Chema Garcia Ibarra He has been giving away his talent for 15 years to whoever has a few minutes, but it would be from the incredible ‘Attack of the Nebula-5 robots’, ‘Protoparticles’ and ‘Mystery’ (all in Filmin) when the filmmaker from Elche stayed behind. live in our hearts. After ‘Uranes’, the best #littlesecretfilm (also on the platform) and the summer short film ‘Golden Legend’, Ibarra presents his first feature film. Y ‘Sacred spirit‘should do for him what’ Magical Girl ‘did for Carlos Vermut. Another thing is whether Ibarra is interested or not in be part of the game of the industry.
Where are you hiding sister
‘Espíritu Sagrado’ begins its journey in Locarno, nothing that should surprise anyone since Ibarra has been awarded in such illustrious places as Sundance (twice) or Berlin. Having your film seen for the first time in Switzerland makes all the sense in the world. Surrounded by the usual familiar faces that have accompanied him throughout this time, and with a cast once again full of non-professional actors, Chema García Ibarra has signed one of the most important movies that has left our cinema in a long time.
The comparison with the second and applauded Vermouth film will be inevitable. Both very modest works, which play similar styles and which provoke a shock of sensations in the viewer as we have rarely seen. Considering the Vermouth film as one of the best in the history of our cinema, I would dare to say that Ibarra is up to the task. It was also more difficult for him. There are no sacristans here, no vermin or lennies. There are not even country houses.
As always, Ibarra pulls what he knows to talk about what he likes. He pulls his city, his people, his places, and places the action between the Charly bar, run by José Manuel (Nacho Fernández, a true revelation) and the common places of the UFO-Levante association, which is based in the real estate agency Inmo-Galaxia. The association, led by Julio Expósito, will suffer a setback when he dies. It will be then when José Manuel will be left alone as the only person who knows a secret that could alter the future of humanity. Meanwhile, the rest of the country is desperately searching for a young woman who disappeared a few weeks earlier.
Elche File
Ibarra, lover of opposites and the chiaroscuro of the soul, does not disappoint in his first feature film. ‘Sacred Spirit’ is a fascinating experience, but also uncomfortable. Disturbing. Tragic but fun. Anyone who knows his work knows that the unexpected is always lurking around the corner. In the form of old compact disc new age or references to the best underground pop of the present. You never know what is going to happen in a story by Chema García Ibarra, and here everyone’s expectations are ready to jump out the window.
The film is scheduled to hit Spanish cinemas this fall, I imagine that after a festive journey in which I hope that the great recognition that Ibarra deserves will arrive. A filmmaker who feels safe at home, who doesn’t need big cities or dozens of extras to step out and tell a story. Ibarra’s stories, intimate, minimal but universal, have the gift of connect with the viewer and shake their moral foundations.
Those emotional wiggles are the best ally of this ‘Sacred Spirit’, a box of surprises that has made me really difficult to talk about it and affirm that we are facing one of the films of the year, since I do it without entering a field in the that I consider that no spectator should not even intuit. The truth is out there and Chema García Ibarra has it.