LEJOS DE LOS ÁRBOLES / FAR FROM THE TREES
by Jacinto Esteva Grewe
In Spanish with English subtitles, 1964/72, 101 min, 35mm
April 13 at 6:30 PM
April 14 at 9:00 PM
This screening is part of: LANDMARKS OF THE BARCELONA SCHOOL
A documentary tour of the religious and pagan festivals held in various towns around Spain featuring ceremonies that promote dissolute brutality against animals and people. Shot in 1963, with a heavily censored version released in 1972, it has been restored to the version originally envisaged by its director, one of the founders of the Barcelona School.
“Held up for seven years before it was released, FAR FROM THE TREES seems like a perfect successor to Luis Buñuel’s LAND WITHOUT BREAD. Like that earlier film, it is a kind of impressionistic travelogue that shows a Spain far from the beaten paths of the tourist resorts; not only poverty, but the persistence of superstitions and occult beliefs captured by the film rebuke the image of a forward-looking, modern Spain that by the 60s was being promoted by the Franco regime. Esteva Grewe largely allows the images and juxtapositions to speak for themselves, giving the film a lyrical feeling that somewhat softens its social criticism – though obviously not enough for the censors.” –FILM SOCIETY OF LINCOLN CENTER
DANTE NO ES ÚNICAMENTE SEVERO / DANTE ISN’T ONLY SEVERE
by Jacinto Esteva Grewe & Joaquim Jordà
In Spanish with English subtitles, 1967, 78 min, 35mm-to-digital
April 13 at 9:00 PM
April 14 at 6:45 PM
This screening is part of: LANDMARKS OF THE BARCELONA SCHOOL
“DANTE ISN’T ONLY SEVERE was the most representative film of the Barcelona School. ‘Since we’re not allowed to do Victor Hugo, we will do Mallarmé,’ said Jordà – if realism was not possible due to censorship, he and his fellow filmmakers would turn to poetry, in the style of the French New Wave. DANTE ISN’T ONLY SEVERE was conceived as a film in four episodes, but two of the chapters were ultimately released independently. The two remaining chapters, directed by Jacinto Esteva and Joaquim Jordà, were edited after the manner of the Thousand and One Nights, with one story leading to another. The epilogue is an homage to UN CHIEN ANDALOU, by Luis Buñuel.” –Esteve Riambau
This program is co-presented by the Filmoteca de Catalunya, the Institut Ramon Llull, and the Department of Culture of the Generalitat de Catalunya.
