Those of Antonio Banderas, Penélope Cruz, Viggo Mortensen and Mario Casas are some of the 30 portraits of Leticia Díaz de la Morena that can be seen from today, until next December 8, in the photographic exhibition Close up nobody is normal, a of the five exhibitions that are part of the ALCINE 53 program and with which the Alcalá de Henares / Community of Madrid Film Festival opens.
ALCINE's exhibition program is completed with a tribute to the pioneer of film animation Charley Bowers (1887-1946), curated by the Complutense animation expert Adrián Encinas; a compilation of the pieces and materials that the ALCINE Archive preserves from the famous editor Pablo G. del Amo (on the 20th anniversary of his death), and an exhibition with the best posters of the short films in competition at the festival (along with versions by the Advertising Graphics students of the Alberto Corazón Art School, also responsible for the Audiovisual Graphics cycle of a videomapping sample on the façade of the Capilla del Oidor).
Close up nobody is normal compiles 30 photographs by Leticia Díaz de la Morena that prove that Close up nobody is normal, not even artists and models, who are required to achieve an unattainable perfection that no one has.
“What I like most are portraits, because what I like most in the world are people. For me, each photo here is my favorite, from some I keep more anecdotes and from others less. But I have affection for each photo, not because I think it is the great photo, but because I think I have portrayed that person in the most honest way and with the most affection that I know how," said Díaz de la Morena during the inauguration of the sample.
The inauguration of the exhibitions, which took place in the Old Hospital of Santa María la Rica, was also attended by the Councilor for Culture of Alcalá de Henares, Santiago Alonso; the artistic director of ALCINE, Pedro Toro; the curator of the exhibition Closely Nobody is Normal, Antonio Graell; Esteban Martínez, director of the Alberto Corazón Art School, and the center's teachers Julieta Obligado and Lorenzo Gómez.
Personalities such as Antonio Banderas, Penélope Cruz, Vigo Mortensen, Mario Casas, Blanca Suárez, Natalia de Molina and Leonor Watling have posed under the gaze of Díaz de la Morena, a photographer specialized in fashion, editorial and social events who has illustrated reports and covers from some of the most important newspapers in our country, such as 'Fotogramas', 'Elle' or 'Harper's Bazaar'. And from today they can be seen in the Old Hospital of Santa María la Rica in Alcalá de Henares.
Closely Nobody is Normal selects thirty of the most cinematic works of the Coslada photographer, several of them unpublished, along with a sample of the artist's work process and an interactive installation created expressly for this exhibition.
Film posters are an art of their own, and even an object of worship, but they rarely get the recognition they deserve, much less within the field of short films. For this exhibition, ALCINE selects the 10 best graphic works from among the four short contests of the festival, which can be seen at the Antiguo Hospital de Santa María la Rica until December 8.
Along with them, versions by the Advertising Graphics students of the Alberto Corazón Art School will also be exhibited, who will also choose and deliver the Special Mention for the best short film poster at the ALCINE 53 Closing Gala.
"From today we can see and enjoy these two excellent exhibitions, two exhibitions that celebrate talent, sensitivity and visual power in the fields of photography and film poster design," the Councilor for Culture of Alcalá de Henares, Santiago Alonso.
The surrealist genius and pioneer of silent and animated cinema Charley Bowers, recovered from oblivion a few years ago, is the focus of another of the ALCINE 53 exhibitions: Charley Bowers. Ignored voice of silent cinema, in collaboration with the Quevedo Institute of the Arts of Humor (IQH) of the General Foundation of the University of Alcalá and with the curation of the Complutense animation expert Adrián Encinas.
This exhibition focuses on Bowers' cinematographic period, as a continuation of the exhibition Charley Bowers, ignored prodigy of humor, held by the IQH on the occasion of the International Humor Arts Exhibition, which delved into his time as a graphic comedian.
Pablo G. del Amo is part of the history of Spanish cinema. The shots of films such as The Hunt, The Spirit of the Hive, The Journey to Nowhere or Ay, Carmela!, among many others, passed through his moviola. On the 20th anniversary of his death, the ALCINE Archive collects pieces and materials related to this master of montage in the exhibition Pablo G. del Amo, Montador de sueños, which can be seen at the Old Hospital of Santa María la Rica until next year. November 17.
With this exhibition, ALCINE highlights the documentary heritage of the festival and the figure of Pablo G. del Amo. In addition to beginning to digitize his bibliographic heritage with the digital reissue of the book that the festival dedicated to him in 1987 (Pablo G. del Amo, Montador de Suenos'), written by Manuel Hidalgo and with a prologue by Manuel Vicent, which can now be downloaded at the publications section of the festival website.
“It is one of the first books published by the festival, and since then, more than 40 years ago, it was decided that the identity of ALCINE was going to be to not necessarily aspire to portray or attract great figures, who always go on the side of of directing and acting, but also looking at all those professionals who do not usually attract so many spotlights and are essential; and there is the figure of Pablo González del Amo as editor, thanks to whom we have been able to see what the films of Víctor Erice or Carlos Saura are like,” highlighted the artistic director of the festival, Pedro Toro.
The students of the Alberto Corazón Art School, together with their teachers, will also be the author of a videomapping projection on the façade of the Oidor Chapel in Alcalá de Henares, which will intervene with light and images. It will be on Friday, November 8 and Saturday, November 9, at 8:00 p.m.
Photographs by Leticia Díaz de la Morena
From Thursday, November 7 to Sunday, December 8
Old Hospital of Santa María la Rica / Antonio López Room
With the collaboration of the Alberto Corazón Art School
From Thursday, November 7 to Sunday, December 8
Old Hospital of Santa María la Rica / Antonio López Room
With the collaboration of the Alberto Corazón Art School
Friday, November 8 and Saturday, November 9, 8:00 p.m.
Chapel of the Hearer
With the collaboration of the Quevedo Institute of Humor Arts of the General Foundation of the University of Alcalá
From Thursday, November 7 to Sunday, November 17
Old Hospital of Santa María la Rica / Chapel Room
From Thursday, November 7 to Sunday, November 17
Old Hospital of Santa María la Rica / Chapel Room
