Butterfly

Colour, 35 mm
Spain, 2006, 87 min
WP – World premiere
Section: Documentary Films in Competition

Synopsis

The remarkable Spanish film Butterfly will be shown at the festival in its world premiere. “The butterfly should be allowed to flutter freely and should only be observed for its beauty. If a person catches it by its wings, he will spoil its beautiful colour,” says the main character, film director Pablo, thus ushering in the main theme of the film. Pablo had made a feature film some time before but, during the editing, he discovered that he had been unable to capture the specific atmosphere of the place. So he sets off for the location of his unfinished film once more and, in his desire to convey its genius loci, he asks for the assistance of a group of local children. With their sense of immediacy, their ability to see the highly familiar environment of their native town and its inhabitants proves invaluable to him. The film hovers on the border between stylised documentary and fiction and seeks the true essence of filmmaking and the way in which one can faithfully capture the beauty of reality. As in the case of the butterfly, it is important to know how to observe life around us and, where possible, to avoid a direct hit.

About the director

Pablo García attended schools in Valencia and Barcelona during the years 1981–1991, taking several courses in classical and advertising photography, video direction and screenwriting. From 1990 to 1994 he studied film direction and screenwriting at the Centro de Estudios Cinematográficos de Catalunya, where he was taught by Jose Luís Guerin, Gerardo Gormezano and Luís Aller. In 2002 the Karlovy Vary section Another View screened his film Fuente Álamo. Filmography: Vos, que sos mi hermana (2002), Alicia retratada (2003), Sara ya sabe leer (2006), Butterfly (2006).