L'Alternativa Hall

Filmmakers Unite (FU)

Session 1 (13 films, 78') 13/11, 21.30 h

Filmmakers Unite (FU)

Filmmakers Jay Rosenblatt and Ellen Bruno have curated a collaborative film project that documents diverse thoughts and feelings about the current political situation in the United States. Filmmakers Unite (FU) is a compilation of personal shorts by a range of documentary, narrative and experimental filmmakers designed to give voice to different responses within the independent film community. Cutting across race, ethnicity, class, gender, sexuality and religion, this selection of one- to nine-minute shorts packs a far more powerful and effective collective punch than isolated individual responses. Over 50 filmmakers answered the call for submissions and the result is a provocative programme of 13 shorts.

In collaboration with:

We Need to Disagree

We disagree constantly: about how to shape our society, about the relation between freedom and security, about degrees of individuality and solidarity. Polarisation instead of debate, taking sides instead of engagement. Fifty years after the struggles for personal liberties and free expression of 1968 we have handed over our societal standards and values to populists and social media filter bubbles. But we need to disagree, to argue: to listen, pause, reconsider, and then speak. And at the same time resist the assault on progressive achievements. This triangle programme from the UK, Austria and Spain takes a look at three European countries in turmoil.

Session 2 (7 films, 62') 14/11, 20.45 h

We Need to Disagree 1
VIS Vienna Shorts: Of Islands and Scapegoats

Back in the 1970s, Austria sported the nickname “Island of the Blessed”; in the 21st century, the dream of becoming an island has suddenly become a political demand. Right-wing parties put all their eggs in one nationalistic basket and have twice been elected to office at federal level. Xenophobic rhetoric and talk of building walls might still have been frowned upon at the turn of the millennium, but these strategies are now part of many a European politician’s playbook. This programme serves as a cautionary tale against scapegoat politics tinged with populism and paranoia.

In collaboration with:

Session 4 (6 films, 67') 15/11, 21.30 h

We Need to Disagree 2
Glasgow Short Film Festival: The Will of the People

The referendum on Britain’s membership of the EU was narrowly won on a toxic debate framed in terms of who “belongs” here. Opportunistic politicians quickly identified the result as the settled will of the people. But in reality, national identity is a delicate and shifting concept, based on tolerance and compromise between diverse groups. What does it mean for people of colour, already excluded from a nostalgic narrative of nationhood, to find their marginal position endorsed by referendum? The answer lies in a horrific high-rise fire one year after Brexit.

In collaboration with:

Session 5 (7 films, 66') 16/11, 20.30 h

We Need to Disagree 3
L'Alternativa Film Festival: The Personal and the Political

We find ourselves at another crossroads. A perpetual meeting point of contemplation, ideas, conflict, decisions. The seven films in this programme explore aspects of contemporary society, making a case for the idea that memory, identity, gender, labour, family, and sexuality are still at the heart of our struggle for progress and equality. Progression, regression, remembering, forgetting, speaking out, holding back. And the beating heart belongs to you, me, us.

YouTube-logia (Sala d'Art Jove)

Session 3 (60') 15/11, 20.30h

YouTube-logia (Sala d'Art Jove)

YouTube-logia is a collective YouTube viewing and a cross between a talk, a stand-up gig and a screening. Each presenter will share a series of videos as they post about them on social media. An offbeat take on audiovisual criticism that also lets us analyse the material as mere consumers. With Juan David Galindo, Marla Jacarilla, Pablo Santa Olalla and Alba Rihe.