– Spanish filmmaker Irene Bartolomé’s first documentary feature is an exploration of memory, absence and urban scars set in Beirut
A woman’s collapse amid urban ruins sparks an exploration of humanity’s connection to physical spaces and a city’s resilience in the face of mortality. This is how Dream of Another Summer [+see also:
trailer
film profile], the first documentary feature by Spanish filmmaker Irene Bartolomé, is being introduced. The film is having its world-premiere in the NEXT:WAVE Competition at CPH:DOX (11-22 March).
In the words of the director, “when the explosion happened in Beirut on 4 August 2020, the city multiplied into millions of images. A lot was recorded and written at the time. I, like many others that were living in Beirut, experienced the true meaning of destruction. However, I was unable to record the moment, not only because physically or mentally I couldn’t, but because I didn’t aim only to capture reality, I needed time to understand what destruction is to me and what a city is to me. While walking by my neighbourhood the days after the explosion, I started seeing the buildings’ broken windows or fallen walls as reflections of the wounded bodies that walked by the streets. Suddenly, the buildings were not inanimate beings but creatures of memory and scars. This terrible event revealed to me the deep relationship that exists between us and the spaces we inhabit.”
Irene Bartolomé’s work exists at the intersection of documentary and fiction, focusing her interest on the relationship between the built environment and its inhabitants, as well as exploring the concept of the image as a ruin. For the past six years, she’s lived in Beirut, Lebanon, where she has completed Dream of Another Summer. She has previously directed the short film Lunch Time (2017) and co-directed The Williamsburg Houses (2016) with visual artist Tessa Rex, and in 2023, she founded Lemu Helu, a production company based in Barcelona that aims to support unconventional films and artistic projects. She has also worked as a film editor and consultant on several films, as a video editor for The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) and the International Emerging Film Talent Association (IEFTA).
The film is produced by Pere Marzo for Colibrí Studio and Irene Bartolomé herself for Lemu Helu, and co-produced by Elie Kamal for The Attic Production (Lebanon). The film received support from ICAA, European Union – Next Generation EU, Embassy of Spain in Lebanon, Goethe-Institut – 2021 Support Fund Weaving Ties, UPF-BSM – LABED Laboratorio de acompañamiento editorial de Documentales de Creación 2022, Fundación SGAE – X Laboratorio de Creación de Guion para Cine 2022, Dirdira lab 2023, Locarno Film Festival’s First Look 2024 (winning the Antaviana films prize) and MedFilm Festival – Works in Progress 2024 (winning the IOM Prize).
Check out our exclusive trailer below:
