Documentary cinema is no stranger to the current revolution in science and technology. Nor is it impervious to critical reflections that warn of the potential dangers associated with these advancements. From three different perspectives, the participants in this conversation will address these challenges.
Pau Faus is a filmmaker, visual artist, and architect. During his time working as an architect, he became interested in contemporary art movements such as Situationism, Land art, and Relational Aesthetics, the latter led him to rediscover architecture and urbanism beyond academia. In 2009, he began exhibiting his works, carrying out projects, and running workshops at various local and international art venues. In 2013, due to the social and political climate in Spain, he swapped contemporary art for activism; he joined the main nationwide movement against evictions, the PAH (Plataforma de Afectados por la Hipoteca [Mortgage Victims Platform]). There, he co-founded Comando Vídeo, a collective for video communication in social movements, and with whom he directed the featurette ¡SÍ SE PUEDE! SIETE DÍAS EN PAH BARCELONA (YES WE CAN! SEVEN DAYS WITH PAH BARCELONA) in 2014. A few years later, in 2016, he produced his first critically acclaimed feature film ALCALDESA (MAYORESS), which portrays the journey of an activist who runs for the position of mayor in Barcelona. His second feature film is titled FAUNA (2023), a science fiction fable exploring the relationships between humans, animals, and science in post-pandemic times.
Victoria Sacco has been working with LOOP Barcelona since 2014, where she is currently the artistic director.
She is a professor at the Escola Superior de Disseny (ESDi) and the Universitat Carlemany (UCMA). She also writes for La Maleta de Portbou and is the editor of Muntadas. Con/Textos III. Una antología críticapublished by La Virreina Centre de la Imatge in 2020. Recently, she curated the exhibition “Once upon a time” by Leeds Animation Workshop at the Virreina Centre de La Imatge.
She previously worked as a project co-ordinator and later became the co-director of the Quo Artis foundation. In Barcelona, she has also carried out research and exhibition production for institutions such as the Barcelona Museum of Contemporary Art, the Antoni Tàpies foundation, and the Joan Miró foundation.
She graduated in Art History from the University of Buenos Aires and subsequently completed the Independent Studies Program at the Barcelona Museum of Contemporary Art and the Master’s in Curatorship of Art and New Media at the Escola Superior de Disseny (ESDi).
Pau Subirós is a director, screenwriter, and producer. His latest work, the documentary La fórmula de la vida (The Formula of Life) explores the origin of life on Earth based on the research of Joan Oró, one of the most prominent Spanish scientists of the 20th century. He has directed documentaries such as La cláusula Balcells (The Balcells Clause) o Herralde: Anagrama de un editor (Herralde: An Anagram of an Editor) and received a Gaudí Award for his work as a screenwriter in La plaga (The Plague), directed by Neus Ballús. He is the author of El productor accidental (The Accidental Producer) a narrative essay on film production published by Anagrama. Currently, he combines his audiovisual projects with teaching at Pompeu Fabra University and script consulting.