Leyenda dorada

The Golden Legend | Die Goldene Legende
The swimming pool has played an important role throughout film history – most often as a romping ground for the sophisticated and hedonistic Dolce Vita. But it can be so much more, even sinister, as in Sunset Boulevard. In Leyenda dorada a rather unglamorous swimming pool of diminished charm forms the focal point of the story. A lazy summer’s day in the Spanish village of Montánchez, and people of all ages enjoy themselves at the outdoor pool. It is an almost utopian depiction of community, under the lofty, watchful gaze of Our Lady of Consolation. While conflicts, aggression, rivalries and animosities have a siesta, the villagers take a well-deserved break. Formally, the film draws on the tradition of New Objectivity. But unlike Robert Siodmak’s Menschen am Sonntag (1930) and its lido sequence, this is a wee summer fairy tale.
by Chema García Ibarra (Director, Screenplay), Ion de Sosa (Director)
with Al Sarcoli, Cristina Canchal Solís, María Ángeles Rosco, Carlos Lebrón Lázaro, Laura Molano Chancal, Nuria Rey Burgos, Jara Valiente, Natalia Valiente, Javier Valiente
Spain 2019 Spanish 11' Colour World premiere

With

  • Al Sarcoli
  • Cristina Canchal Solís
  • María Ángeles Rosco
  • Carlos Lebrón Lázaro
  • Laura Molano Chancal
  • Nuria Rey Burgos
  • Jara Valiente
  • Natalia Valiente
  • Javier Valiente

Crew

Directors Chema García Ibarra, Ion de Sosa
Screenplay Chema García Ibarra
Cinematography Ion de Sosa
Editing Chema García Ibarra, Ion de Sosa
Sound Design Agnès Pe
Producers Leire Apellaniz, Ion de Sosa

Produced by

Apellaniz & De Sosa

Donostia-San Sebastián, Spain

The Critics

The Critics are a group of five – Raymond, Ronald and Richard Yusuff, Godwin and Victor Josiah. With no formal film education and since being young children, The Critics have developed a cinematic language rooted in imagination, experimentation, and community. They have made 54 short films from sci-fi to drama.

Filmography (Filmography (selection))

2022 Ogun Ola: War is Coming 2023 One Can Only Hope and Wonder 2026 Crocodile; documentary, co-directed by Pietra Brettkelly

Bio- & filmography as of Berlinale 2026

Ion de Sosa

Born in Donostia, Spain in 1981, he studied at the Escuela de Cinematografía y del Audiovisual de la Comunidad de Madrid and is a cinematographer, producer and director, primarily of 16mm films. He currently lives in Barcelona but spent the last ten years in Berlin. His films have screened at festivals including Locarno, Toronto and Hong Kong. His feature film Sueñan los androides (Androids Dream) screened in the 2015 Forum. He would love to direct a Batman sequel.

Filmography

2011 True Love 2014 Sueñan los androides (Androids Dream); Forum 2019 Leyenda dorada (The Golden Legend)

Bio- & filmography as of Berlinale 2019