Catalan cinema
The term Catalan cinema encompasses film productions produced and acted preferably by people from the Catalan Countries. In Spain, it is a subset of Spanish cinema, includes movies both in Catalan and Spanish; the Catalan Academy of Cinema was created to recognize and support Catalan productions, annually commemorates the best films with the Gaudí Awards. In the first 30 years of the 20th century a number of Catalan films were made. In the early 1930s Barcelona had four large film studios and the film industry flourished in the city. After the war had ended the Nationalist government had a policy of centralisation and the suppression of regional nationalism which existed in Catalonia and in the Basque country. Film making began to decline; as public use of the Catalan language was now prohibited no films could be made in the language. In 1965 it again became possible to make a Catalan version of a film; the film was of poor quality. The Institut de Cinema Català was founded in 1975 by a group of over 70 professionals from all areas of the cinema.
It was divided into four sections: commissions for education and production, distribution and exhibition, the economic commission. The first films made were two documentaries by Francesc Bellmunt and La ciutat cremada by Antoni Riba. In the mid 1970s there existed in Catalonia some groups of "alternative" film-makers, e.g. the Central del Corto. In Catalan: Aro Tolbukhin Beloved/Friend La ciutat cremada Els Nens Salvatges El pasajero clandestino The Sea The Tit and the Moon Black Bread Story of My Death Summer 1993 In Spanish Balseros Tras el cristal Barcelona School of Film
Cinema of Spain
The art of motion-picture making within the Kingdom of Spain or by Spanish filmmakers abroad is collectively known as Spanish Cinema. In recent years, Spanish cinema has achieved high marks of recognition. In the long history of Spanish cinema, the great filmmaker Luis Buñuel was the first to achieve universal recognition, followed by Pedro Almodóvar in the 1980s. Spanish cinema has seen international success over the years with films by directors like Segundo de Chomón, Florián Rey, Luis García Berlanga, Juan Antonio Bardem, Carlos Saura, Julio Médem and Alejandro Amenábar. Woody Allen, upon receiving the prestigious Prince of Asturias Award in 2002 in Oviedo remarked: "when I left New York, the most exciting film in the city at the time was Spanish, Pedro Almodóvar's one. I hope that Europeans will continue to lead the way in film making because at the moment not much is coming from the United States." Non-directors, like the cinematographer Néstor Almendros, the art director Gil Parrondo, the screenwriter Rafael Azcona, the actresses Maribel Verdú and Penélope Cruz and the actors Fernando Rey, Francisco Rabal, Antonio Banderas, Javier Bardem and Fernando Fernán Gómez, have obtained significant recognition outside Spain.
Only a small portion of box office sales in Spain are generated by domestic films. The Spanish government has therefore implemented measures aimed at supporting local film production and movie theaters, which include the assurance of funding from the main national television stations; the trend is being reversed with productions such as the €30 million film Alatriste, the Academy Award-winning Spanish film Pan's Labyrinth and Los Borgia, all of them sold-out blockbusters in Spain. Another aspect of Spanish cinema unknown to the general public is the appearance of English-language Spanish films such as Agora, Ché, The Machinist, The Others, Miloš Forman’s Goya's Ghosts, The Impossible. All of these films were produced by Spanish firms; the first Spanish film exhibition took place on May 1895, in Barcelona. Exhibitions of Lumière films were screened in Madrid and Barcelona in May and December of 1896, respectively; the matter of which Spanish film came first is in doubt. The first was either Salida de la misa de doce de la Iglesia del Pilar de Zaragoza by Eduardo Jimeno Peromarta, Plaza del puerto en Barcelona by Alexandre Promio or the anonymous film Llegada de un tren de Teruel a Segorbe.
