11 December 2024

Documentary short film by Contracultural digital magazine

Salvar l'Antic Teatre

premiere
Wednesday, 11th December at 8 pm
Languages: catalan and spanish
Free entrance

This documentary short film was directed by Alba Sueiro and edited by Gonzalo Hurtado with the collaboration of Maria Arnau and Max Sorribas. Photography is by Pol Montserrat and music by Mario G Cortizo.

Contracultural magazine presents a documentary short film exploring the critical situation currently experienced by Antic Teatre, a reference point for independent culture in Barcelona that is awaiting the council expropriation of the building it is housed in so it can become integrated into the city’s Houses of Culture network.

This audio-visual work considers the type of city model that is being encouraged based on capitalist dynamics that favour speculation to the detriment of community spaces, with serious social and cultural consequences. The event will open with a presentation and end with a Q&A session and open discussion with the audience.


Antic Teatre, a reference point for independent culture

Creation venue Antic Teatre on Verdaguer i Callis street, a point of reference for its commitment to risk and experimentation, is a mandatory meeting place for live arts in the city. The centre, a key player in contemporary and independent performance arts, is standing its ground despite its uncertain future. Antic Teatre is demanding the promised council expropriation of the building it is housed in and its transformation into a House of Culture. All the necessary procedures for the venue to become council property have been approved, and it is now up to Barcelona City Council to execute the expropriation and set out the new guidelines for use so that Antic Teatre can be integrated into the city’s Houses of Culture network.

This short documentary film explores the past and considers the future of Antic Teatre using documentary archives and an interview with the venue’s founder, artist Semolina Tomic. It also questions an urban planning model geared towards tourism and real estate profits, frequently to the detriment of the cultural and artistic community that represents Barcelona’s diversity and soul.

The city’s cultural infrastructure at risk

The current city model is geared towards attracting capital, investment and tourism, creating a ‘city as commodity’. This strategy prioritises business initiatives and creates a business-friendly environment for attracting tourists, digital nomads, ex-pats from multinationals and new start-up entrepreneurs. In pursuit of this, regulations are lax and events are pushed to make the city more attractive for these demographics. However, this focus quite often clashes with the needs of residents, community infrastructures, cultural decentralisation and the protection of communal and cultural spaces that breathe life into the city.


About Contracultural

Contracultural is a platform connecting independent culture with audiences by means of communications, audio-visual production and coverage of cultural projects. With a community of more than 70,000 followers on social media and a digital magazine, for the past two years Contracultural has been working towards providing visibility to cultural venues, artists and initiatives that promote diversity, autonomy and critical thinking.

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