Cravan vs. Cravan

Isaki Lacuesta / Spain / 2002 / 100 min
Synopsis

Spanish with English subtitles

Isaki Lacuesta’s debut documentary, Cravan vs. Cravan, spins a riveting hour and a half out of the strange life and stranger death of the marginal figure of Oscar Wilde’s descendant Arthur Cravan- the early 20th-century poet, boxer and Dadaist who made his life his art. The stranger-than-fiction raw material is greatly compelling, and the successful intersection between reality and fiction makes of this film one of the most risky exercises of documentary making produced in Spain.

About the Director
Isaki Lacuesta (Gerona, 1975) is one of the most original and important Catalan filmmakers working today. Although a documentarian by training, his films include touches straight out of fiction and an original and fascinating fusion of genres and languages. A complete retrospective of his work, “Swimming in a Sea of Images: The Cinema of Isaki Lacuesta” was organized in collaboration by the Ramon Llull Institute, Catalan Films, and the University Pompeu in 2011. The event included Lacuesta’s documentaries, narratives, and short films. Among other projects, Lacuesta is currently developing a television comedy series.

Lacuesta’s feature The Double Steps (2011) was awarded the Golden Shell at San Sebastian Film Festival. His documentary El Cuaderno de Barro (2011) received a Golden Medal at the International Festival of Audiovisual Programs (FIPA) in Biarritz. His film La Leyenda del Tiempo (2006) was recognized as the Best Spanish Film of the Year by the Catalan Critics Association.

❌