Of Eagles, Falcons and Hobby Horses
Directing, camera and research: Roger Canals
Production: Jordi Orobitg Produccions
Editing: Jordi Orobitg
Running time: 40 min.
Year: 2014
Sinopsis: Toc d’Inici is a unique event which marks the start of La Mercè, Barcelona’s annual festival. This grand parade of giant statues, musicians and mythical beasts through the city centre brings together a wide cross-section of the population: local residents, politicians, tourists and protestors who use it as an opportunity to draw attention to their demands.
By following three of the colles or groups taking part in it, Of Eagles, falcons and Hobby Horses explores the complexity of this public ritual from three points of view of the role of festive images during the celebration and beyond, the processes through which Catalan popular culture is transmitted, and the way participants themselves perceive the festival and its relationship with the city.
The film portrays Barcelona as it is today: a city undergoing constant change, a city that is both local and global, in which traditional festivities continue to play a crucial social and political role.
Festivals and projections (selection):
- 14th RAI International Festival of Ethnographic Film (2015)
- Days of Ethnographic Film. Ljubljana (2015)
- Sardinia Ethnographic Film festival (2014)
- Kratovo Ethnographic Film Festival (2014)