There is no doubt: one of the most famous and applauded activities traditionally offered by the Seville Festival are the meetings between the filmmakers who have come to present their works and Seville’s spectators and filmlovers. In collaboration with the city’s educational centres, this 15th edition will enable international creators such as Yervant Gianikian, Sergei Loznitsa, Ildikó Enyedi or Ula Stöckl to talk with the public. This will also be the case with Spanish directors such as Xavier Artigas and Xapo Ortega, Samuel Alarcón, Hernán Zin, Víctor Moreno or María Antón.
From the avant garde to the most crushing reality
In the program of meetings one will shine with its own light, the one that will take Yervant Gianikian, a true reference in European cinema, to the Caótica bookshop, a meeting place proposed by the festival and the Menéndez Pelayo University. The Italian artist will come on 16 November to reflect on the political, militant, avant garde view in his cinema. And, of course, on the influence of his professional and personal companion, the late Angela Ricci Lucchi, whose spirit is very present in ‘Il dirio di Angela. Noi due cineasti’. The film will be shown in Special Screenings.
Before that, the same space will welcome Xavier Artigas and Xapo Ortega (10 November) who will talk about cinema as a form of activism and censure of the abuse of power. They already caused a stir with ‘Ciutat morta’ (2014) and will do the same with ‘Idrissa, crónica de una muerte cualquiera’, which they will present in the Official Section. On 12 November, Seville filmlovers can meet with Sergei Loznitsa, who has three films in the #FestivalSevilla programme (‘Donbass’, ‘The Trial’ and ‘Victory Day’). He will talk about his view of Russian reality from the perspective of historical memory.
The University of Seville continues its series of “Filmmakers in the university’. On 12 November, Samuel Alarcón will visit various parts of the faculty and talk about the investigation shown in ‘Oscuro y lucientes’, after the discovery of the disappearance of Goya’s skull. Hernán Zin will also be there to talk about his experiences as a war reporter, the axis of his documentary ‘Morir para contar’. And on 13 November Ula Stöckl, who is the subject of a retrospective, will talk about feminism, transgression and liberty.
The Pablo de Olavide University offers three meetings: on 13 November, the Hungarian Ildikó Enyedi, who is also the subject of a retrospective by the festival, will talk about the themes that run through her films, marked by a very particular sense of humour. On 15 November, it will be the turn of Sudabeh Mortezai, the award winning director of ‘Joy’, who will talk about the process of constructing the film, and about the multiple conversations she had with African prostitutes about their day to day life.
Another of the tempting offers from #FestivalSevilla features the actor Pedro Casablanc (present in the festival with ‘Alegría, tristeza’). He will talk with students from the Escuela Superior de Arte Dramático in Seville). Finally, the pupils of the IES Nestor Almendos will be able to talk with Samuel Alarcón, Victor Moreno (director of ‘La ciduad oculta’) and with María Antón (who is presenting ‘<3’).