Pere Portabella has been a pioneering movie producer and celebrated Spanish statesman, denounced by both the Franco dictatorship and The Vatican. But it’s his subversive work as a director that has rewritten the rules of genre narrative. Or as The Museum of Modern Art says, “The films of Portabella expand the expressive potential of cinema”: In 1970, Portabella was invited by Jess Franco to make a behind-the-scenes documentary on the filming of COUNT DRACULA.
21 January 2020, 8.15pm Pere Portabella Short Films
We’re pleased to present a selection of Pere Portabella’s short films, including four collaborations with Spanish painter, sculptor, and ceramicist Joan Miró.
Pere Portabella (1929, Figueres, Spain) is known as one of the most acclaimed Spanish film directors and producers. After Franco's death, he followed a political career. With 'Vampir-Cuadecuc' he put in 1970, the demands of "nuevos cines" - the cinema supported by the Franco regime - aside. Filmed on the set of Jess Franco's "Count Dracula" (starring Christopher Lee and Herbert Lom) 'Vampire-Cuadecuc' can be best described as an 'avant-garde making-of', where the behind-the-scenes footage is used to bring an equally tragic and funny story about vampirism.
Ben Rivers went to work in a similar way with the recent 'A Distant Episode'. He was filming on the set of the London artist Shezad Dawood and refers not only to Portabella's 'Vampire-Cuadecuc' by using the same method, but also by returning to the electronic soundtrack written by Carles Santos.
Fechas:
De Lunes, Octubre 3, 2016 - 20:00 hasta Martes, Octubre 4, 2016 - 19:55
La obra de Pere Portabella (Figueras, 1927) se sitúa en la encrucijada entre vanguardia,cine y política. Próximo a la sensibilidad surrealista y al conceptualismo (productor de Viridiana de Luis Buñuel en 1962, entre sus colaboradores se cuentan Miró, Brossa y Carles Santos) firma desde finales de los sesenta una de las filmografías más singulares del cine español, alternada con su actividad política como parlamentario y senador. En sus películas, Portabella recurre a estrategias de extrañamiento y dislocación formal tanto para evadir la censura como para potenciar el alcance expresivo las obras, dando lugar a fascinantes simbolizaciones.
