Valencian Cinema: A Living Archive

The project brings together a range of Valencian voices, including Chema García Ibarra, Elena López Riera, Adan Aliaga, and others who contribute through documentaries and feature films. Alongside creators from Alicante and broader Catalan-speaking regions, the collection is now accessible online on a cinema platform that hosts over 150 titles.

This initiative results from an agreement with the Culture Department of the Generalitat. The Valencia Institute of Culture (IVC) collaborates with the Filmoteca Valenciana, aiming to showcase the current Valencian audiovisual landscape on streaming platforms and to strengthen the Filmoteca Valenciana brand as well as the Cinematographic Documentation Center. The IVC is led by Francesc Felipe, who emphasizes the drive to disseminate Valencia’s cinematic offerings to a wider audience while maintaining the center’s identity and mission.

As part of the program, the Cinematographic Documentation Center offers a free monthly subscription to the entire catalog for the first 1,000 registrants. Eligible users are residents of the Community of Valencia who register at the center in person or online. Registration is completed through a form on the center’s website, and the card identifying the user can be picked up in person or mailed by standard post if preferred.

nine episodes

The new channel splits its catalog into nine thematic sections to improve accessibility for subscribers. Before the channel’s launch, all titles were already part of the platform’s catalog. Thematic sections include Current Valencian fiction feature films, Other fiction, Documentaries, Valencian-themed documentaries, cinema in the Valencia original version, Animation, Valencian landscapes, and Short films.

Current Valencian fiction productions feature twenty films from 2019 to 2022, including works that have earned recognition at major festivals such as Cannes, Berlin, San Sebastián, Málaga, Valladolid, Mostra de València, and Sitges. Notable titles in this episode include Water by Elena López Riera; Vasil by Avelina Prat; My Void and Me by Adrián Silvestre; Knowing by Jordi Núñez; Conclusions by Claudia Pinto Emperador; Love by Julia Paz; Lucas by Álex Montoya; L’ofrena by Ventura Durall; Things that Stop Dying by Cristina Fernández Pintado and Miguel Llorens; Talking Woman by Frederica Montseny; La mort de Guillem by Carlos Marqués-Marcet; La pasajera by Fernando González Gómez and Raúl Cerezo; La desvida by Agustín Rubio Alcover; A Woman with Enormous Wings by Pedro Pérez-Rosado; La dona del segle by Sílvia Quer; Strings by José Luis Montesinos; Far From Fire by Javier Artigas; Brave by Fernando Alonso y Frías; Eduardo Casanova’s Skins; and David Marqués’s Unemployment Club.

The Other Valencian fiction productions section includes feature films produced between 2019 and the early 2020s. This episode features Last Days in Havana by Fernando Pérez; Brava by Roser Aguilar; Recreation Space by Michael Aguiló; The Road by Miguel Ángel Toledo; Habitus by Samuel Domingo; Tirso Calero’s blockbuster; Love Is Not What It Used to Be by Gabi Ochoa; The Man with the Butterfly by Maxi Valero; Transcending Meaning by Iván Fernández Córdoba; Urans by Chema García Ibarra; Wilaya by Pedro Pérez Rosado; Sigfrid Monleón’s Dutch Island; Where the Scent of the Sea Does Not Reach by Lilian Rosado González; and The Legend of Time by Isaki Lacuesta.

Several directors are represented with multiple titles. Alicante filmmaker Adem Aliaga appears with Stigmata, Woman of Ethernaut, Fishbone, and Noah’s Ark, produced in collaboration with David Valero. Valencian Alberto Morais is featured with Las Olas, Los Chicos del Puerto, and La Madre.

Valencian-themed documentary productions number around thirty and include works from Malaga, San Sebastián, Valladolid, Mostra de València, Docs Valencia, Docs Barcelona, and Documenta Madrid. Notable recent documentaries include Adrián Silvestre’s Sedimentos; The Mystery of the Pink Flamingo by Javier Polo; Fourth Kingdom by Adam Aliaga and Alex Lora; The Cursed Word by Javier Álvarez Solís; A Blues for Tehran by Javier Tolentino; Almost Ghosts by Ana Ramón Rubio; Archaeology by Mario Paul Martínez; Aimra, the Land of No One by Pedro Pérez-Rosado; What We’re Looking For by Òscar Bernàcer; The Man Who Wants to Be Segundo by Ramón Alós; Orlando Bosch’s Invisible Worlds; The Last Airman by Francesc Betriu; Discovering José Padilla by Susana Guardiola and Marta Figueras; Shadow of the Iceberg by Hugo Doménech and Raúl Riebenbauer; Role & Role by Chus Gutiérrez; Project USA by Miguel Herrero; Sound Remains by Laura Pérez; Trans Resistance by Claudia Reig; Collective Celluloid by Óscar Martín; Dodge and Hit by Juanjo Giménez and Adán Aliaga; A Place in the Cinema by Alberto Morais; The Voices of Memory by Vicente Peris; Living on Your Feet by Valentí Figueres; and Los Ojos de Ariana by Ricardo Macián.

Some directors have multiple documentaries in the lineup, including Rafa Molés and Pepe Andrew, the Suica Films team behind Lobster Soup, Sara Baras: All Sounds, Five Days to Dance, Stuka Experiment, and Picades Against Glass.

Valencian documentary productions with a Valencian theme include Por la Gracia de Luis by José Luis García Sánchez; Study in Spring by Amparo Fortuny; Camaroga directed by Alfonso Amador; Dreams of Salt by Alfredo Navarro; Water Times by Miguel Ángel Baixauli; And a God in Every Lentil by Miguel Ángel Jiménez; Adán Aliaga’s My Grandmother’s House and The Fifth Horseman by Rosana Pastor and Enrique Viciano.

