On November 4, 2001, the first session of Xcèntric took place, a regular program of screenings dedicated to experimental cinema and artists unpublished in the city of Barcelona. Just 20 years later, we celebrate the anniversary of Xcèntric with a set of screenings, performances and talks that make up a tribute to cinema as a collective experience, to the survival of the photochemical film and to the job of the projectionist, in addition to a necessary reflection on the present and the future of cinema in the digital age.
The work of Carles Santos has been chosen to close the film season. This homage includes a poetry reading by Vicenç Altaió, a selection of his films made between 1969 and 1979, many of them rarely screened, a previously unseen piece by the North American filmmaker Joan Logue, two short pieces from the early days of cinema starring the magician Leopoldo Fregoli and a unique concert by the pianist Clara Peya (National Culture Prize 2019), performing a piece composed especially for the occasion in collaboration with the dancer Sílvia Capell.
Decades of scientific exploration have revealed that some regions of the Earth may be similar to the geological environments observed on the surface of Mars. Australia's central desert shares certain unique and singular characteristics with the "red planet": extinct volcanoes, traces of asteroid impact, minerals, arid valleys, sandstone and stony soils the colour of blood caused by the same weathering process.
Through an unusual filmic exploration of the use of framing, lighting, blurring, superimposing and stop motion, the short films in this session try out paths of perceptual experimentation in which specific elements and places - traces of lights, circular or geological shapes - create the more distant cosmic topographies and sinuousness of other planets and unexpected figurations. This programme, with films by Sophie Michael, Manuela de Laborde, Gautam Valluri, Brigid McCaffrey and Jodie Mack, is designed as a parallel activity to the exhibition "Mars.
Dates:
Thursday, March 18, 2021 - 19:00 to Friday, March 19, 2021 - 18:55
With the aim of increasing the visibility of the works contained in the Xcèntric Archive, which until now could only be consulted at the CCCB, we've created a space where experimental films can be viewed online. Once a month and for a limited time, we'll share a film from our catalogue, accompanied by an in-depth presentation given by a specialist. This initiative is carried out in collaboration with the Catalan Association of Film Criticism and Writing (ACCEC).
Dates:
Monday, March 1, 2021 (All day) to Wednesday, March 31, 2021 (All day)
With the aim of increasing the visibility of the works contained in the Xcèntric Archive, which until now could only be consulted at the CCCB, we've created a space where experimental films can be viewed online. Once a month and for a limited time, we'll share a film from our catalogue, accompanied by an in-depth presentation given by a specialist. This initiative is carried out in collaboration with the Catalan Association of Film Criticism and Writing (ACCEC).
Dates:
Monday, February 1, 2021 (All day) to Sunday, February 28, 2021 (All day)
Critic and filmmaker Pablo Marín presents an illustrated talk and two programmes on Argentine experimental cinema with works from the 1970s and the present, the two most significant periods in Argentina’s cinema. The films in these sessions stand out for their formal and political radicalism, reflecting the society of the time.
The films of Amy Halpern are devoted to the pleasures of light, of perception and of film as a medium. Their intellectual interplay, along with the aesthetics of pleasure and the resulting synesthetic associations, give rise to intimate, melodic, sensual experiences.
As a child, Amy Halpern made compositions using light and movement, like all children. She was interested in looking at volumes, both spatial and temporal, positive and negative spaces, and their representation and/or suggestion on screen.
This session is a representative sample of the film work of the poet, filmmaker, photographer and critic Juan Bufill, selected by himself. The author will be present at the screening to present it and converse with the public.
We celebrate Jonas Mekas’ work with one of his great diary-films, shot between 1969 and 1984: portraits of his community of artist and filmmaker friends (Rossellini, Anger, Warhol, Frampton, Lennon…), about “places, seasons of the year, climates (storms, snow, blizzards), streets and parks in New York, brief escapes to natural areas, nothing special, minor celebrations held over the years, up until now, and that are retained as a record in these short and personal sketches" (Mekas).
