José Val del Omar

The film aims to answer two questions: What is flamenco? Who is the singer Niño de Elche? This child prodigy, who inspired artists such as C. Tangana, started challenging the rules of flamenco in his adolescence, which led to a violent confrontation with his family and flamenco fans that continues today.

2004 Spanish experimental documentary focusing on the work of Jose Val del Omar

Feature film composed of three of the main short films by the experimental Spanish director Jose Val del Omar. Composed of Acariño galaico (De barro), released in 1995, Fuego en Castilla (Tactilvisión del páramo del espanto), a short film premiered at Cannes in 1961 that won a technical award at the French festival and was nominated for the Palme d'Or and finally Aguaespejo granadino, released in 1955.

Feature film composed of three of the main short films by the experimental Spanish director Jose Val del Omar. Composed of Acariño galaico (De barro), released in 1995, Fuego en Castilla (Tactilvisión del páramo del espanto), a short film premiered at Cannes in 1961 that won a technical award at the French festival and was nominated for the Palme d'Or and finally Aguaespejo granadino, released in 1955.

Feature film composed of three of the main short films by the experimental Spanish director Jose Val del Omar. Composed of Acariño galaico (De barro), released in 1995, Fuego en Castilla (Tactilvisión del páramo del espanto), a short film premiered at Cannes in 1961 that won a technical award at the French festival and was nominated for the Palme d'Or and finally Aguaespejo granadino, released in 1955.

Feature film composed of three of the main short films by the experimental Spanish director Jose Val del Omar. Composed of Acariño galaico (De barro), released in 1995, Fuego en Castilla (Tactilvisión del páramo del espanto), a short film premiered at Cannes in 1961 that won a technical award at the French festival and was nominated for the Palme d'Or and finally Aguaespejo granadino, released in 1955.

Feature film composed of three of the main short films by the experimental Spanish director Jose Val del Omar. Composed of Acariño galaico (De barro), released in 1995, Fuego en Castilla (Tactilvisión del páramo del espanto), a short film premiered at Cannes in 1961 that won a technical award at the French festival and was nominated for the Palme d'Or and finally Aguaespejo granadino, released in 1955.

Feature film composed of three of the main short films by the experimental Spanish director Jose Val del Omar. Composed of Acariño galaico (De barro), released in 1995, Fuego en Castilla (Tactilvisión del páramo del espanto), a short film premiered at Cannes in 1961 that won a technical award at the French festival and was nominated for the Palme d'Or and finally Aguaespejo granadino, released in 1955.

Feature film composed of three of the main short films by the experimental Spanish director Jose Val del Omar. Composed of Acariño galaico (De barro), released in 1995, Fuego en Castilla (Tactilvisión del páramo del espanto), a short film premiered at Cannes in 1961 that won a technical award at the French festival and was nominated for the Palme d'Or and finally Aguaespejo granadino, released in 1955.

Feature film composed of three of the main short films by the experimental Spanish director Jose Val del Omar. Composed of Acariño galaico (De barro), released in 1995, Fuego en Castilla (Tactilvisión del páramo del espanto), a short film premiered at Cannes in 1961 that won a technical award at the French festival and was nominated for the Palme d'Or and finally Aguaespejo granadino, released in 1955.

This film was reconstructed and completed in 1995 by Javier Codesal for the Filmoteca de Andalucia, from the montage and the sound that Val del Omar had outlined before his death, after having returned to a project abandoned twenty years before with the incorporation of significant additions (above all in the soundtrack). Val del Omar's notes show that, as he typically did, he had other alternative titles in mind, such as "Acariño de la Terra Meiga" (Caress of the Magic Land), "Acariño a nosa terra" (Caress of Our Land), or "Barro de ánimas" (Clay of Souls), and that in the final phase of the unfinished project he wanted to add a second sound channel – following the diaphonic principle, and using electro-acoustic techniques – consisting of ambient material that he intended to record at the first screenings of the film in the very places and to the very people that were its origin: its "clay".

This film was reconstructed and completed in 1995 by Javier Codesal for the Filmoteca de Andalucia, from the montage and the sound that Val del Omar had outlined before his death, after having returned to a project abandoned twenty years before with the incorporation of significant additions (above all in the soundtrack). Val del Omar's notes show that, as he typically did, he had other alternative titles in mind, such as "Acariño de la Terra Meiga" (Caress of the Magic Land), "Acariño a nosa terra" (Caress of Our Land), or "Barro de ánimas" (Clay of Souls), and that in the final phase of the unfinished project he wanted to add a second sound channel – following the diaphonic principle, and using electro-acoustic techniques – consisting of ambient material that he intended to record at the first screenings of the film in the very places and to the very people that were its origin: its "clay".

In the 1970s, Val del Omar started to film frequently in Super 8. These reels, in the form of essays and notebooks, include the fabulous experiences with image and light that he investigated in his PLAT laboratory, and a series of private recordings (trips, holidays, portraits), that also include variations and experiments on his main themes (water, flowers, the Alhambra…). Transfiguring his most everyday reality, Val del Omar continued the revelations of its mecamystics: “The extraordinary is in the bowels of the everyday […] I feel as though I am submerged in a palpitating being. Logical chains enchain and imprison us.”

This short reel is a kind of cinematographic still-life: on the basis of an arrangement of pomegranates, the fruit emblematic of Granada, it combines animation (single-frame or stop-motion cinematography) and picto-luminic techniques which in turn draw on a whole battery of resources.

A short, experimental documentary featuring sculptures by Alonso de Berruguete and Juan de Juni. Shot within the Valladolid National Museum, the film is an excercise in what Val de Omar called "Tactile vision".

A short, experimental documentary featuring sculptures by Alonso de Berruguete and Juan de Juni. Shot within the Valladolid National Museum, the film is an excercise in what Val de Omar called "Tactile vision".

Experimental, cinematic symphony of Granada, José Val del Omar's birthplace.

Experimental, cinematic symphony of Granada, José Val del Omar's birthplace.

Experimental, cinematic symphony of Granada, José Val del Omar's birthplace.

A short documentary depicting the director's family.

This is a short film that, although a documentary in appearance, has very little to do with the generic conventions of that form. It would seem, then, that what we have here is the embryo of what he was subsequently to call the "elementary": an abstract or lyrical modality in the perception and exposition of the real.

This is a short film that, although a documentary in appearance, has very little to do with the generic conventions of that form. It would seem, then, that what we have here is the embryo of what he was subsequently to call the "elementary": an abstract or lyrical modality in the perception and exposition of the real.

In 1934, the Spanish filmmaker José Val del Omar traveled to the region of Murcia, where he documented the celebration of several popular festivals, both religious and secular, as part of his contribution to the itinerant educational program promoted by the Government of the Second Republic.

In 1934, the Spanish filmmaker José Val del Omar traveled to the region of Murcia, where he documented the celebration of several popular festivals, both religious and secular, as part of his contribution to the itinerant educational program promoted by the Government of the Second Republic.

The film documents the actions taken by the Misiones Pedagógicas, active in the 1930s, to bring culture and development to rural areas of Spain.