'Sirāt' threw the year's hottest rave. It almost got out of hand

Pulsating beats, huge lasers and a thousand revelers: Filmmaker Oliver Laxe teamed with groups in the underground party movement to put on a wild bash for a key scene

- Story by Gregory Ellwood

SINCE THE ADVENT OF THE rave in the late 1980s, filmmakers have attempted to incorporate underground dance festivals into their works with varying degrees of success. Oliver Laxe has now graced us with a hypnotic party for the ages in "Sirāt," Spain's 2026 Oscar submission for international feature - a rave that isn't just eye candy but a central plot point, where a middle-age father (Sergi López) searches for his missing daughter as the world descends into chaos.

For Laxe, who has been embedded in the nomadic rave scene and free party movement for decades, authenticity was key. His team worked with production designer Laia Ateca and two different collectives, Trackers and Drop' in Caravan, to bring the party to life. After a deep dive into the peak rave scene of the 1990s and early 2000s, Ateca took a weekend research trip that opened her eyes to the culture. There was one element her boss was adamant about, however. He wanted a gigantic wall of speakers, a wall of sound that matched the walls of the mountain surrounding their location in Rambla de Barrachina, Spain (standing in for Morocco). However, in order to capture the true spirit of a contemporary rave, the production had already agreed to stage a three-day event essentially run by the collectives. That meant compromising to make it as real as possible.