Anna Pacheco

«Ens encantaria que Ken Loach, amb el seu punt de crítica social, dirigís ‘Common Places, el remake’»

July 23rd, 2014 No Comments

(NO TRANSLATION IN ENGLISH AVAILABLE)

Entrevista a Delia Márquez i Pablo Díaz, directors de Lugares comunes, el curtmetratge guanyador de l’edició d’enguany del Premi Gas Natural Fenosa.

El curt es podrà veure a la sessió inaugural de Gandules’14 el dia 5 d’agost.

«La idea ens va venir com un flaix», expliquen els directors del curt guanyador de l’edició d’enguany del premi Gas Natural Fenosa, Lugares comunes. Delia Márquez (Màlaga, 1987) i Pablo Díaz (Màlaga, 1979) havien viatjat a Düsseldorf (Alemanya) per visitar una amiga infermera que treballa allà des de fa uns anys. Una visita turística, una parada d’autobús i uns quants minuts per pensar van ser el germen d’aquest curtmetratge, també guardonat a l’Acadèmia del Cine d’Espanya amb el segon premi de RNE.

Pablo: Pràcticament tot el guió, encara que després canviéssim coses, se’ns va ocórrer a la parada d’un autobús…

El curt, un retrat intimista i colpidor de com és la vida «fora de casa» per motius laborals, parla de la distància, l’enyorança i el procés d’adaptació d’una jove malaguenya a la gèlida Alemanya. Pablo ha estat l’encarregat del guió, que en aquesta peça s’articula a partir d’una veu en off, tendra i simpàtica, amb accent andalús, de l’actriu Virginia Muñoz. La Delia és la part visual, s’ha dedicat a enregistrar i a improvisar amb la Virginia Valle (l’altra Virginia, protagonista física de la història, infermera a la vida real) des de finals de gener fins a principis de febrer.

Delia: Primer vam definir la idea, el Pablo va fer el primer esborrany, que em va servir a mi com a guia de gravació de cadascun dels plans. En aquest primer esborrany es preveien escenes que al final ens vam veure obligats a eliminar perquè eren molt complexes.

–I cap a mitjans de febrer tornes aquí.

Delia: A Màlaga, amb un munt de material gravat, és el moment de donar forma a tot el material i adaptar-lo al guió. La música és del compositor gallec José María Martínez, que va contactar amb mi fa temps, i revisant els temes que tenia compostos, vam decidir quedar-nos amb el guitarreo que caracteritza i dóna ritme a la història. Amb la carta tancada, les pautes, la veu i la música, comencem a muntar, encaixar les peces del puzle.

–La dedicatòria final del curt és tota una declaració d’intencions («A todos los que se fueron. Ayer y hoy») i subratlleu «y sobre todo a y para Virginia Valle». Virginia Valle, la mateixa protagonista, la infermera, no?

Pablo: Indubtablement, és la persona que ens va motivar per fer això. És una amiga en comú que tenim i que viu a Düsseldorf des de fa quasi dos anys. L’estimem molt i la trobem a faltar per Màlaga.

Delia: Ella és infermera, i al curtmetratge vam haver de simular que treballava en una farmàcia (Apotheke en alemany) perquè no era possible gravar-la a l’hospital. Des del principi va tenir molta disponibilitat i va ser molt fàcil. Com que ella no és actriu, el 90% del curt és improvisació i el 10% restant està una mica planificat, com l’escena de llançar pedres a l’aigua o fer veure que estudia alemany.

–I l’escena del plat de migas?

Delia: En aquesta escena ens ho vam passar molt bé, perquè era el primer cop que la Virginia preparava unes migas!

Pablo: Jo no hi era, però m’hauria encantat tastar aquelles migas.

–I alguna altra escena que recordeu especialment?

Delia: Per gravar les escenes de l’avió que apareixen al principi, vam haver d’anar a la zona habilitada que hi ha a l’aeroport de Düsseldorf per veure enlairar-se i aterrar els avions (Flughafen besucherterrassen). Ens vam perdre en arribar i ja era de nit, així que vam haver de tornar un altre dia per poder gravar aquells plans.

–Els crèdits del curt també són molt especials.

Delia: Els crèdits estan basats en unes cartes reals que vam comprar en unes botiguetes allà a Düsseldorf, i realitzats per Javier Ramos. I el cartell, de Juan Antonio Mariscal, també ha sabut capturar l’essència del nostre curt i plasmar-la en una imatge.

–A més d’aquest curt, havíeu treballat mai junts?

Delia: Hem fet curts junts i separats. Jo vaig debutar amb el meu primer curt l’any 2011 (¿Cómo funciona un paracaídas?), el 2012 vaig fer La petite mort, i a partir d’aquí, juntament amb el Pablo, hem codirigit diferents curts, com Almohadas separadas, Casting Vitae, La técnica del mono i finalment Lugares comunes.

Pablo: Jo vaig realitzar curts fa anys en solitari, però ho vaig deixar una mica, i fa relativament poc que m’he ajuntat amb la Delia i l’equip d’ Agudeza Visual. Sempre estem pensant nous projectes i formem un bon equip, perquè som molt semblants a l’hora de treballar.