It is possible that the first film was Riña en un café by the prolific filmmaker Fructuós Gelabert. These films were all released in 1897; the first Spanish film director to achieve great success internationally was Segundo de Chomón, who worked in France and Italy but made several famous fantasy films in Spain, such as El Hotel eléctrico. In 1914, Barcelona was the center of the nation's film industry; the españoladas predominated until the 1960s. Prominent among these were the films of Florián Rey, starring Imperio Argentina, the first version of Nobleza Baturra. Historical dramas such as Vida de Cristóbal Colón y su Descubrimiento de América, by the French director Gerald Bourgeois, adaptations of newspaper serials such as Los misterios de Barcelona starring Joan Maria Codina, of stage plays such as Don Juan Tenorio, by Ricardo de Baños, zarzuelas, were produced; the Nobel Prize-winning playwright Jacinto Benavente, who said that "in film they pay me the scraps," would shoot film versions of his theatrical works.
In 1928, Ernesto Giménez Caballero and Luis Buñuel founded the first cine-club, in Madrid. By that point, Madrid was the primary center of the industry; the rural drama La aldea maldita was a hit in Paris, where, at the same time, Buñuel and Dalí premiered Un chien andalou. Un chien andalou has become one of the most well-known avant-garde films of that era. By 1931, the introduction of audiophonic foreign productions had hurt the Spanish film industry to the point where only a single title was released that year. In 1935, Manuel Casanova founded the Compañía Industrial Film Española S. A. and introduced sound to Spanish film-making. CIFESA would grow to become the biggest production company to exist in Spain. Sometimes criticized as an instrument of the right wing, it supported young filmmakers such as Luis Buñuel and his pseudo-documentary Las Hurdes: Tierra Sin Pan. In 1933 it was responsible for filming 17 motion pictures and in 1934, 21; the most notable success was Benito Perojo´s La verbena de la paloma.
They were responsible for the 1947 Don Quijote de la Mancha, the most elaborate version of the Cervantes classic up to that time. By 1935 production had risen to 37 films; the Civil War devastated the silent film era: only 10% of all silent films made before 1936 survived the war. Films were destroyed for their celluloid content and made into goods. Around 1936, both sides of the Civil War began to use cinema as a means of propaganda and
Francoist Spain
Francoist Spain, known in Spain as the Francoist dictatorship known as the Spanish State from 1936 to 1947 and the Kingdom of Spain from 1947 to 1975, is the period of Spanish history between 1936 and 1975, when Francisco Franco ruled Spain as dictator with the title Caudillo. The nature of the regime changed during its existence. Months after the start of the Spanish Civil War in July 1936, Franco emerged as the single rebel military leader and was proclaimed Head of State on 1 October 1936, ruling a dictatorship over the territory controlled by the Nationalist faction; the 1937 Unification Decree merging all parties supporting the rebel side led to Nationalist Spain becoming a single-party regime. The end of the war in 1939 brought the extension of the Franco rule to the whole country and the exile of Republican institutions; the Francoist dictatorship took a form described as "fascistized dictatorship", or "semi-fascist regime", bringing a clear influence from German and Italian totalitarianisms in fields such as labor relations, the autarkic economic policy, the particular use of symbols, or the single-party, the FET y de las JONS.
In its years the regime opened up and became closer to developmental dictatorships, although it always preserved residual fascist trappings. During the Second World War, Spain's entry in to the Axis alongside its supporters from the civil war and Italy, never came to be after Franco's demands for the war-torn country to join proved too much for the other members to accept. Spain helped Germany and Italy in various ways while maintaining its neutrality. However, Spain was isolated by many other countries for nearly a decade after World War II and its autocratic economy, still trying to recover from the civil war, suffered from chronic depression. Reforms were implemented in the 1950s and Spain abandoned autarky, delegating authority to liberal ministers; this led to massive economic growth that lasted until the mid-1970s, second only to Japan, known as the "Spanish miracle". During the 1950s the regime changed from being totalitarian and using severe repression to an authoritarian system with limited pluralism.
