172 - The Making of Society of the Snow

Director J.A. Bayona discusses his latest film — 2024 Academy Award®-nominee for Best International Feature Film (Spain) — “Society of the Snow.”

Director of Photography Pedro Luque and Sound Designer Oriol Tarragó also join us to discuss how they crafted this riveting retelling of the infamous 1972 Andes flight disaster, where a team of rugby players from Uraguay had to do the unthinkable to survive. Realism was a big priority for Bayona, so the production was a challenging, sometimes even grueling experience.

“That was the moment — first day of shooting — that we realized how hard this was going to be… We had real snow, we have the cold to catch the breath of the actors, but then we got into the [airplane] set. All the seats had crammed against the cockpit and we realized that we needed to fit 29 people inside that space and one camera crew. So there was no way of shooting those scenes. Like, it was not possible! So actually that was the moment that we decided that we had to shoot the film as if it was a documentary.”

—J.A. Bayona, Director/Co-writer, “Society of the Snow”

Be sure to check out “Society of the Snow” in glorious Dolby Vision® and Dolby Atmos®, where available, as well as on Netflix starting December 22, 2023.

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