Festival de Cine de Huesca - Huesca Film Festival

José Luis Guerin to receive the 2011 City of Huesca Award

Filmmaker José Luis Guerin (Barcelona, 1960) will receive the 2011 City of Huesca Award at the 39th edition of the Huesca International Film Festival, being held from June 3rd to 11th. The Director is receiving the award for his cinematographic works loyal to his principles, that reinvents the grounds of fiction and documentaries breaking down the barriers between both genres.

Guerin´s career is marked by his will to flee from convention and aim for a combination of creative control and chance. His works are influenced by some of his favourite directors, such as Robert J. Flaherty, Robert Bresson, Jean Eustache and Víctor Erice. His debuted behind the camera with La Hagonía de Agustín (1975), a short film describing the turtles infringed on a beetle. Later, he made films influenced by his fascination with the works of Carlos Saura and Geraldine Chaplin such as Furvus (1976), diaries such as La Dramática Pubertad de Alicia (1978), films on cinematography such as El Orificio de la Luz (1977), or  films based on canvas such as Naturaleza Muerta (1981).

His first feature film, Los Motivos de Berta (1984), was initially titled Fantasías de Pubertad, establishing a link between some of his most intimate works in short film format. Guerin travelled to Ireland, to the places where John Ford filmed The Quiet Man (1952) to establish new guidelines in creative documentaries with Innisfree (1990), an exercise in nostalgia with cinema goers, that participated in the section Un Certain Regard at the Cannes Film Festival. This was followed by Tren de Sombras (1996), a narrative rehersal on the mechanisms of film representation and screened at the Quinzaine des Réalisateurs, and by En Construcción (2001). The latter won the Goya for Best Documentary as well as the Special Jury Award and the Fipresci at the San Sebastian Film Festival.

With En la ciudad de Sylvia (2007), which formed part of the official section at the Venice Film Festival, Guerin takes the spectator in a fascinating exploration of cities and the memories these bring. He has recently premiered Guest (2010), a curious gallery of characters and a selection of landscapes, from Macao to Bogota, that he has visited with regards to presenting his film in Festivals. His most recent films have been collective collaborations: Correspondencia Jonas Mekas – J.L. Guerin (2011), and the chapter A Neighbourhood Story as part of the Jeonju Digital Project (2011) alongside Jean-Marie Straub and Claire Denis with their respective parts. His exhibition La Dama de Corinto is currently at the Museum Esteban Vicente. Guerin has been awarded the National Film Award from the Generalitat of Catalunya (1999) and the National Cinematographic Award (2001).

23/03/2011