José Luis Guerín (born 1960) is a Spanish filmmaker and educator known for ''
Train of Shadows'' (1997), ' (2001), and ''
The Academy of Muses'' (2015).
Style and influences
As a young
cinephile
Cinephilia ( ; also cinemaphilia or filmophilia) is the term used to refer to a passionate interest in films, film theory, and film criticism. The term is a portmanteau of the words '' cinema'' and ''philia'', one of the four ancient Greek words ...
, Guerín attended many film screenings, made films on Super 8 and 16mm
and sought out and befriended many of the filmmakers he admired, including
Robert Bresson
Robert Bresson (; 25 September 1901 – 18 December 1999) was a French film director. Known for his ascetic approach, Bresson made a notable contribution to the art of cinema; his non-professional actors, Ellipsis (narrative device), ellipses, an ...
,
and
Philippe Garrel.
Guerín's films are often described as being influenced by the
Lumière Brothers
Lumière is French for 'light'.
Lumiere, Lumière or Lumieres may refer to:
Buildings
* Lumière, a building used by the Bibliothèque publique d'information in Paris, France
* Lumiere (skyscraper), a cancelled skyscraper development in Leeds, ...
,
Howard Hawks
Howard Winchester Hawks (May 30, 1896December 26, 1977) was an American film director, Film producer, producer, and screenwriter of the Classical Hollywood cinema, classic Hollywood era. Critic Leonard Maltin called him "the greatest American ...
,
Yasujirō Ozu
was a Japanese filmmaker. He began his career during the era of silent films, and his last films were made in colour in the early 1960s. Ozu first made a number of short comedies, before turning to more serious themes in the 1930s.
The most pr ...
and
John Ford
John Martin Feeney (February 1, 1894 – August 31, 1973), better known as John Ford, was an American film director and producer. He is regarded as one of the most important and influential filmmakers during the Golden Age of Hollywood, and w ...
(Guerín went so far as to shoot a film in
Cong the setting of
Innisfree in Ford's ''
The Quiet Man'').
Guerín is known for his meditative
and intellectually curious
work in both documentary and narrative filmmaking. Describing Guerín in an introduction to a series of his films, the programmers of the
Harvard Film Archive wrote: "Guerín's films purposefully confound narrative and documentary traditions, discovering rich narrative threads woven into the tapestries of his real life subjects and unraveling mysteries without solutions that nevertheless leave the viewer deeply satisfied."
Filmography
* ''
Berta's Motives'' (1985)
* ''Souvenir'' (1986, Short)
* ''City Life'' (1990)
* ''
Innisfree'' (1990)
* ''
Train of Shadows'' (1997)
* ''En construcción'' AKA ''Work in Progress'' (2001)
* ''Tren Estrasburgo-Paris/ Mujer esperando al tranvia'' (2006, Short)
* ''Unas fotos en la ciudad de Sylvia'' (2007)
* ''
In the City of Sylvia
''In the City of Sylvia'' () is a 2007 film directed by José Luis Guerín. The film follows a young man credited only as 'Él' ( English:'Him') as he wanders central Strasbourg in search of Sylvia, a woman he asked for directions in a bar six yea ...
'' (2007)
* ''Guest'' (2010)
* ''Correspondences: Jonas Mekas - J. L. Guerin'' (2011)
* ''Dos cartas a Ana'' AKA ''Two Letters for Ana'' (2011, Short)
* ''Recuerdos de una manana'' AKA ''Memories of a Morning'' (2011)
* ''L’Accademia delle muse'' AKA ''
The Academy of Muses'' (2015)
* ''
Le Saphir de Saint-Louis AKA The Sapphire of St. Louis '' (2015)
* ''De una Isla'' (2019, Short)
Awards
His film ''Under Construction'' (''En construcción'') won the Special Prize of the Jury in the San Sebastián Film Festival in 2001 and the Goya Prize for Best Documentary in 2002.
References
External links
Spanish film directors
1960 births
Living people
Spanish contemporary artists
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