–I parlant de «ser fora de casa» (la temàtica del vostre últim curt), us ho plantegeu com a opció de futur?

Delia: Jo m’ho he plantejat però mai he arribat a bon port. De moment em quedo a Màlaga, amb molts projectes per fer.

Pablo: Jo tinc feina ara mateix i no ho necessito, però em sembla una opció molt bona, conèixer altres països, una altra cultura… La llàstima és fer-ho per necessitat, perquè pràcticament el teu país t’hi obliga. El missatge del curt és aquest: això que està passant ara mateix, ja va passar fa un temps, i hem d’evitar que això passi en un futur.

–I si et donessin l’oportunitat de cedir el teu curt perquè algun director en fes un remake, quin escolliries?

Pablo: Ens encantaria que Ken Loach, amb el seu punt de crítica social, dirigís Common Places, el remake. I ja posats a somiar, que Jamel Debbouzé fes d’immigrant àrab o Lupita Nyong’o d’immigrant kenyana, en tots dos casos a Londres.

Travelling around Gandules ’14

July 2nd, 2014 No Comments

From one end to another, from east to west, sailing the seas and oceans, breezing through airports, packing and (un)packing suitcases, talking other languages – or at least trying to, with the Andalusian and amusing touch of Spaniards in London, by Javier Moreno. Alone, or in company. Feeling at home far away, or terribly nostalgic. In this new edition of Gandules’14-Gas Natural Fenosa we will be travelling a great deal, without spending a euro and without suffering jet lag. We will travel by land, sea and air based on already-recorded images and the private views of the directors of over 20 finalist short films. A few days before the online voting deadline, we’ve decided to approach them and find out a few more things.

Frame from “Tu y Berlin” by Anna Mitjà

First stop: Berlin. We will be visiting the German capital twice, first of all with Gabriel by Alice Cugusi, where we witness the interior monologue of a writer in crisis. Cold and closed, it is not an easy city to adapt to, and even less so when there is a yearning. A long-distance love, like that of Anna Mitjà, director of  Tu i Berlin, (another) thought-provoking portrait of the city and of that love that arrives precisely when different paths must be taken. Travelling is also this: taking diversions, leaving behind unfinished stories.

“Every time I take a flight I feel the urge to get my camera and let myself be carried away by a new story.” These are the words of Helena Bonastre, responsible for El viatge, which takes us from Barcelona to Maastricht in little more than 13 minutes. Objective: to find work. The same as so many other people! Today and in the past. Since time immemorial there have been people saying goodbye, farewell, Adéus (title of the short film by Antón Varela and María José Pérez), see you soon, until I don’t know when, hugging each other with a lump in their throat. “The idea is born from the perception of seeing how close families and friends find themselves forced to pack their bags and leave.” This is Galicia, but it could easily be Malaga. Everything is like in Lugares comunes, the short film by Dela Márquez and Pablo Díaz, “a small tribute to all those emigrants of yesterday and today”. In this case, inspired by the story of a nurse from Malaga who has been living in Düsseldorf (Germany) for the last two years. A goodbye like that of the grandfather of the protagonist of Toledo, Ohio, who left to “do the Americas” in the 1940s, and who knows if he ever came back, an exercise of combing through the past to find one’s origins, one’s roots. Like the search around Patagonia for the father of Diana Toucedo in Imágenes secretas. “My knowledge of my father had been based for years on mere ideals [...]. Eventually I wanted to get closer to him than I had ever been capable.” And, without leaving Argentina, Viceversa, by Mexican Atzin Ortiz, narrates a return home, “a fictional representation of my own departure”. Leaving Buenos Aires at the end of seven years with the long etcetera that accompanies a goodbye.

Frame from “Aller et Retour” by Nuria Monjo

We travel ever lighter in terms of luggage, we have become post-modern nomads capable “of learning to live with a new family, other customs and another language”, says Núria Monjo, creator of Aller et retour. After her Erasmus stay in Tournai (Belgium), it was her turn to say goodbye and store away the memories. Only those that there was room for, of course. As in Udlandet, by Aina Pociello, another Erasmus in images; in this case, a year of experiences in Copenhagen. “Travelling means opening and closing cycles, starting an adventure, learning a new language or even changing your name”, such as Polish Míjau (Michael in Germany, Miguel in Spain), by Olaia Sendón: “I have not chosen a journey, nor a destination, the only thing that I chose was a person who took us from one country to another without us moving.” Michael has lived in four different countries during his life.

