood, family, and a traditional way of life being sacrificed to capitalist notions of progress.

Notes by David O’Mahony