Pablo Berger, born in Bilbao in 1963, is one of the most acclaimed Spanish screenwriters and directors. His career began with the award-winning short film Mamá (1988). In 1990, he received a scholarship to pursue a Master of Fine Arts (MFA) in Film at New York University, where he directed Truth and Beauty (1994), earning him an Emmy nomination. During his time in New York, he became a professor of Screenwriting and Directing at the New York Film Academy, teaching in Cambridge, Princeton, Yale, the Sorbonne, and La Fémis. For his work, he was named Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters by the French Government in 2015, and in 2024 he received the Spanish Government’s Gold Medal of Merit in the Fine Arts.
His feature-length debut, Torremolinos 73 (2003), was an international arthouse success, shown in theaters worldwide and receiving numerous national and international accolades, including four Goya Award nominations. The film follows Alfredo Lopez, an encyclopedia salesman who, in an effort to survive financially, agrees to film pornographic movies with his wife Carmen for a Scandinavian audience. Meanwhile, he develops a passion for Cinema and Ingmar Bergman. According to Il Cinematografo, “it’s not just a sexy comedy poking fun at the final years of Franco’s dictatorship; it’s also a delightful hymn to the power of art.”
His second film, Blancanieves (2013), proved an even greater success. Blancanieves won over one hundred awards globally, including ten Goya Awards (among them Best Film), the Special Jury Prize at the San Sebastian Film Festival, three European Film Awards nominations, a César Award nomination for Best Foreign Film, and served as Spain’s official Oscar submission. This silent film, based on the Brothers Grimm’s Snow White, reimagines the fairy tale within Spanish traditions. Berger himself stated, “The audience has to feel more than think, allowing themselves to be guided by images and music alone. A sincere gaze can contain all the tension of the most brazen action,” adding that “Blancanieves is not a copy but a reinterpretation of films from that era for today’s audience.”
His subsequent film, Abracadabra (2017), screened in the official selection of the Rome Film Fest, was a finalist to represent Spain at the 2018 Academy Awards, and earned eight Goya nominations. This fantasy-inflected comedy introduces Carmen, who is deeply dissatisfied with her macho, aggressive, and lazy husband Carlos, a man more devoted to his beloved Real Madrid soccer team than to his wife and daughter. Everything changes at a wedding for Carmen’s cousin Pepe—an aspiring magician who has long harbored feelings for her—when Carlos volunteers to be hypnotized in a bid to mock him, but ends up possessed by the spirit of another man, Tito.
Berger’s most recent film, Robot Dreams (2023), became a worldwide sensation and premiered in the Official Selection at the Cannes Film Festival. Among other honors, it won the Grand Prize Contrechamp at the Annecy Film Festival, Best Independent Film at the Annie Awards, two Goyas, and was nominated for the 2024 Oscars. Adapted from Sara Varon’s graphic novel, it depicts the friendship between a lonely dog in 1980s Manhattan and the robot he purchases to keep him company. Their bond grows through memorable shared experiences—until a mishap on the beach separates them. Will they ever reunite? For Berger, emotions lie at the heart of the story. IndieWire calls it “a tender buddy dramedy, a male friendship and love story between a dog and a vaguely humanoid robot.” Discussing his style, Berger explains that both the graphic novel and the film adopt the “ligne claire” technique from the Franco-Belgian school (exemplified by Tintin’s creator, Hergé). “Much of my love for cinema,” he adds, “stems from comic books. Robot Dreams was conceived as a comic strip brought to life with traditional inking, flat colors, and a deep-focus approach ensuring every detail in the frame remains sharp.”
Torremolinos 73 centers on Alfredo Lopez, an unsuccessful door-to-door encyclopedia salesman whose boss persuades him to join a so-called “scientific experiment”—in reality, a ploy to film and market pornographic movies. Alfredo’s wife, Carmen, quickly agrees, seeing it as an opportunity to make ends meet and finally start a family. Meanwhile, Alfredo discovers his deep passion for cinema, especially the work of Ingmar Bergman.
