Agustí Villaronga is the grandson of
traveling puppeteers that put on their
show on fairs until his grandmother died
because of tuberculosis, when his father
was a little boy. Illness, particularly
tuberculosis, will be a recurring matter
in his films. His father was a war child,
dragged to the battlefront when he was
only 15 years old and arriving later on in
Mallorca as a postman. A cinema lover,
he instilled into his son the passion for
visual arts.
Villaronga finished his basic studies in
a Jesuit school and moved to Barcelona
where he graduated with studies of Geography
and History. A bit after starting
his University studies he acts in several
movies in which he knows Pepón Corominas,
a producer who suggests that
he take on the costume department of
“La plaza del diamante” (The Time of the
Doves). Since then, he never stopped
interlocking shooting after shooting,
meeting technicians, the trade and the
secrets of film-making.
Finally, in 1987 and with a budget of less
than 30 million pesetas (180.000€), he
shoots his first work, “Tras el cristal” (In
a Glass Cage), shown in the Berlin Film
Festival. It is, nowadays, a classic Spanish
LGBT-related work. Julián Mateos and
Maribel Martín are the producers of “El
niño de la luna” (Moon Child,1989), movie
that puzzled the public and international
critics at the Cannes Film Festival
of that year, who attacked the film vehemently.
He will go back to directing, in 1997, with
the movie “99.9”, a made-to-order horror
film, with which he wins the Silver Mélies
Award for the best fantasy European film. His next work, “El mar” (The Sea,
2000), means his return as the author
of a movie entirely his own, in which he
would also take an LGBT matter. Shown
in the Berlin Film Festival and nominated
to the Golden Bear, the last thing the
movie caused was indifference.
In 2002, he directs, with Isaac P. Racine
and Lydia Zimmerman, “Aro Tolbukhin:
en la mente del asesino”, a mockumentary
where they play with the possibilities
of film language mixing styles,
genres and formats. In spite of receiving
several awards, the movie failed to work
in the box office.
He won’t direct again until 2010, directing
the movie “Pa Negre” (Black Bread),
a story centered around a boy living
in the dark 1940s. At the same time he
discovers his (homo)sexuality, a moral
conscience will be awaken in the main
character. The film won the Silver Shell
for best actress in the San Sebastian Film
Festival, and 9 Goya awards. In 2011 it
was awarded the National Cinematography
Award from The Spanish Cinema
Academy.
Villaronga has provoked like few others
have been able to, with his dark and intelligent
images and stories, uniting drama
and sexuality as part of the vital learning.
Because of all this, Zinegoak wants
to pay tribute to him with the festival’s
Honour Award in this 9th edition. |
