Movie theaters can be alternative spaces to museums, galleries or schools to bring contemporary art closer to the general public. With this premise, and under the direction of Enrichetta Cardinale and Marc Gomáriz, it emerged in 2017 DART Festival, a pioneer event in Spain and Latin America in exclusively programming documentary films on contemporary art, including interesting and risky proposals that usually remain outside the most commercial circuits.
In recent years, the documentary genre has been acquiring a greater role, occupying a well-deserved space in the front row of the world film scene. Both in film festivals and in conventional screening rooms, it is increasingly common to find some titles of the so-called ‘cinema of the real’ obtaining great recognition from critics and the public. For this reason, festivals focused on the dissemination of non-fiction, such as DART, are increasingly relevant.
In its programming, every year we find works that experiment with new narratives and audiovisual languages to get closer to artistic practice and its creators; together with innovative documentary projects and video essays that investigate different artistic movements and disciplines such as architecture, design, painting, sculpture or photography. In this week’s program, we will see some examples.
Documentary Cinema: Approaches and Approaches
The approaches that we find in these documentary works on contemporary art are very disparate materializing in more classic and narrative documentary formats, or more experimental and risky proposals.
As the directors of DART comment, many of the creators opt for the biopic format, biographical audiovisual projects focused on prominent figures of contemporary art from very diverse perspectives such as MAPPLETHORPE, LOOK AT THE PICTURES, of Fenton Bailey, Randy Barbato (USA / Germany, 2016), which presents an approach to the figure of the controversial photographer; ELLIOTT ERWITT – SILENCE SOUNDS GOOD (España / Francia, 2019), a calm and intimate portrait of the legendary American photographer Elliott Erwit through the eyes of his friend, the also photographer Adriana López Sanfeliu; or TANIA LIBRE (USA / Germany, 2017) made by Lynn Hershman-Leeson that accompanies the Cuban artist Tania bruguera to her sessions with a psychologist after having spent eight months in prison, accused of high treason for her performances in which she defends freedom of expression in the country.
From a more experimental approach, we also highlight the work ALBERTO GARCÍA-ALIX. THE SHADOW LINE, of Nicolás Combarro (Spain, 2017), direct testimony of the lights and shadows that García-Alix has had to go through to find his way; the docueesayo A PORTRAIT OF NB, of Peio Aguirre (Spain, 2020), portrait of the artist Néstor Basterretxea (1924-2014) produced almost entirely from the artist’s own photographic collection in the Idurmendieta farmhouse in Hondarribia; or the short film ON THE VOLCANO. MANRIQUE: JAMEOS DEL AGUA / CASA TAHÍCHE, of Orencio Boix (Spain, 2020), which delves into the volcanic landscape where the Canarian artist lived and worked Cesar Manrique, with a poetic and reflective approach to two of his creations.
Also interesting are the approaches to the creative experience that works such as THE PROPOSAL, of Jill Magid (México, 2019), which recovers the architect Luis Barragán, whose work was for the most part locked in a Swiss bunker, upon his death in 1988. In an attempt to resuscitate Barragán’s life and art, artist Jill Magid creates a bold proposal that it becomes a work of art in itself, an act of negotiation that explores how far an artist will go to democratize access to art. For its part, BODY OF TRUTH, of Evelyn Schels (Alemania, 2019), focuses on four artists, four women whose subject matter is their own body: Marina Abramovi¿, Sigalit Landau, Katharina Sieverding y Shirin Neshat; and that they have in common having lived situations of violence and oppression in their respective countries.
+ DART
Since its inception in 2017, DART has proposed a new platform to get closer to contemporary art and, through its educational and informative activities, such as talks, visits to art galleries and exhibitions, or Q&A meetings, it also configures a new space for reflection and debate around contemporary art.
Due to the global health crisis, in its 2020 edition, DART was presented for the first time in virtual format thanks to the Filmin platform, with its programming structured in three competitive sections (National, International and Short Films) and one of Shows, with stories about contemporary Spanish and international artists. Despite the restrictions, which have forced the renouncement of some of the festival’s usual activities, it continued to bet on the presence and importance of the physical experience of cinema with the premiere in Spain of the acclaimed documentary Keith Haring: Street Art Boy (UK, 2019) led by Ben Anthony, which closed this edition.
In addition, Dart Festival since 2019 has expanded nationally and internationally. At the national level, with the series of documentaries on contemporary art “ROOM C: Cinema, Creation and Contemporary Art ”, a monthly appointment within the Found! at the CaixaForum in Madrid, Seville, Zaragoza, Palma, Barcelona, Lleida, Girona and Tarragona. And in the international arena, through DART’s projection cycles in Chile.
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