Spain joined the United Nations in 1955 and during the Cold War, Franco was one of the world's foremost anti-Communist figures: his regime was assisted by the West, it was asked to join NATO. Franco died in 1975 at the age of 82, he restored the monarchy before his death, which made his successor King Juan Carlos I, who led the Spanish transition to democracy. On 1 October 1936, Franco was formally recognised as Caudillo of Spain—the Spanish equivalent of the Italian Duce and the German Führer—by the Junta de Defensa Nacional, which governed the territories occupied by the Nationalists. In April 1937, Franco assumed control of the Falange Española de las JONS led by Manuel Hedilla, who had succeeded José Antonio Primo de Rivera, executed in November 1936 by the Republican government, he merged it with the Carlist Comunión Tradicionalista to form the Falange Española Tradicionalista y de las JONS, the sole legal party of Francoist Spain, it was the main component of the Movimiento Nacional. The Falangists were concentrated at local government and grassroot level, entrusted with harnessing the Civil War's momentum of mass mobilisation through their auxiliaries and trade unions by collecting denunciations of enemy residents and recruiting workers into the trade unions.
While there were prominent Falangists at a senior government level before the late 1940s, there were higher concentrations of monarchists, military officials and other traditional conservative factions at those levels. However, the Falange remained the sole party; the Francoists took control of Spain through a comprehensive and methodical war of attrition which involved the imprisonment and executions of Spaniards found guilty of supporting the values promoted by the Republic: regional autonomy, liberal or social democracy, free elections and women's rights, including the vote. The right-wing considered these "enemy elements" to comprise an "anti-Spain", the product of Bolsheviks and a "Judeo-Masonic conspiracy", which had evolved after the Reconquista of the Iberian Peninsula from the Islamic Moors, a Reconquista, declared formally over with the Alhambra Decree of 1492 expelling the Jews from Spain. At the end of the Spanish Civil War, according to the regime's own figures there were more than 270,000 men and women held in prisons and some 500,000 had fled into exile.
Large numbers of those captured were returned to Spain or interned in Nazi concentration camps as stateless enemies. Between six and seven thousand exiles from Spain died in Mauthausen, it has been estimated that more than 200,000 Spaniards died in the first years of the dictatorship from 1940–1942 as a result of political persecution and disease related to the conflict. Spain's strong ties with the Axis resulted in its international ostracism in the early years following World War II as Spain was not a founding member of the United Nations and did not become a member until 1955; this changed with the Cold War that soon followed the end of hostilities in 1945, in the face of which Franco's strong anti-communism tilted its regime to ally with the United States. Independent political parties and trade unions were banned throughout the duration of the dictatorship. Once decrees for economic stabilisation were put forth by the late 1950s, the way was opened for massive foreign investment – "a watershed in post-war economic and ideological normalisation leading to extraordinarily rapid e
Creu de Sant Jordi
The Creu de Sant Jordi is one of the highest civil distinctions awarded in Catalonia, surpassed only in protocol by the Gold Medal of the Generalitat de Catalunya. It was established by the Generalitat de Catalunya autonomous government by virtue of the Decret 457/1981 de 18 de desembre in 1981; the medal was designed by goldsmith Joaquim Capdevila. List of awardees List of awardees in the Balearic Islands
Catalonia
Catalonia is an autonomous community in Spain on the northeastern corner of the Iberian Peninsula, designated as a nationality by its Statute of Autonomy. Catalonia consists of four provinces: Barcelona, Girona and Tarragona; the capital and largest city is Barcelona, the second-most populated municipality in Spain and the core of the sixth most populous urban area in the European Union. It comprises most of the territory of the former Principality of Catalonia, it is bordered by France and Andorra to the north, the Mediterranean Sea to the east, the Spanish autonomous communities of Aragon to the west and Valencia to the south. The official languages are Catalan and the Aranese dialect of Occitan. In the late 8th century, the counties of the March of Gothia and the Hispanic March were established by the Frankish kingdom as feudal vassals across and near the eastern Pyrenees as a defensive barrier against Muslim invasions; the eastern counties of these marches were united under the rule of the Frankish vassal, the count of Barcelona, were called Catalonia.
