Two vastly different docs hitting theatres
The 15th edition of the Documenta Madrid festival – which has brought the best of Spanish documentary filmmaking to the capital this week (see news) – is drawing to a close. However, enthusiasts of the genre are in luck as today sees the release of two documentaries: David Reznak’s La osa mayor menos dos (“The Great Bear Minus Two”) and Joan López Lloret’s Utopia 79.
The two films are radically different in terms of their subject matter and approach, revealing the great variety and creativity of this genre in Spain. Reznak looks at human behaviour and López Lloret centres on the Sandinista Revolution in 1979. For the moment, distribution of both films is limited to the Spain’s biggest cities, Madrid and Barcelona.
Reznak opted for an experimental approach in La osa mayor menos dos, which is far removed from the social criticism and historical reconstruction that are traditional mainstays of the documentary form. The Madrid-born director (who also founded the independent movie theatre La Enana Marrón) analyses human behaviour, the passage of time and the fine line between madness and reality.
The feature has been lauded as “one of the best five Spanish films of the last decade”. Produced by Espejo Frío and The Galactic Shrimp, it is being released by Sagrera.
Much more political in its approach, Utopía 79 recounts the misadventures of a group of Spaniards who, feeling disillusioned with their country’s transition to democracy, decide to join the Sandinista Revolution in Nicaragua. López Lloret has just presented his new work, Domingo a las cinco (“Sunday at Five”), at the Documenta Madrid festival.
Utopía 79 is being distributed by its producer Frame Zero.
(Translated from Spanish)
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