TRIBUTE TO FILMMAKER EUGÈNIA BALCELLS

Cineteca Madrid pays tribute to Eugènia Balcells, a pioneer of experimental cinema and audiovisual art in Spain, who passed away last March. Her work explored the limits of visual perception, light, and sound through video installations, performances, and video scores. This programme, in collaboration with the Eugènia Balcells Foundation and the Hamaca archive, offers a journey through her early film pieces, where the questioning of the image and the representation of women, formal experimentation, and reflection on language take center stage. The selection includes Fin (1978), Boy Meets Girl (1978)—a work that, under a title alluding to Hollywood romantic comedy, questions what image of men and women would be held by those who only know their representation in the media—and 133 (1978), a found-footage piece created alongside Eugeni Bonet that compiles fragments from 133 films. These are followed by Fuga (1979), a reflection on the relationship between image, space, and time filmed with a hand-wound Bolex camera; Indian Circle (1981), awarded the Grand Prix at the First International Video Manifestation of Montbéliard; and Going Through Languages (1981), which delves into language and communication. The programme is completed by the documentary The Wisdom of Wonder, Eugènia Balcells Once and Again (2024, 94 min), directed by Luis Felipe Ruiz, an intimate journey into her life and work. The screenings will feature introductions by Pablo Marín and Noli Benegas.