The ongoing economic crisis has brought about significant changes in politics, culture, society and the arts in Spain. This talk seeks to consider the recent representation of this crisis in Spanish documentary and fictional cinema since 2008. It will highlight the relationship between Spain’s economic and political situation and its film industry. The financial crisis has been the object of noteworthy attempts to give narrative and visual form to its underlying causes and effects: Mercados de futuros (Mercedes Álvarez 2011), El Mundo es nuestro (Alfonso Sánchez 2012). Other filmmakers look for alternative models of production and distribution (crowdfunding): Interferències (Pablo Zareceansky 2011). Finally, other documentaries reflect the recent popular protests by the indignant: 15 M: Excelente, Revulsivo, Importante (Stéphane M. Grueso 2012) and Libre te quiero (Basilio Martín Patino 2012).
This event will be led by Carmen Herrero, Head of Spanish at Manchester Metropolitan University.