Society of the Snow, a new feature from Spanish filmmaker J.A. Bayona, which serves as a reconstruction of a 1972 plane crash that occurred in the Andes, has been selected to close the Venice Film Festival this year.
Bayona’s movie is a Netflix original, a Spanish-language feature shot in Andalusia’s Sierra Nevada, Spain’s highest mountain range. Around 300 people were in the crew, marking a highly intensive and immersive production.
Society of the Snow will get its world premiere out of competition on September 9th, later this year on the Lido, while its first official screening will take place in the famous Palazzo del Cinema following the awards ceremony.
As for the story, it tells of the Uruguayan Air Force flight 571, which in 1972 was bringing the Montevideo Christians Rugby Club team to Chile, but crashed into the Andes at a height of nearly 12,000 feet.
45 passengers had been on the plane, but only 29 survived the crash. There was no food to eat on the mountain range, so the surviving passengers were forced to eat the flesh of those who had recently died.
After an avalanche came, 19 were left before 16 were finally rescued. The film features the likes of Uruguayan and Argentine actors Enzo Vogrincic, Matías Recalt, Agustín Pardella and Felipe González.
Check out a video of Bayona discussing the movie below.
