04/06/2014 - The festival of Galician experimental cinema kicks off in its fifth edition dedicated to Japanese cinema

Starting this week and running through June 8 in Coruña, the fifth edition of (S8) Mostra de Cinema Periferico, a very particular event on the Spanish (and European) cinema panorama, kicked off. The festival highlights the most innovative creations and gives visibility to a side of cinema the industry almost completely ignores. After gathering together in its programming contemporary creators such as Andrés Duque, Ben Russell, Ben Rivers and Lois Patiño, as well as others such as Iván Zulueta, Jaime Chávarri, Dziga Vertov and Georges Méliès, the (S8) has gone slightly further this year, deciding to dedicate itself to Japan.

The festival is welcoming in Spain the work by the father of Japanese experimental cinema, Takahiko Iimura, as well as the avant-garde members of the 1970s and contemporary collectives. “We decided to dedicate a special edition to the story of Japanese cinema, one of the most important ones, but also one of the least well-known ones,” the director of the festival Ángel Rueda said. The dual Spain-Japan year, which is being celebrated this year, was one of the motivations behind this choice.

With its dialogue between experimental cinema from other ages and the one that is done in Spain (in Particular in Galicia) today, the festival has much to offer. This year, the Sinais and Desbordamientos sections will include work by Xurxo Chirro, Eloy Rodríguez Serén, Esperanza Collado and from the Crater collective. “These kinds of events allow a new generation of filmmakers to meet and spread their work,” said Rueda, “the visibility of these artists can help them have access to industry channels and distribution that already exist, as well as create new ones. Experimental avant-garde cinema in Spain – without having a long tradition – has always been penalised in terms of distribution channels in our country.”   

The crucial role of a festival such as (S8) in the cinema circuit is even more important when you consider its training elements (conferences, meetings, work-shops for children). According to Rueda, “this is of great importance to us, in so far as we think festivals have a responsibility to shape the spectator of the future.”

(Translated from Spanish)