film

While culture helps us survive these gloomy times, the pandemic is also driving new initiatives that contribute to the survival of culture itself. Take this brave new film festival created by film curator Miquel Martí Freixas and filmmaker Núria Giménez Lorang. Martí is known for his profound writings on non-fiction as well as his eye-opening docu series Busca Raons at Zumzeig. Giménez is the creator of My Mexican Bretzel, a peculiar "fake documentary" made with found footage in which nothing is what it appears to be.

La Inesperada kicks off at Filmoteca with 143 rue du désert, a tranquil portrayal of a woman who owns a shop in the Algerian desert, and continues with Il n’y aura plus de nuit, which brings together images from helicopters on mission in the Middle East, personally presented on Friday by the director Eléonore Weber. Further recommended titles include Chantal Akerman’s De l’autre côté (2002) on Mexicans who cross the border into the US, and the poetic visual essay Pedra Pàtria which digs into the layers and roots of family.

Zumzeig will host a double screening on Sunday, February 28th of Icemeltland Park, a thought-provoking docu archive of social networks, and Blue Eyes and Colorful My Dress, which follows a 3-year-old girl playing on the streets of Plovdiv, Bulgaria. Not to be missed either is Cuadecuc, a session of short Catalonian documentaries including Carla Simon and Dominga Sotomayor’s project Correspondencia which connects past, present and future though visions, thoughts and archival footage.

€4 Filmoteca / €5 Zumzeig

Update: Cuadecuc is now sold out