Metropolitan Culture Corner: Marcel Llorens

This month on the Metropolitan Culture Corner, we go behind the scenes with documentary film and television director, producer, editor, cameraman and much more, Marcel Llorens. Born in Barcelona, Marcel’s love of all things cinema was sparked by watching old movies with his father. He studied audiovisual communication at the Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona and the Institut Ramon Llull, and went on to work on publicity shoots as a freelancer for companies such as Levi's, HP, Samsung, Puma, Ticketmaster, Nokia, Garmin, and others. He would later work as cameraman and editor for various television programs for TV3, Interzona.tv, Movistar+, but discovered his true calling when he started directing and filming documentaries.

His current project, a documentary about the iconic Mexican song "La Llorona," has not only gained him international recognition even before it’s been officially released—it just won the CaixaForum+ and IN-EDIT music documentary film festival competition this year—but it also changed his life completely. Marcel now splits his time between Barcelona and Mexico City, where over the past four years he has worked on a documentary for Mexican television station Canal 22, music videos for artists such as La Malinche, La Bruja de Texcoco, Antonio Hidalgo and more, as well as his project La Llorona El Documental. Marcel and his family are also involved with the non-profit organization Ni Una Menos, which works to raise awareness for the thousands of women who have been murdered or gone missing in Mexico.

Last month, we interviewed publicist, music journalist, author and poet Alicia Rodríguez. As a music publicist, she has represented some of Spain's top artists (Elefantes, A Contra Blues, Mayte Martin) and has promoted tours by world-renowned international artists such as Van Morrison, Simple Plan, The Jayhawks, Jackson Browne, Lucinda Williams and many others. Alicia has also worked in production and communication for festivals (Primavera Sound, Sónar, SOS Festival) and cultural exhibitions such as David Bowie Is at the Barcelona Design Museum. As a journalist, Alicia has contributed to some of Spain's leading music magazines, as well as radio stations, television stations, newspapers and other publications. Besides her talent for promoting others, Alicia is a published poet, and is planning the release of a book of short stories later this year or early next.

Stay tuned to Metropolitan’s YouTube channel and social media to make sure you don’t miss a single episode of our monthly interview series! We’ve got a great lineup in store for you in 2024. You can also watch the full archive of previous interviews on our official YouTube channel, or listen to all the MCC interviews as free podcasts on Soundcloud. Be sure to follow Metropolitan on Facebook: @BCNMetropolitan, Twitter: @bcnmetropolitan and Instagram: @barcelonametropolitan.