Bleak Week: The Devil's Backbone (2001)

Bleak Week: Cinema of Despair is a week-long festival in partnership with the American Cinematheque. The Byrd Theatre Foundation, in partnership with the American Cinematheque, is thrilled to present a weeklong festival that spotlights some of the greatest films from around the world that explore the darkest sides of humanity, as well as some of the bleakest points in human history. A harrowing, yet powerful lineup of films defined by stark imagery, unimaginable tragedies, existential fear, nihilism and shocking acts of brutality, this series features the world’s leading filmmakers who wholly embrace a cinema of despair in pursuit of unpleasant truths and raw empathy.

"Spain, 1939. In the last days of the Spanish Civil War, the young Carlos arrives at the Santa Lucía orphanage, where he will make friends and enemies as he follows the quiet footsteps of a mysterious presence eager for revenge."
Runtime: 108 min

If this is your first movie with us, welcome! The Byrd is general admission, so you can sit wherever you like. A group of us will be there 10-15min early in the front two rows if you want to join us or say hello. After the movie, we’ll chat up front until credits are over, and then more outside under the marquee. Please stay and talk with us!