Good Valley Stories

José Luis Guerín, one of the great figures of Spanish cinema, is back with his first film in 11 years. 'Good Valley Stories' is a patient and vivid documentary about Vallbona, an overlooked corner on the outskirts of Barcelona, sandwiched between a river, a railway and a motorway. Here, workers over the decades have built their own houses and cultivated gardens and orchards. But Vallbona faces bigger changes, and Guerín follows a local community that risks being overlooked once again. Guerín is not only an eminent filmmaker, but also a passionate cinephile, and in his pictorial compositions and dramatic structure he lets glimpses of John Ford's mythical everyday people emerge in the midst of modern Barcelona.

Director: José Luis Guerín
Country/year: Spain, France, 2025
Running time: 123 min.
Formato: DCP
Language: English subtitles
Age limit: Allowed for all
Original title: Historias del buen valle

Part of the series: Spanish Film Weeks
Documentary about forest fires in Galicia, miniseries about the 1981 coup attempt in the Spanish parliament, youth films about rap in Barcelona, a comedy about a celebratory dinner for Franco and a cleaning opera from Andalusia. Spanish film lovers are widely distributed in the Iberian Peninsula - both geographically, historically and in terms of genre.