Carla Simon: In Spain people use words like shame and blame. But my parents just had bad luck

"Family reunions in European arthouse cinema are almost always unhappy events, on a scale of strife that ranges from simmering resentment (Louis Malle's Milou in May) to spectacular score-settling (Thomas Vinterberg's Festen). There are still splatters of bad blood on the Sunday best in the films of Carla Simon, but the Spanish director has a rare gift: she makes you leave the cinema with renewed faith that having relatives and keeping in touch with them may actually be a wonderful thing."

"From a riotous water fight in the Berlinale Golden Bear-winning farming drama Alcarras to a foul-mouthed dinner table singalong in her new film Romeria, Simon directs kinship meetings with the attention to detail that other film-makers may invest in action sequences or dance routines. Among the tricks Simon employs, she explains, is to ensure her actors only read the script once before the camera starts rolling, so they have to improvise to fill the gaps."

"She takes her casts to parties, for walks and on shopping trips, and if there are disagreements on the way, so much the better. The ultimate secret sauce, though, is to ignore WC Fields's notorious advice and always work with children and animals. I never get bored of working with kids, she says. When you are only working with adult actors, shooting becomes more like executing an idea that you have in your mind, and I think that is not interesting."

"With children, you always have this feeling that that things are going to happen in front of the camera by chance. It keeps things alive. Simon's fascination with freewheeling scenes of family life was undoubtedly honed through her own biography. Born in Barcelona in 1986, her father died when she was three and her mother when she was six. Both of them succumbed to Aids."

Family reunions in European arthouse cinema are frequently portrayed as unhappy, ranging from quiet resentment to dramatic conflict. Carla Simon creates kinship scenes that leave audiences with renewed faith in staying connected with relatives. Her films turn everyday events like birthday gatherings, garden parties, and barbecues into expansive portrayals of human virtue and vice. In Alcarras and Romeria, she directs detailed, sprawling interactions, including chaotic play and tense social moments. She uses improvisation by having actors read the script only once before filming, and she keeps casts engaged through real-life activities like parties, walks, and shopping. She also emphasizes working with children and animals to keep scenes spontaneous and alive. Her approach is shaped by her own early losses, with both parents dying of AIDS.

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