The Filmoteca de Catalunya promotes the dissemination of film culture, especially Catalan, through the screening of classic films and the study of new contemporary languages. The exhibitions provide an open window to the document collections, while the Education Service guarantees the education of new audiences.
The dissemination of our audiovisual heritage entails public screenings, temporary exhibitions, the publication of DVDs, the viewing and loan of images held by the Preservation and Restoration Centre, and the services provided by the Film Library.
The Filmoteca de Catalunya has two screening rooms: the Chomón Auditorium, with 360 seats, named in honour of this pioneer of Catalan cinema with an international outlook; and the Laya Room, in remembrance of the film department of the Republican Catalan Government during the Spanish Civil War, which seats 175 people. These two screening rooms feature two showings daily (apart from Mondays) at 16:30 and 22:00 of films from either the Filmoteca’s own collections or other sources. The basic showing unit is a series based on a theme – for example, an author, style or technique – around which a programme of films (feature or shorts) and other activities are planned, such as round table discussions, talks, presentations, etc.
The exhibitions put on by the Filmoteca are intended to disseminate the institution’s film and document archives and complement them with other outsourced material that helps to give greater insight into a subject matter, a filmmaker or a genre. The Filmoteca organises three exhibitions per year, aimed at showcasing film for both its artistic and commercial characteristics and for its relationship with other arts, most notably photography, painting and the graphic arts.
The Filmoteca publishes DVDs, books and catalogues devoted to cinematographic themes. Every month, the institution also publishes a hard-copy programme of all its activities. In addition, the Filmoteca has a strong presence on social media with the aim of broadcasting its activities and capturing a younger audience who are more adept with these tools.
The Centre de Conservació i Restauració and the Biblioteca del Cinema also help to consolidate this aspect of the Filmoteca de Catalunya’s activities. They do so firstly through the option of consulting and viewing their collections and, where appropriate, lending material in compliance with copyright law. At the same time, through these two departments, the Filmoteca supports research work and other outside activities such as exhibitions, conferences, seminars and meetings on film and film archives. The ‘Basics of Catalan Cinema’ programme offers around a dozen sessions of restored films with French and English subtitles that have been shown in prestigious film societies around the world, and on a regional basis FilmoXarxa, which was set up in 2018 with the support of the Federació Catalana de Cineclubs, helps to disseminate film culture throughout Catalonia.
