Finding Altamira

In the late nineteenth century, an amateur archaeologist named Marcelino Sanz de Sautuola explores caves near Santander in northern Spain. His young daughter Maria is with him when they come upon prehistoric paintings, including a herd of bison, on the ceiling of the Altamira cave. Rather than bringing him honour, the discovery turns his life upside down. The scientific establishment of the day, led by the French prehistory authority Émile Cartailhac, dismisses the paintings as a fraud, and the Catholic Church also regards them as a challenge to scripture. Marcelino spends the rest of his life trying to prove the works are genuine and to clear his name, while Maria's sheltered world unravels around her.

Finding Altamira is a Spanish, American and French co-production directed by Hugh Hudson, made roughly three decades after his earlier features Chariots of Fire, Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes and Revolution. Antonio Banderas plays Marcelino, with Golshifteh Farahani as his wife Conchita, Rupert Everett as a churchman and Pierre Niney among the supporting cast. The screenplay was written by Olivia Hetreed and José Luis López-Linares.

The film had a budget of about nine million dollars. Audience reaction has been moderate: it holds a rating of 6 out of 10 on IMDb from around 3,300 votes and 5.8 out of 10 on TMDB from about 144 votes. A critics' rating of 6.4 out of 10 from 17 reviews places it slightly above the audience scores.