La presa
The dam
Jorge Rivero / Spain / 2008 / 16 min / Colour
The construction of a gigantic artificial basin in the heart of the Asturian mountain range: this project, begun in 1946, was one of the largest in Europe. The construction of the dike of Salto de Salime and of the hydroelectric centre that exploited the immense quantity of water employed thousands of Spanish workers just after World War II. Among them was an artist, Joaquín Vaquero Turcios, who at age twenty-two was called upon to cover the entire turbine room with a great, frescoed mural. That seminal experience profoundly affected his subsequent artistic development. The dike and his mural are still there, but all is abandoned and in ruins. The atmosphere is one of slowness, desolation, and silence. And the faces and machines frescoed in that mural seem like ghosts from the past.
Jorge Rivero
Credits
Language Spanish Subject Jorge Rivero Screenplay Jorge Rivero Cinematography Juan Luis Ruiz Sound Eladio Reguero Editing Nacho Martín Music Nacho Martín, Pepe L’Ayerán Production company Kimuak
Sotto l'alto patrocinio
Main Sponsor
Con il sostegno di
Con il patrocinio
