Three Galician films will compete for the Best Film and Best Galician Film awards at the 17th edition of Mostra Internacional de Cinema Etnográfico Museo do Pobo Galego, to be held from March 28 to April 2 in Santiago de Compostela. The titles, chosen among more than 1000 entries from all over the world, are Resonancias do pasado (Antonio Caeiro and Margarita Teijeiro), El último de Arganeo (David Vázquez), and Notas sobre os cesteiros de Mondariz (Fon Cortizo).
Resonancias do pasado is the new documentary by Antonio Caeiro and Margarita Teijeiro, who are part of O Faiado da memoria, an association based in Vilagarcía de Arousa that focuses on recovering the historical memory of the town. Using old films and archival footage kept by the inhabitants of Vilagarcía de Arousa and donated to the association O Faiado da Memoria, the film reconstructs the life of the town in the days of yore, portraying a space and a lifestyle that has little to do to with what we can see today. The film plays with different pieces of a jigsaw puzzle, assembling and disassembling it, taking us on a trip through experiences and places rescued from the 1920s-1980s. In the film, a group of people of different ages, gathered around a projector in the living room of a hypothetical house, watch those images and share their thoughts about them.
Notas sobre os cesteiros de Mondariz takes us on a journey back in time and through the collective memory devoted to rescue from oblivion a craft tradition that is worth keeping for its socio-cultural value and its contribution to environmental sustainability. In this sense, the tradition embodied by Enrique Táboas, the last basket maker of Mondariz, connects with the innovative proposal of Idoia Cuesta, a contemporary basket maker widely recognized for her creative work.
Él último de Arganeo brings David Vázquez back to MICE. The local filmmaker from Chantada had already visited the festival in 2017, with his film O Moredo. A Resistencia do Entroido ribeirao. On this occasion, he travels to León to tell the story of Edilberto Rodríguez, a 24-year-old young man who left his life behind to be a shepherd in a terrain that belonged to his grandparents. Every year he goes to Arganeo. There, he rebuilds the old abandoned yards and spends the whole summer with his herd. The love for the animals, for nature and tradition… everything that he learned from his grandfather and grandmother in the village of Silván (Benuza, León) make of Edilberto a unique young man; someone who keeps the traditions of a time that has been long gone, of a land that is getting older and older. He, however, guards this past while casting a new gaze onto it; a gaze that conveys joy and a new hope.
For this year’s edition, MICE Museo do Pobo Galego brings back on-site sessions for all programmed sections and activities, which are complemented with specific online contents.
This year’s activities include workshops and discussion panels.
Jorge Moreno Andrés (anthropologist and photographer) and Adriana Vila (anthropologist and filmmaker) will deliver a workshop entitled Anversos y reversos: metodología etnográfica de los procesos creativos, which offers 12 hours of specialized training on ethnographic methodologies for creative processes.
The professional panels and round tables, organized in collaboration with PROXECTA (the Galician film festival management) and CREA (the Galician association of professional filmmakers) will focus on the creation and dissemination of documentary film projects.
The festival’s program includes activities for schools and families, offered by MICE Petís, a section specially designed to bring ethnographic cinema to young audiences. For this 17th edition of the festival, MICE collaborates with Olloboi, a short-film festival founded in 2009 in Boiro that promotes short films made in school environments. The program consists of a selection of recent short films that will be on show at the Museo do Pobo Galego’s facilities, with on-site sessions specially crafted for young audiences (local grade school and high school students). These activities are complemented with two on-site family-friendly weekend sessions that will be held at sociocultural centers in Santiago de Compostela. Olloboi’s selection is part of MICE’s online program, with contents that will be available throughout the school year, allowing schools to show the projects at their own facilities.
MICE’s 17th edition will be held from March 28 to April 2 in Santiago de Compostela, with sessions and activities throughout the city: Museo do Pobo Galego, Teatro Principal, NUMAX and Conxo’s sociocultural center. The festival, which is promoted by Museo do Pobo Galego, has the support of Concello de Santiago, Deputación de A Coruña, and AGADIC.
- Resonancias do pasado, by Antonio Caeiro and Margarita Teijeiro
- El último de Arganeo, by David Vázquez
- Notas sobre os cesteiros de Mondariz, by Fon Cortizo.