In the 10th century the County of Barcelona became independent de facto. In 1137, Barcelona and the Kingdom of Aragon were united by marriage under the Crown of Aragon; the de jure end of Frankish rule was ratified by French and Aragonese monarchs in the Treaty of Corbeil in 1258. The Principality of Catalonia developed its own institutional system, such as courts, constitutions, becoming the base for the Crown of Aragon's naval power and expansionism in the Mediterranean. In the Middle Ages, Catalan literature flourished. During the last Medieval centuries natural disasters, social turmoils and military conflicts affected the Principality. Between 1469 and 1516, the king of Aragon and the queen of Castile married and ruled their realms together, retaining all of their distinct institutions and legislation. During the Franco-Spanish War, Catalonia revolted against a large and burdensome presence of the royal army in its territory, being proclaimed a republic under French protection. Within a brief period France took full control of Catalonia, until it was reconquered by the Spanish army.
Under the terms of the Treaty of the Pyrenees in 1659, the Spanish Crown ceded the northern parts of Catalonia the County of Roussillon, to France. During the War of the Spanish Succession, the Crown of Aragon sided against the Bourbon Philip V of Spain; this led to the eclipse of Catalan as a language of literature, replaced by Spanish. Along the 18th century, Catalonia experienced economic growth, reinforced in the late quarter of the century when the Castile's trade monopoly with American colonies ended. In the 19th century, Catalonia was affected by the Napoleonic and Carlist Wars. In the second third of the century, Catalonia experienced significant industrialisation; as wealth from the industrial expansion grew, Catalonia saw a cultural renaissance coupled with incipient nationalism while several workers movements appeared. In 1914, the four Catalan provinces formed a commonwealth, with the return of democracy during the Second Spanish Republic, the Generalitat of Catalonia was restored as an autonomous government.
After the Spanish Civil War, the Francoist dictatorship enacted repressive measures, abolishing Catalan self-government and banning the official use of the Catalan language again. After a first period of autarky, from the late 1950s through to the 1970s Catalonia saw rapid economic growth, drawing many workers from across Spain, making Barcelona one of Europe's largest industrial metropolitan areas and turning Catalonia into a major tourist destination. Since the Spanish transition to democracy, Catalonia has regained considerable autonomy in political, educational and cultural affairs and is now one of the most economically dynamic communities of Spain. In the 2010s there has been growing support for Catalan independence. On 27 October 2017, the Catalan Parliament declared independence from Spain following a disputed referendum; the Spanish Senate voted in favour of enforcing direct rule by removing the entire Catalan government and calling a snap regional election for 21 December. On 2 November of the same year, the Spanish Supreme Court imprisoned 7 former ministers of the Catalan government on charges of rebellion and misuse of public funds, while several others—including then-President of Catalonia, Carles Puigdemont—fled to other European countries.
The name Catalonia—Catalunya in Catalan, spelled Cathalonia, or Cathalaunia in Medieval Latin—began to be used for the homeland of the Catalans in the late 11th century and was used before as a territorial reference to the group of counties that comprised part of the March of Gothia and March of Hispania under the control of the Count of Barcelona and his relatives. The origin of the name Catalunya is subject to diverse interpretations because of a lack of evidence. One theory suggests that Catalunya derives from the name Gothia Launia, since the origins of the Catalan counts and people were found in the March of Gothia, known as Gothia, whence Gothlan
RTVE
The Corporación de Radio y Televisión Española, S. A. is the state-owned public corporation that assumed the indirect management of the Spanish public radio and television service called Ente Público Radiotelevisión Española in 2007. RTVE is the largest audiovisual group in Spain broadcasting in the Spanish language. Since January 2010 it is financed by public subsidies. In the exercise of its public service function, among the obligations of the RTVE Corporation are: Promote dissemination and awareness of constitutional principles and civic values. Guarantee the objectivity and truthfulness of the information provided, while ensuring that a broad range of views is presented. Facilitate democratic debate and the free expression of opinion. Promote the territorial cohesion and linguistic and cultural diversity of Spain. Offer access to different genres of programming and to the institutional, social and sporting events that are of interest to all sectors of the audience, paying attention to those topics that are of special interest to the public.
