(Raise Ravens)
Directed by Carlos Saura
110 minutes
In Spanish with English subtitles

Cría cuervos is considered to be a landmark in Spanish cinema. Shot in 1975, when General Franco was on his deathbed (ending the 40 year era of Spain's dictatorship), its title comes from a Spanish proverb: "Cría cuervos y te sacarán los ojos"—Raise ravens and they will pluck out your eyes. It stars child actress Anna Torrent (The Spirit of the Beehive) and it reflects the dying dictatorship seen through the eyes of an imaginative, but disturbed, eight-year-old girl.

Set in Madrid, Ana and her two sisters mourn the death of their mother, whom Ana conjures up as a ghost, constantly shifting between her imagination and reality. Of course, her inner turmoil and confusion are a reflection of the violence in the society around her. Geraldine Chaplin stars as the mother, and Anna Torrent is as radiant as could be with her dark, luminous, fantasy-filled eyes. The theme song of this film "Por qué te vas" was a huge hit throughout Europe in 1976, and drew people into the cinemas that otherwise would never have seen this sublime masterpiece. It should also be noted that Cría cuervos was the winner of the Special Jury Prize at the 1976 Cannes film festival.