About me

It is not about filming a research, but about conducting research through film

Biography

Anthropologist and filmmaker, I was born in Barcelona in 1980. At present I work as associate professor at the Department of Social Anthropology of the University of Barcelona. I am the author of several documentaries, filmed in Venezuela, Puerto Rico, Spain and Guinea-Bissau. I have written numerous articles on ethnographic cinema, the anthropology of image and Afro-American religions in journals such as Visual Studies, Ethnos, L’Homme, Visual Anthropology Review Social Dynamics and Journal des Africanistes. I have also published various books, most notable of which is A Goddess in Motion. Visual Creativity in the Cult of María Lionza (Berghahn Books, 2017). I like researching reality through the camera, using film to explore other ways of living and understanding the world. For me, there is no cinema without research, and no research without cinema. Biography

Professional Experience

Since 2009 I have been a lecturer and researcher in the Department of Social Anthropology in the University of Barcelona, where I teach subjects such as Visual Anthropology and The Anthropology of Myth. I combine this work with my activity as filmmaker. My films have been selected for contests such as the Festival International Jean Rouch, the Taiwan International Ethnographic Film Festival and the Royal Anthropological Institute Film Festival (click on Filmography). I lectured in and coordinated the Master’s Degree in Visual Anthropology in the University of Barcelona (2009-2013). Since 2015 I have been coordinating the University Master’s Degree in Anthropology and Ethnography in the University of Barcelona. I belong to the CINAF research group, devoted to the study of indigenous and Afro-American cultures. I have been appointed visiting scholar at the Granada Centre for Visual Anthropology (University of Manchester), at the Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales de Paris, at the University of Toronto (Canada) and at the Institute of Caribbean Studies (Puerto Rico). I am a member of the editorial board of the journals Anthrovision and Journal of Anthropological Films. I am also the coordinator of IVAC, a research group on Anthropology, Image and Visual Culture in the Catalan Institute of Anthropology. I regularly collaborate with the Filmoteca de Catalunya, the foundation Photographic Social Vision and the Museu de les Cultures del Món de Barcelona. I am a member of the following association and research groups: VANEASA (Visual Anthropology Network of the European Association of Social Anthropology), SVA (Society for Visual Anthropology), NAFA (Nordic Association of Anthropological Film), CFE (Comité du Film Ethnographique and RAI Film Committee).

Education

2008 – PhD in Anthropology, Ethnology and Ethnography from the Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales de Paris (EHESS) and the University of Barcelona (thesis jointly supervised). Specialisation: Visual Anthropology.

2004 – Master’s Degree in Anthropology and Audiovisual Communication from the University of Barcelona.

2003 – Diploma of Advanced Studies (DEA) in Anthropology and Ethnography from the Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales de Paris. Specialisation: Visual Anthropology.

2002 – Bachelor’s Degree in Philosophy from the University of Barcelona.

2001 – Photography Studies in the Institute of Photographic Studies of Catalonia.

Fellowships and awards (selection)

2016 – Fejos Postdoctoral Fellowship in Ethnographic Film. Wenner Gren Foundation (USA).

2004 – Allocation de Recherche. Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (France).

2003 – Prix de l’Atelier d’Écritue Documentaire. Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales de Paris (France).

Anthropologist

Anthropology always involves an encounter with the unexpected.

Filmmaker

If I have made so many films about religion, it is because for me cinema still has something to do with magics.

Teacher

One of the good things about teaching, is that it forces you to constantly reconsider your own assumptions.