CYCLE ORIGINS OF FANTASTIC VALENCIAN
This parallel line of action of the festival has the specific objective of disseminating and offering greater visibility to the roots of the valencian fantastic genre, and to raise awareness of the creators who, yesterday and today, have contributed to extolling this field inside and outside the Valencian Community (Spain). It is, therefore, a series of actions that cover different media and formats related to cinema and audiovisuals: from comics, videogames or plastic arts, to novels, theatre, etc., and that seek to connect their authors and their works with the public. All of this, offering an x-ray of the Valencian fabric within the sphere of the fantastic, and within the need to vindicate our own artistic sector and cultural industry.
Cycle: Presentation, screening and discussion of the short film “La muerte roja” (1974), by Diego Amorós García.
Date: November 25, 2024 at 17:30h.
Place: Cinemateca Valona UMH Building. Elche.
Born in Elche in 1955, Diego Amorós García made his directorial debut with “El robo” (1971), a short film shot on Super-8 film. Later came other works such as “Traicionado” (1972), “Subconsciente” (1973) or “El último jinete” (1983), among many others. He was also the founder, together with José María Martínez Selva, of the ACAI Group (Agrupación Cinematográfica Amateur Ilicitana), which brought together several film enthusiasts from Elche. At this meeting, which aimed to raise the profile of the Elche-born Diego Amorós García, his short film “La muerte roja” (1974) was screened for the first time before an audience. It is a 24-minute work shot in Super-8, in colour, and with dubbed sound. This work, inspired by Poe’s famous story, was filmed in various locations in Elche, as well as in the districts of Valverde and La Marina. The screening was also subtitled in Valencian and with audio description for the hearing impaired. The screening was followed by a discussion coordinated by Jaime Quiles, filmmaker and lecturer at the Miguel Hernández University of Elche, with the assistance of Diego Amorós García, a pioneer of fantastic cinema in Elche.
Cycle: Presentation, screening and colloquium of the feature-length documentary “Segrelles. Il·lustrador Universal” (2020), by Ignacio Estrela.
Date: November 11, 2023 at 19:00h.
Place: C/ La Virgen, 11. Catral.
The work of the Valencian painter Josep Segrelles is one of the most influential in the field of contemporary art and, in particular, in the area of fantastic illustration. Through his more than five thousand works, the universality of his artistic figure is recognised, which already in the 1920s and 1930s achieved international recognition and, subsequently, the praise of illustrators such as Frank Frazetta, Al Williamson and Bernie Wrightson, among many others. The documentary was filmed in Spain, the United States, Mexico and Switzerland, and includes interviews with Guillermo del Toro and the illustrator of “The Lord of the Rings”, John Howe. After the presentation and screening of the documentary, a colloquium was held with the assistance of José Enrique Segrelles (art curator, lawyer and grandnephew of Josep Segrelles) and Ignacio Estrela (director of the documentary).
