The death of General Franco, in November 1975, put an end to forty years of dictatorship in Spain and became the turning point of a transition that ranges from the radicalization of the opposition to Francoism to the Constitution of a new democratic state. This period, which goes from the repercussions of May 68 to the first plural elections in 1978, was reflected in Catalan cinema. Clandestine footage documented demonstrations and student or workers assemblies while the censors acted fiecely against films that denounced the dictatorship. An incipient framework of freedom, on the other hand, allowed filmmakers such as Pere Portabella, Antoni Ribas, Jaime Camino, Joaquím Jordà or Ventura Pons to explore the legacy of the Civil War, social immigration, national identity or sexual liberation.

The course taught by Esteve Riambau Möller contextualizes the period, includes footage of the main films quoted and analyzes the period from the perspective of indistinct documentary and fiction films from the archives of the Filmoteca de Catalunya.

Esteve Riambau Möller (Barcelona, 1955) is a historian and filmmaker, doctor in Communication Sciences and a graduate in Medicine. He is the director of the Filmoteca de Catalunya since 2010 and Professor of Audiovisual Communication at the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, has published forrty books on History of Cinema and co-directed with Elisabet Cabeza the feature films La doble vida del faquiir (2005) and Máscares (2009) and, with Àlex Gorina, the TV series La gran il·lusió. Retrat intermittent del cinema català (2018). Esteve Riambau has also been member of the Executive Committee of FIAF, the International Federation of Film Archives (2011-2017), and distinguished as Officier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the French Government.

The Mercè Rodoreda Chair in Catalan Studies is part of the Ph.D. Program in Latin American, Iberian, and Latino Cultures at the Graduate Center - CUNY. Created in 2003 and funded by the Institut Ramon Llull, each semester the Mercè Rodoreda Chair offers a course in Catalan literature and culture, and a course in Catalan sociolinguistics, alternatively.

See also Landmarks of the Barcelona School at Anthology Film Archives in New York.

Anthology Film Archives, 32 Second Avenue, New York

Jacinto Esteva Grewe: FAR FROM THE TREES
April 13 at 6:30 PM
April 14 at 9:00 PM
Anthology Film Archives

Jacinto Esteva Grewe & Joaquim Jordà: DANTE ISN’T ONLY SEVERE
April 13 at 9:00 PM
April 14 at 6:45 PM
Anthology Film Archives

The screenings on Wednesday, April 13 will be presented by Esteve Riambau and Daria Esteva, the daughter of filmmaker Jacinto Esteva Grewe.

This program is co-presented by the Filmoteca de Catalunya, the Institut Ramon Llull, and the Department of Culture of the Generalitat de Catalunya.