With 28 films screened, the 44th Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival pays tribute to Spanish cinema of the past twenty years. A retrospective accompanied by two prestigious jurors: the director Borja Cobeaga and the photographer Alberto Garcia-Alix whose works are exhibited at the Hôtel Fontfreyde – Photographic Centre.
Although he denies it, Alberto Garcia-Alix is considered one of the main actors of the Movida. This underground Spanish cultural movement, born after the death of dictator Franco, challenged traditional values at the time and encouraged alcohol, sex and drugs. A somewhat crazy period of which Alberto Garcia-Alix is now aware of being a survivor. Photography has been an ally not to sink. “I currently live more relaxed. My problems have disappeared, my life is more stable. Photography remains a space in which I can reinvent myself, recreate myself,” recognizes the photographer.
After Argentina, Uruguay and Moscow, Alberto Garcia-Alix presents for the first time in France his exhibition called A fierce expressionism. There are pictures that symbolize the years of excess of the Movida. Fuzzy trees, disturbing characters or threatening crows. Portrait specialist Alberto Garcia-Alix is obsessed with the search for reality. His images, without special effects, frontal, go to the essential.
He pursues simplicity, accentuated by his black and white prints. Today more serene, his artistic vision is affected. “We are rather in a work that has calmed down a bit” analyzes François-Nicolas L’Hardy, director of the photographic center. This exhibition, he adds, “it is the self-portrait of an artist who is getting a little older because he is 65 years old but it is also his whole past”. For several years, Alberto Garcia-Alix has also been making videos. Hence his invitation to the festival as a juror for the section Lab which puts in competition 27 films from 17 countries.
Exhibition “Ferocious Expressionism”, Hotel Fontfreyde – Photographic Center, 34 rue des Gras in Clermont-Ferrand. Until April 30, Tuesday to Saturday from 2 p.m. to 7 p.m. Free admission