The unique two-day film program considers a mass response that paralleled the Occupy Wall Street phenomenon of 2011-12.
Measures to pull Spain out of its current financial crisis are failing to bear fruit and exacerbating social tensions. While some are optimistic, the core problems remain.
A two-day film program at New York University's King Juan Carlos I of Spain Center, October 18-19 – the first of its kind – will showcase the Spanish crash from different perspectives: an analytical view through the eyes of serious journalism; a piece aimed at recruiting investors produced by a consulting firm; a collective film on the 15M movement showing that the group is vital and has a strong and well-articulated philosophy behind it; and artistic responses by influential international Spanish filmmakers working today, such as Basilio Martín Patino, Mercedes Álvarez, and Isaki Lacuesta.
“In-depth analysis of current events in Spain is crucial if we are fully to understand the present Spanish crisis,” said Marta Sánchez, founder of the Brooklyn film distribution company Pragda, and the principal organizer of this event. “The media are not a reliable source of information about the situation. Filmmakers are the historians of our times. This 2-day program puts on the table a complex reality seen through the eyes of Spanish documentarians and audiovisual artists, bringing a journalistic and creative commentary on the reality and implications of the crisis to the heart of New York City through NYU’s King Juan Carlos I of Spain Center.”
The series kicks off on Friday, October 18, with the revealing documentary The Great Spanish Crisis by Alicia Arce, with Paul Mason as reporter.
Other films scheduled to screen during the two-day series include: a promotional video produced by the consulting firm Grant Thornton Spain to encourage investors to come to Spain, the land of opportunity, Another Point of View (Otro Punto de Vista); a film essay that traces the connections between memory, public space, and the real estate bubbles that led to the international financial crisis, Futures Market (Mercado de Futuros, by Mercedes Álvarez); the collaborative film 15M: Excellent. Wake-Up Call. Important. (15M: Excelente. Revulsivo. Importante, by Stéphane M. Grueso); an impressionistic documentation of the occupation of Madrid’s Puerta del Sol, Free I Love You (Libre te quiero, by iconic Basilio Martín Patino); and the short film compilation Spanish Revolution?, featuring works by prominent Spanish audiovisual artists David Varela (Monumental History of Modern- Day Spain, 2013), Flavio G. García (Video-Derives: Sol, 2011), Guillermo García Peydró (The Guernica Variations, 2012), and Isaki Lacuesta (The Killing of the Pig, 2012). All films are US/NY premieres.
The series will conclude on Saturday, October 19 at 7:00 pm with a Round Table moderated by Bryan Cameron (NYU), and featuring scholars Germán Labrador (Princeton University), Pablo La Parra (NYU), and Luis Moreno-Caballud (University of Pennsylvania), followed by a reception.
This film program is presented by Pragda and NYU’s King Juan Carlos I of Spain Center, with the special support of DOCMA, Asociación de Cine Documental.
For complete descriptions, photos, and trailers go to www.pragda.com .