DocuSpain:
New Spanish Documentaries
Co-presented
by Pragda
A
series of provocative and brilliantly conceived Spanish documentaries
which have invigorated the genre with new forms of expression.
Curated
by Marta Sanchez of Pragda with generous support from the Spanish
Foreign Cultural Cooperation of the Embassy of Spain in Washington.
Special thanks to the International Documentary Association
and Carlos Robles, Consul General of Spain in Boston.
2008
Wednesday,
October 8 at 7pm
Memory
Train (El
Tren de la Memoria)
dir.
Marta Arribas & Ana Perez, Spain, 2006, BetaSP, 85 mins,
b/w & color,
Spanish w/ English subtitles
Introduced
by Michael R Solomon, Associate Professor of Romance Languages
at the University of Pennsylvania
In
the 1960s, Franco officially sanctioned the mass exodus of some
two million Spaniards to work in European factories. When other
countries were experiencing a boom, families went hungry in
Spain. Poor, unskilled and largely illiterate, most thought
they would stay abroad for a few months; many settled in these
countries for the rest of their lives. As Europe deals with
a new wave of immigration, this is a powerful reminder of dislocation,
assimilation and resettlement that have a long history throughout
the continent.
Wednesday,
November 5 at 7pm
The
Basque Ball - Skin Against Stone (La
Pelota Vasca - La Piel Contra la Piedra)
dir.
Julio Medem, Spain, 2003, DVCam, 115 mins, color, Spanish
and Basque
w/
English subtitles
A
fascinating overview of the torturous politics of the Basque
region and ETA (Euskadi
Ta Askatasuna or “Basque
Homeland and Freedom”),
the area’s notorious separatist terrorist group. Controversial
in the extreme,
the
film drew sharp censure from the Spanish authorities, with the
Minister for Culture branding the film "suspicious."
An even-handed approach straddles both sides of the political
spectrum, treating the complex web of history, identity and
politics surrounding his subject with great maturity. – Jamie
Russell, BBC Radio
Wednesday,
December 10 at 7pm
Bars
In The Memory (Rejas en la Memoria)
dir.
Manuel Palacios, 2004, Spain, DVD, 80 mins, b/w & color, Spanish
w/
English subtitles
This
groundbreaking documentary uncovers the forgotten history surrounding
Franco’s concentration camps and prisons created to deal with
the Republican resistance fighters from the Spanish Civil War
in 1936. Unlocking historical doors sealed for decades, the
film aims to preserve the collective memory from the last 60
years of Spain’s painful history.
2009
Wednesday,
January 28 at 7pm
My Grandmother’s
House (La Casa De Mi Abuela)
dir. Adan Aliaga,
Spain, 2005, DVCAM, 80 mins, color, Spanish and Valencian w/
English subtitles
Introduced by Michael
R Solomon, Associate Professor of Romance Languages at the University
of Pennsylvania
The story of the peculiar
relationship between Marina (an impulsive and irreverent 6 year
old girl) and her 75 year-old grandmother who live in a small
Spanish town on the Mediterranean coast. A company bought the
ground on which their house is constructed and wants to tear
everything down to build new apartment buildings. Marina and
her grandmother live with this imposed change of residence in
very different ways. Exquisitely filmed, My Grandmother’s
House focuses on this anonymous woman who dominates the
screen with her tremendous presence, leaving no one untouched.
Wednesday,
February 25 at 7pm
Seville Southside
(Poligono Sur)
dir. Dominique Abel,
Spain, 2003, BetaSP, 107 mins, color, Spanish w/ English subtitles
Introduced by Michael
R Solomon, Associate Professor of Romance Languages at the University
of Pennsylvania
Flamenco music is the
lifeblood of the Gitanos (Spanish gypsies) whose exile has lasted
for centuries. In looking for the roots of the so-called "New
Flamenco", director Dominique Abel takes us on a journey to
Tres Mil Viviendas, a rundown estate on Seville’s South Side
and home to much of the city’s Gitanos population.
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