Discover Ibiza : On screen (Cinema / TV)

When the hippies made the movies

Although the first to colonize the island's beaches in the early 1960s were the beatniks, this rather marginal trend was quickly replaced by cohorts of hippies, pacifist deserters and other American citizens fleeing a country whose values they no longer shared. In their suitcases, these tourists of a new kind brought a new form of relaxation, as well as new drugs such as cannabis and heroin. And it's against this ebullient backdrop that Swiss director Barbet Schroeder shoots his first film, More sur l'île. Released in 1969, this Franco-German-Spanish film was to become a landmark of the hippie movement. The story revolves around the meeting of two idle young people in a decade that no longer suits them. Stefan, a recent graduate from Berlin, decides to hitchhike to Paris. There, he meets Estelle, an American expat. Together, they set off in search of sun and answers on the island of Ibiza. Their romance degenerates when Estelle introduces Stefan to heroin, a substance they both become addicted to. Lulled by the melodies of Pink Floyd, which provide a memorable soundtrack to the film, More films the island of Ibiza and the diversity of its landscapes. The film features a windmill reminiscent of the one at Sa Punta des Molí, which you can visit in Sant Antoni. And while the town has changed a great deal since the film was shot, the Es Vedrá islet has remained the same, preserved by its status as a nature reserve. The filmmaker's mother's house, in and around which he shot the rest of his film, is still standing. As proof of this, Schroeder will return to his roots to shoot Amnesia in 2015, a complex work about the arrival of the first DJs on the island and the impossible reconciliation of the two Germanys after the fall of the Berlin Wall. The cliffs of Calo d'Hort, the island's typical street markets and Cap Nonó are among the new landscapes the filmmaker adds to his palette. A message of love from a filmmaker to his island, where he has spent a good part of his life.

Ibiza in Spanish cinema

Julio Medem ventured to the Balearic Islands for the second time with Chaotique Ana in 2007. In 2001, he set down his camera in Formentera for Lucía y el sexo, a film that earned him critical acclaim, as well as a Goya - the equivalent of a Spanish Oscar - for lead actress Paz Vega's performance. In Chaotic Ana, the director delves into his character's psyche. An intriguing thriller that will appeal to fans of the filmmaker's style. The island, of course, contributes to the strange atmosphere, with its hippie influences and tranquil landscapes.
Since the early 2000s, other film productions of varying degrees of success have taken up residence on the island. Among them, David Marqués's Aislados stands out as a black comedy featuring two young people reconnecting over a drink in a rural house in the small village of Santa Agnès de Corona, while the short film Los Crímenes del Día de Todos los Santos looks back at the terrible serial murders committed in the fifties and sixties, the culprit of which was not caught until 1974. An Iberian film set mainly in the woods of Sant Miquel de Balansat, where the bodies were discovered, and around the town of Sant Joan de Labritja.
In 2020, the Netflix series White Lines will set up camp on the White Isle. Created by the man behind the global success of La Casa de Papel, the series tells the story of Zoe Walker (played by Laura Haddock), a woman trying to solve the death of her brother, a DJ who disappeared in Ibiza almost twenty years ago. Mainly filmed on the neighboring island of Mallorca for logistical reasons, the attentive eye will nevertheless recognize many of the series' Ibizan settings, starting with the Ibiza Marina where Zoe is greeted on her arrival. Axel's favorite spot, which we discover in flashbacks, is none other than the Torre d'en Rovira, the ideal place to watch the Ibizan sunset. And of course, Dalt Vila, Ibiza's old town, is one of the main settings for this investigation, which will not have a second season on Netflix due to lack of audience. Another Spanish film shot in Ibiza and released in 2023: La Corriente (international title: Ibiza Blue), which tells the story of three 40-somethings who meet on the island in the summer of 2020 and seek to overcome their personal tragedies. The film Disco, Ibiza, Locomía, released on Netflix in September 2024, recounts the success of an eccentric rock band (Locomía) in 1980s Ibiza.