Promoting the Galician audiovisual scene has always been one of the fundamental pillars of (S8) Mostra Internacional de Cinema Periférico. In this dual edition, which will be held from September 27-October 3, the festival renews its commitment to supporting local creators.
In addition to classic sections like Sinais and Sinais en Curto, in this new edition (S8) reintroduces Xerme, an initiative to bring to the front the seminal artists of the Galician experimental cinema scene, with a double goal: to recover the early pieces of Galician experimental cinema and to honor the creative roots that still lie below the new generations.
Having featured the works by authors like Ernesto Díaz Noriega, Suso Montero, Vari Caramés, Xosé Abad, and Xulio Correa, Xerme comes back this year with a selection of pieces by Antonio Segade and Antón Reixa curated by the critic, writer, and director of Barcelona’s CCCB Jordi Costa –an exclusive composition created ad hoc for this edition of (S8).
For 36 years, both creators have worked together exploring a wide variety of mediums: traditional video creation, video installation, film/DVD, book/DVD, commercial television, cinema, and commercial advertisement. The session, titled Falar por non calar (Talking for Talking’s Sake), will consist of two complementary activities: an on-site intervention that will be held on September 27 at Domus in A Coruña, and an online program devoted to revisiting the trajectory of the two guest authors. It will include a series of works that will be screened as single-channel projections along with two live video performances by the artists, which will honor the spirit of Antón Reixa’s poetry collective Rompente.
Thanks to the dual format chosen for this year’s edition, Xerme won’t be the only section with online presence –an initiative that will strongly contribute to promoting the internationalization of Galician creations. Another of this edition’s dual sections is Sinais, which will bring to the front the career of local creator Adrián Canoura. His work relies on the intersection and convergence of worlds that may appear distant at first sight. On the one hand, his creations approach all that is rooted in earth: the legends and traditions that conform the Galician identity, upon which Canoura casts the ethnographic gaze of an insider. On the other hand, he explores the modern world, the urban culture that thrives in the streets –the universe that breathes in between the electric signals of analog or digital video. Over the last few years, his recent work (including both his most intimate pieces and his collaborations with Nistra and Baiuca in the music field), Canoura has proved to be one of the most exciting figures of nowadays Galician film scene.
In an on-site session at the movie theatre, the audience will be invited to enjoy a selection of pieces and discover Canoura’s visual explorations through his experimental use of video texture. Featured works include Nistra Batuko Exploration (2015), Salitre nas veas (2017), and the recent Baiuca – Adélia (ft. Haēma), among others.
This on-site session will be complemented with a liquid live show during which the author will make use of dyes and slides in collaboration with Alejandro Canoura, member of the band Guerrera, like they used to do during the band’s live shows.
This session’s complementary online program will bring to the audience an in-depth interview with the author during which we’ll get to know the filmmaker’s reference artists and his creative processes, along with a selection of Adrián Canoura’s pieces, including his films Da morte nace a vida, Rexistros (xeografía de San Sadurniño), and several of his music videos.
(S8)’s section Sinais en Curto offers a compilation of the most exciting Galician creations made within the last year. In this edition, it will include films by the filmmaker and film critic Alberte Pagán, the artist Area Erina, and pieces by local creators like Tono Mejuto, Lara and Noa Castro, and Aldara Pagán.
This year, (S8) will hold the usual on-site screening followed by a Q&A session, but this time it will be complemented by a series of special online programs with solo episodes dedicated to each featured Galician author, designed to make us discover in detail both the artists’ work and the creative impulses behind it.
Among Sinais en Curto’s featured artists we find Alberte Pagán, one of the most prominent figures of the Galician experimental film scene whose career as a filmmaker, theorist, and researcher is highly recognized. The audience will be able to approach some of his latest creations, including Uluru (2018) and 6 X 9 (2020).
This year’s selection includes O ollo cobizoso, a piece pervaded with echoes and associations, signed by the twin sisters Noa and Lara Castro. In this session we’ll also be invited to discover their latest piece A vella e o deserto, in a journey into the creative background of the twin artists.
Another of the guest artists this year is Tono Mejuto, a filmmaker from A Coruña who has paid special attention to photography and architecture. After sharing his pieces Reliefs (2018), a multilayer work in 16 mm, and his latest creation Unidade Veciñal –which will be premiered at the festival– Mejuto will discuss the creative processes and motives behind his work.
Sinais en Curto will also feature a number of works by Area Erina, a multidisciplinary artist whose explorations include a variety of formats from installation to visual performance. Her pieces Miña Nai, The Fashion Religion, and You Killed our Future stand out for the unique way in which she appropriates and recycles images, casting a critical eye on the world around her.
Last but not least, Sinais en Curto will be offering a special program with the guest author Aldara Pagán, a young creator that will share her first-person view of a woman and her unique presence, developed in two of her pieces: Alí sentíame eterna and Marcas, which will be premiered at the festival in its original super 8 format and complemented with a live performance by the artist.
