November 12, 2024
In Memoriam Biel, by Santi Suárez, wins the MemoriReus Prize; Pepi Fandango, by Lucija Stojević, the Public Prize; and Diari de la meva sextorsió, by Patricia Franquesa, rises with the MemoriJove Prize
The brothers Ignasi and Joan Barjau won the 2024 Honorable Prize for the great, and completely altruistic, task of recovery of the film archive produced by their uncle, Joan Capdevila Nogués, promoting the dissemination of Catalan tradition and culture
The festival gathers 1.500 spectators in 4 days and consolidates itself as an “unmissable date of archive footage cinema of southern Europe”
The world premiere of Anita. La miliciana tenia nom kicked off an edition that brought to Reus the best cinema of archive footage from the 6th to the 9th of November in the Teatre Bartrina, with all sessions having a free entry
Reus, November 9th, 2024. The XIX Memorimage – International Cinema Festival of Reus has distinguished Echo of You, by Zara Zerny, with the Ciutat de Reus Prize, which crows it as the best film of the Official Selection. The festival, dedicated to cinema produced with archive footage, has announced the list of winners of this 19th edition this Saturday evening in a closing ceremony at the Teatre Bartrina, in an act open to the public as a celebration of culture and cinema. This edition, dedicated to selective memories, the force of love, and redemption to individual and collective pain, has proposed 20 films, 10 of which were premiers in Catalonia, and has gathered 1.500 spectators in four days. Furthermore, all sessions have been free, with the objective of democratizing the access to audiovisual media, claiming it as a tool for critical thinking.
Echo of You is a tender and honest film in which people of 80, 90 and 100 years of age talk with frankness and eloquence about love, loneliness, grief, life and death, all together creating a poetic and tender portrait of a Danish generation. The film was seen for the first time in Spain at the International Festival of Documentary Cinema DocsBarcelona after it’s world premier at the Amsterdam International Festival of Documentary Cinema (IDFA). The jury for the Official Selection, composed by Glòria Salvadó, Mario Pons and Valentí Via, has decided to unanimously prize Echo of You “for its great quality in production where we point out the diversity in perspectives on a topic so delicate as is death inside of relationships.”
In Memoriam Biel, Pepi Fandango, Diari de la meva sextorsió and Le Mans 55 give shape to a very diverse list of winners
The Premi MemoriReus, which distinguishes the best film of the MemoriReus Selection, and with what the festival vindicates it’s commitment to the territory, which this year has hosted three productions from the Camp de Tarragona dedicated to illustrious figures of the zone, has been awarded to In Memoriam Biel, by Santi Suárez. The film stars Pere Arquillué, who discovers the life and work of the writer and linguist from Reus, Gabriel Ferrater (1922-1972).
The audience have recognised with the Premi del Públic the film Pepi Fandango, by Lucija Stojević, in which a survivor of the Holocaust travels to the south of Spain to write his own fandango in memory of the gypsy kids that sang flamenco at the concentration camp of Rivesaltes.
The students that assisted the MemoriJove –morning sessions with afterword debates dedicated to the teenage audience, which try to generate a space for thought on current topics of the world— have voted Diari de la meva sextorsió, by Patricia Franquesa, which has been awarded the Premi MemoriJove. This brave movie deals with the extreme vulnerability of the digital world from the testimony of the director, who shares the blackmailing she suffered after having her computer stolen.
The Premi Cinema·Rescat, which receives the best work of documentation and research in name of the association Cinema·Rescat has been awarded to Le Mans 55, by Emmanuel Reyé, where the director investigates the car race that caused the highest number of deaths in the world of sports, an event that affected his family and that shook all of Europe.
Finally, the Premi ADAE, awarded by the Associació de Documentalistes Audiovisuals d’Espanya to the best use of archive images, has been given to the docuseries (P)ícaro: El pequeño Nicolás, by Tomás Ocaña Urwitz, centred upon the story of Francisco Nicolás Gómez Iglesias, better known as Pequeño Nicolás, arrested and accused of various crimes, like the violation of official secrets.
The brothers Ignasi and Joan Barjau, Premi Memorimage d’Honor 2024
The festival has recognised with the Premi Memorimage d’Honor the brothers Ignasi i Joan Barjau for the great task of recovery of the film archive produced by their uncle, Joan Capdevila Nogués (1921-2012). The jury, composed by Montse Bailac, Joaquim Nolla i Coia Escoda, have pointed out the “great sensibility with which the works have been compiled, remastered and placed at the use of the general public through the creation of curated web page”. They also remarked “their effort in the diffusion of the cinematic work in festivals, as in facilitating images for audiovisual productions and popular projections in an altruistic way; making clear their interest in further broadcasting tradition and Catalan culture”.
With all that, the Memorimage lowered the curtain with Fortuny, the biographic documentary about the famous painter from Reus, Marià Fortuny (1838-1874), directed by Jordi Vall, Rafel Saludes i Jordi Llaberia, which commemorates the 150th anniversary of the painter’s death, pioneer in romantic and orientalist art, followed by the musical performance by the singer-songwriter Joan Rovira. The festival opened with the world premiere of Anita. La miliciana tenia nom, by Toni Monné, Arnau Gonzàlez i Vilalta i Plàcid Garcia-Planas, a film about one of the most iconic images of the anarchist fight, with a musical performance by Almudena Rubio and Marcel Bagés.
The Memorimage Online platform will allow the viewing, up until the 17th of November, of two films which have been part of this year’s MemoriReus: Dolors, by Marta Arjona and Maite Blasco, which rescues the figure of Dolors Vives Rodon, one of the pioneering women in the piolting of an aircraft in Spain, and Josep Maria Cañellas. L’ombra del fotògraf, by Carles Esporrín and Luz López, about Josep Maria Cañellas, pioneer in the instantaneous photography.
The festival, “an unmissable date of archive footage cinema of Southern Europe“
The artistic director, Anna Petrus, remarked that this edition closes “on a high note in terms of audiences and the generation of key debates, not only in relation with archive images, but also with the great defying against the public agenda, like the challenges in digital environments, the durable effects of violences and discriminations, the stigma on mental illnesses and the importance of support systems and groups.
Petrus has assured that, “at the same time, the festival has continued planting seeds that give hope to critical thought in new generations, an edition that has reassured itself as an unmissable date of archive footage cinema of Southern Europe and which has allowed the defence of the importance in the recuperation and conservation of audiovisual heritage, as well as the value of the image in individual and collective memory.“
The mayor of Reus, Sandra Guaita, has asserted that “we celebrate with success this edition because it’s a cinema festival with a clear particularity: thanks to archive images, the festival helps us better understand, on one hand, the stories of many, and on the other, the story that precedes us.” The mayor added that “we have enjoyed days of good cinema, debates, talks, celebrations and opportunities to live and discover all those stories that hide behind all and every single one of the films shown.”
LIST OF WINNER’S MEMORIMAGE 2024:
PREMI CIUTAT DE REUS
Echo of You – Zara Zerny
PREMI CINEMA·RESCAT
Le Mans 55 – Emmanuel Reyé
PREMI DEL PÚBLIC
Pepi Fandango – Lucija Stojević
PREMI D’HONOR
Ignasi i Joan Barjau
PREMI MEMORIREUS
In Memoriam Biel – Santi Suárez
PREMI MEMORIJOVE
Diari de la meva sextorsió – Patricia Franquesa
PREMI ADAE AL MILLOR ÚS D’IMATGES D’ARXIU
(P)ícaro: El Pequeño Nicolás – Tomás Ocaña Urwitz