Director Òscar Bernàcer appears with three documentaries: The Recipe for Balance, The Man Who Bottled the Sun, and The Sun is Coming. Amor en polvo by Suso Imbernón and Juanjo Moscardó appears in the comedy episode; I Would Do a Thousand Things for You by Dídac Cervera; The Night My Mother Killed My Father by Inés París; Benidorm, My Love by Santiago Pumarola; Wait for Me? by Carles Alberola; Cachorro by Miguel Albaladejo; El Kaserón by Pau Martínez.

The Valencian cinema section in Valencia, in the original language, comprises 21 productions, including feature films, documentaries, and short films. In this episode, Jordi Núñez’s fiction El Que Sabem; Thousands of Things I Can Do for You by Dídac Civera; Wait for Me? by Carles Alberola; Orson West by Fran Ruvira; Things That Stop Dying by Cristina Fernández Pintado and Miguel Llorens; Talking Woman by Frederica Montseny; La mort de Guillem by Carlos Marqués-Marcet; Brava by Roser Aguilar; L’ofrena by Ventura Durall; Les Dues Vides de Andrés Rabadan; Una Dona amb unes Enormouses by Pedro Pérez Rosado; La Dona del Segle by Sílvia Quer; and other titles such as The Voices of Memory and ambient pieces by various Valencian directors.

The documentary genre is represented by Camagoga by Alfonso Amador; Cremated Earth by Sílvia Quer; The Balance Recipe by Òscar Bernàcer; Picades Against Glass and Stuka Experiment by Rafa Moles and Pepe Andreu; The Carraixet Bomb by Helena Sánchez Bel; La Gàbia by Adán Aliaga; Temps d’Aigua by Miguel Ángel Baixauli; and Lucia Alemany’s fiction short 14 Years and One Day.

There are eleven entries in the animated short and feature film category, including Mironins by Mikel Mas Bilbao and Txesco Montalt; Metamorphosis by Juan Fran Jacinto and Carla Pereira; After by Sam Conflictive; Makun by Emilio Martí; Cigarette Salesman by Jaime Maestro; Vía Tango by Adriana Navarro; Blue & Malone: Cases and Blue & Malone: Detectives by Abraham López Guerrero; A Luggage Room by Daniela Cuenca; Umbrellas by José Prats and Álvaro Robles; You Are Not the Strongest by Emilio Yebra.

The Valencian Gaze shows feature films by Valencian directors produced outside the Valencian region, including La Escopeta Nacional by Luis García Berlanga; El Stubborn by Francisco Lara Palop; REC and REC2 by Jaume Balagueró and Paco Plaza; REC3 by Paco Plaza; The Virginia Club Orchestra and The Leftovers by Manuel Iborra; Executed by Lucas Moro and Manuel Rossell; Birthday by Eugenio Mira; Longa Noite and Arraianos by Eloy Enciso; Only Me by Javier Balaguer; The Eaters by Sergio Villanueva; Broken Silence by Piluca Baquero; The Incredibles by David Valero; Giants and Everybody Is Dead by Beatriz Sanchis; Teachers of the Republic by Pilar Pérez Solano; Tears of Africa by Amparo Climent; The Kovak Box by Daniel Monzón; Enxaneta and 50 Days of May by Alfonso Amador; Waste by David Marqués; Wet Letters by Paula Palacios; An Afterlife and Cántico by Sigfrid Monleón; Love Objects by Fran Silvestre.

Stanbrook and Bikini by Òscar Bernàcer appear in the short films section; Snorkel and Mindanao by Borja Soler; Dogs Bark by Sergio Serrano; The Carraixet Bomb by Helena Sánchez Bel; La Gàbia by Adán Aliaga; The Wishers, Las Vísceras, and Pueblo by Elena López Riera; Metamorphosis by Juan Fran Jacinto and Carla Pereira; Makun by Emilio Martí; The Cigarette Dealer by Jaime Maestro; Vía Tango by Adriana Navarro; Blue & Malone: Cases and Blue & Malone: Detectives by Abraham López Guerrero; A Luggage Room by Daniela Cuenca; Umbrellas by José Prats and Álvaro Robles; You Are Not the Strongest by Emilio Yebra; Golden Legend, Mystery, Protoparticles, Disco Glows, and Attack of Nebula 5 Robots by Chema García Ibarra; 14 Years and One Day by Lucia Alemany; Europe in 8 Bits by Javier Polo; Falls 37: Art at War by Óscar Martín.

Stanbrook and Bikini by Òscar Bernàcer appear again in the short films section; Snorkel and Mindanao by Borja Soler; Dogs Bark by Sergio Serrano; The Carraixet Bomb by Helena Sánchez Bel; La Gàbia by Adán Aliaga; The Wishers, Las Vísceras, and Pueblo by Elena López Riera; Metamorphosis by Juan Fran Jacinto and Carla Pereira; Makun by Emilio Martí; The Cigarette Dealer by Jaime Maestro; Vía Tango by Adriana Navarro; Blue & Malone: Cases and Blue & Malone: Detectives by Abraham López Guerrero; A Luggage Room by Daniela Cuenca; Umbrellas by José Prats and Álvaro Robles; You Are Not the Strongest by Emilio Yebra; Golden Legend, Mystery, Protoparticles, Disco Glows, and Attack of Nebula 5 Robots by Chema García Ibarra; 14 Years and One Day by Lucia Alemany; Europe in 8 Bits by Javier Polo; Falls 37: Art at War by Óscar Martín.