Madrid Cinemathequea space of the Culture, Tourism and Sport area of Madrid City Hall, hosts in October a varied program which, coinciding with the celebration of Hispanidad, will invite people to rediscover Spanish cinema and bring the reality closer to Latin America. Likewise, a space for reflection will be opened with an exhibition dedicated to the Taiwanese director Tsai Ming Liang and, with the help of the Austrian collective Total Refusal, the public will have the opportunity to reinterpret the relationship between video games and cinema.
La Cineteca Madrid celebrates Spanish Cinema Day with a program that highlights both the richness of classics and the novelty of forgotten or rediscovered projects. This section includes a tribute to the filmmaker Eloy de la Iglesia on the occasion of his 80th birthday, with the screening of two of his most emblematic films: “The Deputy” (1978) and “Navajeros” (1980), titles which open a window on the social and political themes that marked his work. Added to this are the 50th anniversary of “Do not desecrate the dream of the dead” (Jorge Grau, 1974), a reference in horror cinema, and the 40th anniversary of Pedro Almodóvar’s emblematic comedy “What Have I made to deserve this?” (1984).
This anniversary will also serve as an excuse to celebrate the belated premiere of “End of the Journey, Sahara” (Antonio R. Cabal, 2024), a film shot in the 80s which, for various reasons, has not been finished until now . This work, along with other classics of Spanish cinema, will give the public the opportunity to rediscover the variety and depth of our cinematography.
The “Tropical Utopia” section brings together representative films from five Latin American countries and covers topics such as politics, history and cultural identity. From the tropical gothic of the Cali group in Colombia, with works like “Pura sangre” (Luis Ospina, 1982) and “The Mansion of Araucaima” (Carlos Mayolo, 1986), to the films saved by the collective Archivistas Salvajes of Cuba. , This exhibition explores the contrasts and contradictions that define Latin American reality.
The cycle also includes a retrospective of Brazilian filmmaker Leon Hirszman, with titles such as “Maioria ABSOLUTA” (1964) and “Eles não usam black-tie” (1981), which depict the social and political reality of Brazil. Contemporary Mexican productions will also be exhibited, such as “Kenya” (Gisela Delgadillo, 2023) and “El eco” (Tatiana Huezo, 2023), which show the complex relationship between territory and community today.
“Absolute majority” framework
In close connection with the previous cycle, Cineteca Madrid hosts a new edition of “Todo Cine, Todo Dominican”, in collaboration with the Embassy and the General Directorate of Cinema of the Dominican Republic. A showcase of the work being done in a booming country seeking to position itself on the international scene. The cycle includes not only screenings, but also conferences and meetings with Dominican filmmakers and actors, presenting itself as a complete experience for lovers of the seventh art.
Lee Kang-sheng, a frequent collaborator of Taiwanese filmmaker Tsai Ming Liang, travels the world playing a traveling monk. The figure is inspired by Xuanzang, a Buddhist monk from the Tang dynasty who traveled thousands of miles on foot between China and India. It is in this context that Cineteca Madrid is programming an exhibition of the cinema of Tsai Ming Liang, who captures with his camera the slowness, contemplation and beauty of a journey seemingly without a destination. The cycle is an invitation to reflect on life at a leisurely pace and how the simple act of walking can be transformed into a work of art. The films, which were presented in contemporary art museums, will offer the public a unique visual experience.
The Austrian collective Total Refusal, specialized in artistic intervention in video games, comes to Cineteca Madrid to offer a retrospective of its most remarkable works. This group reuses and reinterprets video game images, transforming them into works that question the political and social apparatus behind the luminous and immersive aesthetic of virtual worlds. Through short films such as “Disaster Tourism” (2021), they explore topics such as colonization, violence and alienation in these spaces. Alongside the screenings, Total Refusal will offer a master class in which he will deepen his techniques of reappropriation and critical analysis of video games.
Cineteca Madrid’s October programming also includes a varied offering of premieres and special events that complement the usual major thematic cycles. Highlights include the 10th Another Way Film Festival, dedicated to sustainability and the environment. There is also the exhibition Nosotras contamos, an initiative of Women in Cinema which will reach its 15th edition in 2024 and will offer two sessions in the Germinal section, dedicated to the creation of young filmmakers, with a focus on Madrid female directors.
In addition, the European trilogy of the Galician filmmaker Juan Pinzás will be one of the attractions of the month, as well as the special screenings of “End of a Journey, Sahara” (Antonio R. Cabal, Spain, 2023), which are added to the usual sections of the film archives such as “La noche zeta”, “Noise stories”, “This is how it goes”, “CIMA in brief” or “DOCMA”. In October, the Cineteca Madrid programming includes the following titles not recommended for children under 18: “Do not desecrate the dream of the dead” (Jorge Grau, Spain-Italy, 1974), “The Deputy” (Eloy de la Iglesia, Spain, 1978) and ‘Navajeros’ (Eloy de la Iglesia, Spain, 1980).