To serve the widest audience, ensuring maximum continuity and geographical and social coverage, with a commitment to quality, diversity and high ethical standards. RTVE throughout its history has undergone numerous restructurings and reorganisations, has assumed numerous identities; the history of RTVE begins in 1937 with the first broadcasts by Radio Nacional de España from the city of Salamanca. In these early years, RNE served as a propaganda tool for the Nationalist forces during the Spanish Civil War. Television was introduced in Spain in October 1956, in October 1973 the two broadcasting networks, RNE and Televisión Española were consolidated into the Servicio Público Centralizado RadioTelevisión Española. Further consolidations followed in 1977. In 1979 TVE, RNE were joined by RCE an old radio service which, unlike RNE, could broadcast commercials. In 1980, RTVE was configured, as a legal public entity with its own jurisdiction. According to RTVE's annual report: "This law arose from the Spanish Constitution and the political pluralism which the constitution asserts as a fundamental value of the rule of law.
The former cinema newsreels service NO-DO was merged into RTVE to be dismantled in 1981. Since the NO-DO archives are property of RTVE and its conservation is on their hands and Filmoteca Nacional's. In 1989, RCE was dismantled and its radio service was merged into RNE. In accordance with the Law of State Radio and Television of 5 June 2006, in the face of an enormous deficit, the RTVE Public Body and the companies TVE, S. A. and RNE, S. A were dissolved, on 1 January 2007 the Corporación RTVE came into existence; this change in the law put Corporación RTVE in control of Spain's public radio and television service. As part of the 2007 restructuring, a controversial plan was put into action to reduce the workforce by 4,855 through attrition and retirement incentives, in spite of the fact that RTVE is the European public broadcasting service with the smallest workforce. In 2012 political tensions associated with the austerity program of the conservative ruling party, Partido Popular resulted in personnel changes which displaced journalists interviewed by the centre-left The Guardian interpreted as an effort to remove critical political comment from RTVE's content.
In 2012 the PP began staffing RTVE with party veterans. Considerable controversy was caused. On 11 June 2013, RTVE was one of the few known European broadcasters to condemn and criticise the closure of Greece's state broadcaster ERT. In December 2018, RTVE launched Filmoteca Española, available via Internet with more than 4000 videos of Spanish films and documentaries. Pursuant to the 2006 Law of State Radio and television, management of the national public service is entrusted to Corporación RTVE; the Administrative Council of the RTVE is the main body of RTVE, appoints the executive officers of RTVE and its companies, approves its organisation, approves most major activities. The Administrative Council is composed of 12 members; the President has operational control of day-to-day operations, in order to execute the decisions and guidance of the Administrative Council. The President is appointed by, may be dismissed by, Congress. Before the 2006 Act, this position was filled by the role of the Director General, which had a de facto total control of RTVE.
In practice, the Director General had been chosen by the Government for their political profile. Corporación RTVE is described as a "state mercantile society" with special autonomy and independence from the government and the general state administration, it performs its functions through TVE and RNE. Most staff are civil servants; the News Council is an internal supervisory body composed of RTVE journalists with the aim of safeguarding RTVE's independence. RTVE's own television service comes under the Televisión Española division of RTVE. All of TVE's channels broadcast in Spanish, with the exception of TVE Catalonia, principally in Spanish with certain programming in Catalan. RTVE's radio stations come under th
