November 10, 2011 — Award-winning European filmmaker Oliver Laxe will visit the University of Virginia to screen "You Are All Captains (Todos vós sodes capitáns)" and give an artist talk on Nov. 15 at 6 p.m. in the auditorium of the Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library and David and Mary Harrison Institute for American History, Literature, and Culture. The event is free and open to the public.

The son of Spanish immigrants, Laxe was born in Paris in 1982 and studied film at Pompeu Fabra University in Barcelona. He moved to Tangiers, Morocco, four years ago, where he created and now runs "Dao Byed," a 16mm film workshop for disadvantaged children. This workshop led to his first feature film, "You Are All Captains."

The documentary is the story of his filmmaking experience with children living in a home for socially excluded youngsters in Tangiers. While filming, the director's unorthodox working methods cause his relationship with the children to disintegrate to such a point that the initial course of the project is altered.

The 2010 Cannes Film Festival selected the film for the Director's Fortnight, an event that shows independent films from all over the world in a non-competitive showcase, and the film earned the International Federation of Film Critics Prize.

The event is sponsored by the offices of the Vice Provost for the Arts and the Vice Provost for International Programs.

For information, contact Elizabeth Webb at 434-806-2692 or emw2y@virginia.edu.