Over fifty years ago, the Dziga Vertov Group of Jean-Luc Godard, Jean-Pierre Gorin and assorted company resolved to take a political approach to making political cinema. Would anyone be so bold in today’s world of neoliberal consensuses and flights of techno-capitalist fantasy? How should filmmakers go about tackling social and political issues here and now?
The panel discussion Political Films, Militant Images? explores this and other questions. Might we agree with Jean-Gabriel Périot when he takes aim at directors who address social and political issues in commercially successful films—with the likes of Costa-Gravas and Ken Loach in mind—and accuses them of using "the enemy’s language"? Does political cinema have to be belligerently militant? Do film critics, who often slap the label "militant" on films they find a bit troubling, prefer it when it is?
Filmmaker and director of photography Alba Cros, director and editor Iván Guarnizo and director and programmer Fernando Vílchez will share their experience of exploring political issues through images and talk about the decisions they took at different stages of the journey, while film critic Eulàlia Iglesias will offer her view from the outside. Film critic and cultural journalist Ignasi Franch will act as moderator.
- Monday 13 November, 7 pm to 8.30 pm
- Sala Raval CCCB
- Places are limited
- Free admission on a first-come, first-served basis
- Live captioning for the hard of hearing
Panellists
Alba Cros
Director and cinematographer Alba Cros graduated in audiovisual communication from the Universitat Pompeu Fabra in Barcelona. She made her first foray into feature films as one of the eight directors behind Les amigues de l’Àgata, which was nominated for a Gaudí Award for Best Film. She made her debut documentary feature, Alteritats, with Nora Haddad. Her shorts include Resiliència and Anhel de llum and the group film Akerman, un record.
Iván Guarnizo
Iván Guarnizo is a director and editor. His directing debut, Del otro lado, was screened at l'Alternativa 2021 and has notched up 14 international prizes, making it one of the most successful Colombian nonfiction films. He has edited a number of award-winning films, including No todo es vigilia and Paciente. At the 2021 Cannes Film Festival,Variety magazine named him one of the Top 10 Directors to Watch.
Eulàlia Iglesias
Journalist and film and television critic Eulàlia Iglesias has a PhD in communication studies from the Universitat Rovira i Virgili, where she also teaches. She is a regular contributor to publications such as Ara, Fotogramas, Rockdelux and Caimán. Cuadernos de Cine, where she is also a member of the editorial staff. She programmes for D’A Film Festival and the Semana Internacional de Cine de Valladolid.
Fernando Vílchez
Fernando Vílchez studied philosphy in Lima and film in Madrid. His shorts La calma and Solo te puedo mostrar el color competed at the Berlinale, and his political documentaries La Espera and Su nombre es Fujimori had a great impact in Peru. The short El polvo ya no nubla nuestros ojos, made by Colectivo Silencio, is competing in l’Alternativa Official 2023. He has been was head of programming at Lima Independiente Festival Internacional de Cine and codirector of Filmadrid.
Moderator
Ignasi Franch
Ignasi Franch is a cultural journalist and film critic. He is a regular contributor to media outlets such as Ara, Caimán. Cuadernos de Cine, El Diario and El Salto. He has taught cultural criticism at the Centre de Cultura Contemporània de Barcelona and Universitat de València. He is currently president of the Associació Catalana de la Crítica i l’Escriptura Cinematogràfica.
In collaboration with