Some people here, some people elsewhere. The Barcelona that we know is also full of stories. Las tardes (The Afternoons) of Teresa, the Ecuadorian protagonist of the short film by Alba Molas, is an everyday example of it: a woman who tries to keep going by working as a cleaning lady and caring for the child of a family. The Primers dies (First Days) of Pakistani Ahmad (a short film by incoming new pupils at the Institut Milà i Fontanals) is a reflection on the experiences of recent arrivals in Barcelona. In their own voices, and based on real events. A lone journey that shows what the discovery of a new city is like. Pakistan is also the country of origin of the protagonist of Ashgbar, diario ambulante, by Violeta Blasco, a documentary portrait about a group of Pakistanis selling souvenirs in the Parc Güell: “I wanted to talk about that forgotten face of the city of Barcelona, that under a presumed cosmopolitanism hides an evident marginality.” And margins, and social changes, are also the subject of Encajados, by Albert Bougleux, diverse portraits by some of the neighbours of the neighbourhood of La Ribera, in Montcada i Reixac, a working-class neighbourhood marked by a heterogeneous and conflictive migratory identity. Apart from this, African immigration acquires a very important role in 9 dies, by Imma Gandia and David Castro, “a documentary portrait that establishes a comparison between the totalitarianism that is described by Hanna Arendt in Los orígenes del totalitarismo and determined social behaviours, seen today, towards immigration from countries in the South”. Based on conversations with Josufa No, which caused a major impact on the two directors, this short documentary film shows the rawest, most incomprehensible and difficult marginalisation. The suffering of many recent arrivals and the day-to-day of an immigration that is far from pleasant.

And thus our journey ends, a giant journey. When somebody says “I’m away from home” there are many things, many stories, remaining to be told. End of journey.

Remember that you still have time until 6 July to cast your votes for the nine finalist short films of this year’s Gandules.

Five things you never knew about your data and that Big Bang Data can explain to you

June 4th, 2014 No Comments

Everything you do (and say, and write) on Facebook is in Sweden

When you post a photo on Facebook or share a status with your “virtual” friends, what you have just created – your data – do not remain wandering around in space, in an abstract or immaterial place. They have a little trip pending to the Swedish city of Lulea, which is the location of the largest Facebook data centre outside of the USA. Messages, interests, “likes”, hobbies, shared friends: all rest in a vast structure that is charged with maintaining and preserving this information that you have produced and shared. Storing it has a price and a cost in terms of energy, and they take advantage of the arctic cold to save on air conditioning.

© Gunnar Knechtel

Egos, webcams and YouTube

What would happen if we put together on an immense mural with fragments of some of the clips you have seen on YouTube in recent years? Cookery recipes, political speeches, political arguments, in favour, against, declarations of love, beauty tips, covers of songs, Photoshop tutorials. Everyone wants to feel they are being listened to and YouTube is the great mixed bag of the web world where everyone can say their bit. So, to a certain extent this is the experiment involved in “Hello world! Or: how I learned to stop listening and love noise”, by Christopher Baker, an awe-inspiring mural that you can see at BBD, formed based on small and diverse clips, varied miscellany, from over 5000 personal diaries found on the Internet. You will not be able to hear anything, you will probably not understand a single word, the general cacophony and the constant blablabla will only serve to make you realise that inside the immensity of the Internet, everyone can talk about everything.

The room full of Flickr photos

Right at the very moment that you “click” to upload a new photo to Flickr, over a half a million people make – or have made or will make – exactly the same movement in the next 24 hours. The volume of “clicks” is so extraordinary as to fill an entire room with photographs. This is shown by the installation “24 hrs in photos” by Dutch collector and photographer Eric Kessels, which you will also find at the exhibition, and which immerses you (literally) in a sea of the photographs taken and uploaded to Flickr in 24 hours. Perhaps you haver never given it much thought, but the 356 photos that you are storing in your mobile are a minuscule percentage in relation to the global quantity of visual data that we manufacture daily.

Data can tell you how your sex life is going

One of the most surprising installations at BBD is that produced by Jaime Serra, an expert in infographics at La Vanguardia, who shows through a simple graphic the state of his relationship with his partner and their level of sexual activity during a one-year period. Based on coloured lines (and with the indefatigable help of his wife, who compiled all the data), Serra draws a map of his relationship with his partner. A good example of how the visualisation of data based on infographics and maps can help us understand or interpret reality. Nicholas Feltron also does a similar exercise wtih the yearbook Feltron (2012), a book in which this New York data expert “mapifies” in a scrupulous, slightly obsessive way, his life during an entire year: the top 10 people he has most talked, the issues he has talked about most, the airports he has passed through, the volume of photographs he has taken or, even, the food he has eaten.

Data for the common good

The dissemination of our data has its drawbacks, clearly. Espionage or the use made of them by major companies and corporations represents a growing threat to our privacy. Even so, foundations exist, such as Civio, that propose a “benign” use of data and call for a journalism committed to citizens and the freedom of data, or “open data”. At the exhibition you can discover some of the tools Civio offers, such as “Donde van mis impuestos” (Where do my taxes go?), which serves to see in a clear and very illustrative way where our taxes have been going since 2008 and up to the present day or “Tu tasa de paro” (Your unemployment rate) based on the Active Population Survey (EPA), to find out the unemployment rate according to age, sex and location in Spain.

The Big Bang Data exhibition can be visited at the CCCB until 26 October, from Tuesday to Sunday from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. and followed via #BBDATA and on the website http://bigbangdata.cccb.org

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