Fuenlabrada travels to the year 1900, at the dawn of the birth of the seventh art, to meet one of the most relevant figures in the history of cinema: George Mèliés. And it is that the ‘la Caixa’ Foundation, in collaboration with the City Council and La Cinémathèque Française, exhibits in the city from April 14 to May 12, the exhibition The show begins. George Mèliés and the cinema of 1900.
The son of a footwear entrepreneur, Méliès (1861-1938) was a draftsman, magician, artifact builder, theater director, actor, decorator and technician, as well as a producer, director and distributor of more than 500 films between 1896 and 1912. He reigned in the world of the fantasy genre and the cinematographic trick for almost twenty years, and his contribution to the seventh art was fundamental: he introduced dreams, magic and fiction in the cinema, when it was still in its infancy and was only documentary.
In front of the documentary cinema of the brothers Light, the founding act of Méliès consisted in combining the universe of Jean-Eugene Robert-Houdin, the father of modern magic, with Marey’s cinematography, and also in giving a decided impulse to cinema as a spectacle.
As a special effects genius, Méliès applied magic tricks and the magic lantern technique to cinema: pyrotechnics, optical effects, horizontal and vertical fold-outs, camera stops, chain fades, overlays, montage and color effects.
And now all that can be seen in the Plaza de España in Fuenlabrada, totally free, thanks to this exhibition curated by the screenwriter and writer Sergi Martín, who together with the mayor, Javier Ayala, the territorial delegate of CaixaBank Madrid Sur; Juan Luis Vidal; and the delegate of the ‘la Caixa’ Foundation in Madrid, Araceli Gutiérrez, presented the collection on Tuesday.
THE REALITY OF A DREAM
The show begins. George Méliès and the cinema of 1900 It is articulated in three areas where the public will get to know better the environment in which the genius lived. The first of them, the France of the 20th century where social, political and popular aspects of the country and the rest of the world are observed.
The public will also be able to demonstrate their ingenuity with the ‘Participa Mèliés’ initiative
The second presents the world of Méliès and his cinematographic experience, becoming the first director of an industry that has made so many dreams come true from an armchair. While the last stage is dedicated to the artist’s first film: The trip to the moon and delves into his influence on the cinema.
The exhibition also includes Participa Méliès, an educational activity, open to everyone – the general public, families and schools – and which offers visitors the possibility of demonstrating their ingenuity and creativity by drawing inspiration from the tricks of the inventor of special effects.
The web has been enabled: www.participamelies.com in this sense. Furthermore, information on visiting the exhibition by appointment is available on the ‘la Caixa’ Foundation website and by telephone numbers 900 801 137-900223040.
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