Films by Jørgen Leth stand out for their formal simplicity and lack of narrative. In his revindication of the naive appearance of Bronislaw Malinowski's ethnography, Jørgen Leth applies a strict methodology in which his notebook becomes the central support for his work. With no pedagogic or informative pretensions whatsoever, but with complete confidence in the process, Leth endorses a sensitive, non-intelligent camera that lets itself be surprised by the unexpected. Consequently, chance is always a central element in his films. For Leth, each film is but a series of frames placed one after the other, starting with the desired image and ending when the Producer considers there are enough.

This retrospective includes such films as Life in Denmark and Notes on Love in which the Danish filmmaker links a series of still shots together and contemplates his own society through an anthropological eye. In 66 Scenes from America, Leth repeats this same formal resource he had previously displayed in The Perfect Human, the short film that led to the experimental exercise he protagonised with Lars Von Trier in The Five Obstructions. In a more documentary line, films such as Notebook from China and Pelota stand out, both of which were awarded the ZINEBI First Prize, Sunday in Hell, in which the Danish Director offers his peculiar view about his great passion: namely, cycling, the inevitable Moments of Play and Haiti Untitled, a portrait of the Haitian society in which Jørgen has lived for a great part of his life. The opening sequences of Traberg, also set in Haiti and the only fictional film included in the Festival, include scenes from Bilbao shot back in the '80's.

Olatz González Abrisketa

Sponsored by METRO BILBAO

Proyection from 08|13|10 to 10|01|10

Proyection timeline for this week:

The Cinemateque has a fixed programme that is projected in the Museum auditorium twice daily on Fridays and Saturdays.

Entrance is not permitted to the Auditorium once the projection has begun.

For additional information download the programme.