CRONICA D’UNA MIRADA: CLANDESTINE FILMMAKING IN FRANCO’S SPAIN

By Manuel Barrios |Spain | 264 min. (6 X 44) | DVD | PAL | Region 0
In Spanish and Catalan w/ Spanish or English subtitles
 

"A must-see DVD collection to understand the evolution of filmmaking in Spain, as well as the history of these troubled times during Franco’s era. Essential."  - Laura Turegano, King Juan Carlos I of Spain Center, NYU

Now available for the first time in North America, this award-winning, six-part documentary uncovers the little-known history of a clandestine group of anti-Franco filmmakers operating under total secrecy in ‘60s and ‘70s Spain. Their saga, nearly lost to oblivion along with their films, provides crucial witness to the end of the Franco era while simultaneously revealing a bold and formally innovative period in Spanish Cinema.
 
Interviews with the pillars of Independent Spanish Cinema are prominently featured, including Pere Portabella, Llorenc Soler, Manuel Esteban, Antoni Padros, Carles Barba, and others.
 
Special Features & Extras:
 +  6 high-quality discs in a beautiful box set.  
 +  Thematic, 44-minute episodes chronicle the movement from 1960 - 1975.
 +  Over 350 min. of extra material including many of the clandestine              
    films themselves. (In Spanish, no subtitles.)
 +  A complementary 92-page, full-color episode-guide.
    (In Catalan. English and Spanish translations are available.)
 +  Access to a wealth of additional study material online. Including   
    supporting language texts, film clips and more! HERE

MY GRANDMOTHER’S HOUSE

By Adan Aliaga | Spain | 2005 |80 min. | DVD | NTSC | Region 0 | Spanish and Valencian w/ English subtitles

A beautifully constructed documentary that depicts with great subtlety the changing ways of life in suburban Spain. Adán Aliaga has turned a simple subject into a dashing and fast paced, remarkably candid documentary on family life in Spain, modernization and generational change. A tribute to grandmothers everywhere, filled with painterly images of southeastern Spain and a director’s love for his family. This film qualified for a 2006 Academy award® nomination and has won numerous awards including the IDFA — Joris Ivens Award and the Grand Jury Prize at Toronto Hot Docs Film Festival.

THE BASQUE BALL- SKIN AGAINST STONE

By Julio Medem | Spain | 2003 |115 min | DVD | NTSC | Region 0 | Spanish and Basque w/ English subtitles

THE HIGHEST-GROSSING DOCUMENTARY OF ALL TIME IN SPAIN — Now available in North America in NTSC with public performance rights, only from Pragda.

“With over 100 interviews and reels upon reels of archive footage, La Pelota Vasca is an incisive documentary on Spain, ETA, and the Basque region. Director Julio Medem (Sex and Lucia, Lovers of the Arctic Circle) delivers a fascinating overview of the torturous politics of the Basque area and the region’s notorious terrorist separatist group. Controversial in the extreme, Medem’s documentary has drawn sharp censure from the Spanish authorities, with Spain’s Minister for Culture branding the film "suspicious." Such a response is typical of the passions that the Basque issue stirs up. Medem’s even-handed approach straddles both sides of the political spectrum, treating the complex web of history, identity and politics surrounding his subject with great maturity." - Jamie Russell, BBC Radio