Víctor Erice Shorts

Made for the Ten Minutes Older compilation film, Erice’s superb short chronicles ten minutes in the life of a Basque farmhouse in 1940 (the year of his own birth); visually exquisite (in lustrous monochrome) and densely allusive.

More clearly autobiographical, this finds Erice reminiscing about his first ever visit to the cinema – as a five-year-old in San Sebastián, to see a Sherlock Holmes movie – and contemplating the strange relationship between the cinema, life and death… A small masterpiece.

Made for the compilation film 3.11 A Sense of Home, this has Ana Torrent (from The Spirit of the Beehive) about to go on stage and delivering a brief monologue about disasters in Japan.

Made for the compilation film Centro Historico, this deceptively simple work comprises (apparent) interviews with former employees at a massive, now-closed textile factory, reminiscing about their work and time there. The final section, with music, is especially affecting.

A collage of photographs, some worn and damaged by time, shot over a long period in the same place.