Experimental filmmaker José Luis Guerín (b. 1960) makes films that defy categories. Neither strictly documentary nor fiction, Guerín’s films wander through silence and shadows, inviting the viewer to ponder the fragility and resilience of the cinematic image.
As background to the viewing of Guerín’s most recent film La academia de las musas (The Academy of the Muses, 2015), Dr. Linda Ehrlich will introduce some of Guerín’s earlier works such as Tren de sombras (Train of Shadows, 1997), En construcción (Work in Progress, 2001), Unas fotos en la ciudad de Sylvia (Some Photos in the City of Sylvia, 2007), and Dos cartas a Ana (Two Letters to Ana, 2011). In particular, she will examine how Guerín uses shadows and “the absent voice” to indicate the expansive power of the cinema, beyond the frame.
Dr. Ehrlich’s writings about José Luis Guerín have appeared in the online journal Senses of Cinema and in her book Cinematic Reveries. She has spent time with the director in New York City and Barcelona.
Linda C. Ehrlich, Associate Professor of Modern Languages and Literatures at Case Western Reserve University, has published extensively on world cinema, including Spanish cinema. Her edited book, The Cinema of Víctor Erice: An Open Window, introduces this important Spanish film director to a wide audience. Her newest book, Cinematic Reveries: Gestures, Stillness, Water, offers a collection of prose poems about selected films. Dr. Ehrlich’s taped commentary on the Spanish film The Spirit of the Beehive (El espíritu de la colmena) appears on the Criterion DVD. She has also edited and annotated the memoir of Juan Luis Buñuel (eldest son of filmmaker Luis Buñuel): Good Films, Cheap Wine, Few Friends: A Memoir. (For more information, please visit her website: http://braidednarrative.com)