Review:
“Dismissed in some quarters as a suburban Spanish take on Boogie Nights, this is a gentle, camp but nonetheless revealing satire on how a nation circumvented the social structures imposed upon it by Franco’s fading fascist regime.”
– William Thomas, Empire
Torremolinos 73 review on Empire
“Converting taboo into nostalgia and irony is now common currency, yet it would be a shame if that put people off this funny and interestingly gentle movie about the homespun world of soft porn on Super-8, directed by feature newcomer Pablo Berger, starring Javier Cámara, from Almódovar's Talk to Her and Bad Education.”
– Peter Bradshaw, The Guardian
Torremolimos 73 review on The Guardian
Along with Robot Dreams, Blancanieves is Pablo Berger’s most famous work, also earning an Oscar nomination for Best Foreign Film on Spain’s behalf. Adapting the Brothers Grimm’s Snow White, he imbues the tale with Andalusian settings, naming Snow White “Carmen,” and placing it in the world of bullfighting. Carmen’s father, a former matador who’s now paralyzed, had her raised by her grandmother—until the grandmother’s passing forces her to move in with her father and her cruel stepmother, Encarna. There, Carmen suffers mistreatment, as her father secretly introduces her to bullfighting.
Review:
“The gladiatorial scenes in the bullring are superbly good, and Berger takes inspiration from Hitchcock, with hints of Rebecca and Psycho, Buñuel, Browning and Almodóvar, and conjures a fascinatingly ambiguous ending: melancholy, eerie and erotic. A film to treasure.”
– Peter Bradshaw, The Guardian
Blancanieves review on The Guardian
“The images range from grotesque to poignant, peppered with Bunuelesque ocular closeups. But the film is propelled equally by de Vilallonga’s lush score, which is jaunty, suspenseful, sweet or sorrowful, as required. It’s a charming curio that cleverly reshapes a classic fairy tale.”
– David Rooney, The Hollywood Reporter
Blancanieves review on The Hollywood Reporter
Abracadabra is a dramatic comedy with a hint of fantasy. Carmen is married to Carlos—a sexist, aggressive, and idle man who prioritizes his beloved Real Madrid soccer team over his family. Everything changes at Carmen’s cousin Pepe’s wedding; Pepe is an aspiring magician secretly in love with her. Carlos volunteers to be hypnotized, thinking to mock him, but ends up possessed by the spirit of another man, Tito.
Review:
“Abracadabra is partly a parable on marital life and partly a journey of self-awareness, and it’s built with a precise and personal visual taste, traveling through various genres without adhering to any.”
– Paola Casella, MyMovies
Abracadabra review on MyMovies
“The early scenes deliver some sharply observed satire and social crit along with some deliciously observed comic moments.”
– Jonathan Holland, The Hollywood Reporter
Abracadabra review on The Hollywood Reporter
Robot Dreams is an animated feature about the friendship between a dog and a robot. Set in 1980s Manhattan, the story begins when the lonely dog sees a television advertisement and decides to purchase a companion robot. Over time, they become inseparable, sharing unforgettable experiences—until one day, the robot malfunctions on the beach, and they are parted. Will they ever reunite?
Review:
“Robot Dreams leaves us to ponder what its voiceless leads leave unspoken: Is opening our lives to others worth the pain? There will be blubbering and, at the ending, a surge of feelings that can’t be expressed in words. And they don’t have to be. It’s all said in a tentative tail wag.”
– Amy Nicholson, The New York Times
Robot Dreams review on The New York Times
“That’s what Robot Dreams is all about—remembering, even if it hurts: an old friendship, an old city, an analog world that dealt with loneliness in its own way and, always, a song that ties it all together.”
– Elsa Fernández-Santos, El Paìs
Robot Dreams review on El Pais
