Helena Lumbreras’s foundational filmmaking experience in Italy during the 1960s: An artistic biography | Intellect Skip to content
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Volume 12, Issue 2
  • ISSN: 2047-7368
  • E-ISSN: 2047-7376

Abstract

Helena Lumbreras (1935–95), founder of the Colectivo de Cine de Clase in Francoist Spain, started her film career at Rome’s Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia. The politically charged atmosphere of 1960s Italy marked a turning point for the young filmmaker professionally and ideologically. Her Italian sojourn proved remarkably influential, since it allowed her to delve into cultural materials that were censored in Spain and drew her into left-wing intellectual circles. During these years (1962–70), she encountered film directors and theorists like Pier Paolo Pasolini and Cesare Zavattini, who deepened her interest in collective film movements. She took her first step towards politically engaged cinema with her graduation film, (1964). In the following years, her deepening involvement with the anti-Francoist movement coincided with her prioritization of documentary over fiction. This veered her career away from representational political cinema towards militant political cinema, which she would eventually put into practice in her homeland.

Funding
This study was supported by the:
  • The Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación (Ministry of Science and Innovation) (Award PID2020-113419RB-I00)
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2023-11-27
2024-04-27
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http://instance.metastore.ingenta.com/content/journals/10.1386/jicms_00216_1
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Helena Lumbreras’s foundational filmmaking experience in Italy during the 1960s: An artistic biography
Journal of Italian Cinema & Media Studies 12, 155 (2024); https://doi.org/10.1386/jicms_00216_1
/content/journals/10.1386/jicms_00216_1
/content/journals/10.1386/jicms_00216_1
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  • Article Type: Article
Keyword(s): Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia; Cesare Zavattini; Colectivo de Cine de Clase; collective cinema; Franco regime; militant cinema; Pier Paolo Pasolini; political cinema

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