Xcèntric
CCCB Montalegre 5, 08001 Barcelona

Feeling up for a challenge? Xcèntric is the annual cinema cycle at the CCCB, and it goes beyond simply screening films. The common thread through all the films selected is that they are difficult to watch. This month, there will be six sessions of film screenings, beginning on the 4th with La voluptuosidad del mirar, three short-length silent films by James Herbert, who became famous for his videography work with the band R.E.M. These three films, Apalachee, Three and Silk, all use the technique of rephotography—a process that involves the photographing of nude bodies, the rephotographing of these images’ film and the subsequent product of the two, captured and layered. The cycle closes on the 28th with Spaces between the images. The films of Daïchi Saïto, which employs photochemical techniques whereby ultraviolet light is used to capture raw, multilayered images on screen. Colour, light and form are three vital areas on which Saïto’s filmography focuses, taking nature and natural landscape as a starting point. The two examples given above indicate the innovation and individuality that this series of films encapsulates, bringing a whole new artistic level to modern cinematography.
March 27th: Witchcraft through the Ages (1922) by Benjamin Christensen.
March 31st: 'Observations' (a series of short-length, experimentation films that look at the transformation of colour in landscape and modulation of light).
April 3rd: Misconception (1977) and Daughters of Chaos (1980) both by Marjorie Keller.
April 7th: 'The Enigma of the Photographic' (three films exploring the fascination that humans have towards photography).
April 14th: 'Music of new images' (a programme of films from the French avant-garde era of the 1920s).
April 21st: 'New Voices of African Cinema' by Akosua Adoma Owusu.
More information here.