Documentación de las Ciencias de la Información

¿Era mi padre el "malo" de tesis?: imprimiendo la verdad, no la leyenda (negra)

José Antonio Jiménez de las Heras — Tue, 29 Apr 2025 00:00:00 +0000

¿Era mi padre el "malo" de tesis?: imprimiendo la verdad, no la leyenda (negra)

Introducción. La crítica especializada y el análisis cinematográfico en nuestro país. Un estado de la cuestión: visión histórica, realidad presente y perspectivas de futuro

Tue, 29 Apr 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Prólogo. La crítica: un intento de entender, una manera de estar

Antonio Castro Guijosa — Tue, 29 Apr 2025 00:00:00 +0000

The photographic collection of the National Institute of Industry (INI): A window on twentieth-century Spanish industry

Isabel Junquera Casado, Elena Laruelo Rueda — Tue, 29 Apr 2025 00:00:00 +0000

The role of the National Institute of Industry (INI) in Spanish industry during much of the 20th century and its interest in publicizing the activities of the companies in which participated, led to the creation of an audiovisual fund that is described the photographic collection on the occasion of its upcoming dissemination on the SEPI institutional website. This photographic collection is an interesting support material for the study of industrial development in Spain, by providing a follow-up story of industrial constructions, technical activities, works, machinery, institutional visits, etc., of INI companies with the photographs periodically requested by the Institute.

The nude body in photographic archives: between access and concealment

Irene Gress Carrasco, Elke Köppen — Tue, 29 Apr 2025 00:00:00 +0000

This article analyzes the photographed nude body as a perceptible document to be part of archives and the importance of its catalographic description to allow access. To this end, three examples belonging to Mexican archives are exposed and analyzed.

Scientific production on VOD and television: a meta-research on the global phenomenon and the Spanish production

Jorge Abad-Pérez, Tatiana Hidalgo-Marí — Tue, 29 Apr 2025 00:00:00 +0000

This paper deals with a meta-research on the scientific production on television and VOD. Using a mixed methodology that integrates systematic review and content analysis, a genuine study is carried out covering the research indexed in Scopus from its first registration until the year 2024. The analysis is developed in two aspects: global production and specific production on content in Spain. The sample is composed of 207 indexed papers on VOD and television in general, and 19 papers whose object of study is this topic in the Spanish context. The results obtained reveal the strengthening and consolidation of the discipline at all levels, especially highlighting the recent establishment of the object of study in Spanish. The conclusions reflect on the growing interest and specialization of research in line with the rise of technologies and the transformation of the audiovisual industry.

The model of film criticism in the first phase of Dirigido por... (1972-1989)

Xavier Jiménez González — Tue, 29 Apr 2025 00:00:00 +0000

The article analyzes the evolution of film criticism published in the journal Dirigido por... during its first stage (1972-1989). Founded in the context of the late Francoist period by Edmundo Orts Climent, the journal emerged during a transitional time after the disappearance of reference publications like Film Ideal and Nuestro Cine. Initially, it focused on special issues about filmmakers, where criticism evolved from being a simple compilation of external sources to developing and consolidating a specialized discourse aimed at a broader audience.

Underground film criticism via Star magazine (1974-1980)

Rafael Gómez Alonso — Tue, 29 Apr 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Star is an example of a publication that contributes to exposing cinematographic critiques of underground cinema, as well as emerging practices of audiovisual works whose distribution is minority or unknown for the social context of the transition that Spain is experiencing. At the same time, this magazine establishes a bridge for the establishment of new ways of understanding the effervescence of cinematographic currents that, together with other subcultural and countercultural phenomena such as comics, music or fanzines, are beginning to acquire a certain interest in the entry into new avant-garde areas of the cultural industries. This article aims to investigate the themes, authors and film critics who were committed to making these film currents visible in a process of social and cultural legitimation. To do so, a search has been carried out through all the issues of the magazine with the purpose of offering from a content perspective the films, directors and trends that were made known, as well as the people who signed these critiques. Similarly, a link is established with the historical context between the years 1974 and 1980, a period covered by the publication and which coincides with a particular moment of effervescence for marginal, subcultural and countercultural publications within the democratic transition, from the end of the so-called openness or late Francoism to the beginnings of the establishment of democracy in Spain.

De las salas de arte y ensayo a la cinefilia crítica: el legado del Círculo A

Ludovico Longhi, Mireia Clapés, Leonor Ballbuena — Tue, 29 Apr 2025 00:00:00 +0000

This article analyzes Círculo A, a collective that promoted auteur cinema in Barcelona during the Franco regime. Based on interviews with its founders, Jaume Figueras and Antoni Kirchner, the study examines how this group transformed film programming and exhibition, creating a new cultural paradigm. Círculo A circumvented censorship by screening films in their original version and fostering debate. Its 'Enigma Nights' and the unique atmosphere of its cinemas attracted audiences. The success of films such as Bagdad Café (Adlon, 1987) demonstrated the public's interest in alternative cinema. The Círculo A model has inspired contemporary festivals and digital platforms. This article highlights the collective's role in the modernization of cinema in Spain and in shaping a critical cinephile culture.

The Interview as a Tool for Film Analysis: The Cases of Antonio Castro's Interviews with John Huston and Aki Kaurismäki

Julia Sabina Gutiérrez — Tue, 29 Apr 2025 00:00:00 +0000

This article explores the interview as a tool for analysis and research in the field of cinema, using Antonio Castro's interviews with John Huston and Aki Kaurismäki as a case study. Through an approach based on auteur theory, discourse analysis, and cinematic narrative, it examines how the statements of both filmmakers reveal their creative processes, recurring themes, and artistic vision. The interview is highlighted as a bridge between textual analysis and audience reception. Additionally, the role of Antonio Castro as an interviewer and educator is emphasized, using dialogue as a method to foster critical thinking, preserve cultural memory, and uphold the legacy of filmmakers.

Impure, independent or proletarian: the positioning of Manuel Villegas López in 1936

Emeterio Diez Puertas — Tue, 29 Apr 2025 00:00:00 +0000

The debate on the role of film criticism in times of the Republic motivated critics to group together into different opposing organizations. Between them: the Union of Film Editors, which represented business interests and was accused of being prevaricating and dishonest; the Group of Independent Film Writers, which brought together liberals and was accused of being elitist and pretentious; and the Friends of Our Cinema Association, a Marxist organization accused of being materialist and revolutionary. The article studies the position of film critic Manuel Villegas López in this debate. Considering the analysis of his texts, we maintain that he moves from a Liberal position to a Marxist one.

A critical trend: Politique des acteurs

Jesús Urbano Reyes — Tue, 29 Apr 2025 00:00:00 +0000

This paper reviews a trend that has gained presence in contemporary criticism: Politique des acteurs. The very concept to which we allude borrows the most famous moment of film criticism,`le politique des auteurs´, to exchange the last concept, but announcing the type of criticism it practices: the analysis, both formal and narrative, of a work as a whole, but from the actor’s point of view. How an actor conditions the staging with his gestures, his way of acting, his own physicality, how they impose the rhythm or tone. But also their evolution, their refutations, their place as narrators of themselves -in a story sustained over time-, and as filmmakers -as they decide to participate in a certain mise-en-scène or help to write cinematographically in the shot. In short, `le politique des acteurs´ understands the corpus of an actor as it has historically been done with the auteur.

Vodcasting and specialised film journalism. A new media for reflection on the seventh art

Manuel J. Cartes-Barroso — Tue, 29 Apr 2025 00:00:00 +0000

The cinema, an art and a discipline with great relevance for citizens since its birth at the end of the 19th century, is currently an area of journalistic specialisation within the field of Culture, with an extensive trajectory that goes beyond its presence in traditional media or in specific journalistic genres such as film criticism. The incorporation of the Internet has made possible the emergence of new opportunities for film journalism, which can also be consumed on social media and platforms such as video podcasting. This is the case of RTVE's vodcast ‘El último programa’, where its presenters —three film critics and expert journalists— analyse and reflect on contemporary films available on the digital platform of Spain's public audiovisual corporation. And they do so with a varied number of thematic contents, connecting ideas, stories and films. Among the results, we observe an adequate work of editing, production and audiovisual production, which denotes the good work of a technical and human team at a professional level. In conclusion, thanks to its close style and touches of humour, ‘El último programa’ is presented as a different programme from the reality of video podcasting, which is also a new journalistic narrative for lovers of the seventh art.

The role of film criticism in distributors’ promotional strategies

Juan Orellana Gutiérrez de Terán — Tue, 29 Apr 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Film criticism is a profession that, by its nature, requires freedom and independence. However, for film distributors, criticism is an important piece in the strategies of promoting a film. Distributors respect the independence of critics, but try to positively influence their perception and reception of the film, through certain marketing instruments and strategies, as well as the provision of information.

Cinema in Badajoz through the analysis of the documentation contained in the Ecclesiastical Archives: the Autopista Cinema

Guadalupe Pérez Ortiz, Agustín Vivas Moreno, Sonia López Ortiz — Tue, 29 Apr 2025 00:00:00 +0000

The Catholic Church has managed parish cinemas for a long time. This work identifies and analyzes the documentation held in the diocesan archive of the Ecclesiastical Archives of Mérida-Badajoz (AEME-BA), with special mention of one of the most emblematic parish cinemas: the Autopista Cinema. The objectives we aim to achieve are: to identify ecclesiastical sources for the study of cinema; to analyze the Autopista Cinema in Badajoz through the identified ecclesiastical sources; and finally, to study the Autopista Cinema as a catechetical tool for the society of Badajoz. The methodology used to achieve these objectives is twofold: on one hand, archival techniques that will allow us to identify, classify, and describe the documentation; and on the other hand, historical analysis of a hermeneutic nature that will provide data for a filmic examination and its doctrinal values. It is concluded that cinema becomes an important tool for the Church in strengthening Catholic values and morality.

The figure of the film explainer in silent films

Rosa Bleda Morcillo, Mar Marcos Molano — Tue, 29 Apr 2025 00:00:00 +0000

The origins of cinematography are marked by the presence of oratory: the figure of the silent film explainer arose almost immediately after the first screenings in cinemas to meet the demands of the first film spectators. These professionals narrated the events of the films, but also interpreted them through linguistic, vocal and gestural resources. As speakers and entertainers, they succeeded in instructing viewers in the language of film while entertaining and became highly successful and well-known personalities. However, despite their relevance in the early years of the seventh art, silent film explainers are not known to most audiences. For this reason, this research seeks to define and contextualize this figure within the history of cinema, to link the origins and characteristics of the explainer with oratory and to make visible his work, which had a lot to do with the development of narrative and cinematographic staging.