Bigas Luna (1946-2013) was one of Spain’s most celebrated contemporary filmmakers and artists. He released seventeen feature films, with considerable international success. This retrospective includes his critically-acclaimed ‘Iberian Portraits Trilogy’: Jamón, Jamón (1992) (which launched the career of Penélope Cruz, Javier Bardem and Jordi Mollà) Golden Balls (1993) and The Tit and the Moon (1994); as well as the Australian premiere of the posthumous documentary Bigas x Bigas (2017), based on his video-diaries. The trilogy offers a complex depiction of a Spain in transition, where older customs and stereotypes associated with the rural, simpler past survive alongside newly introduced European/global, capitalist values.
The Bigas Luna Tribute, presented in Australia by Palace Cinemas and the Spanish Film Festival, is a series of global homage events organised by Bigas Luna’s daughter, Betty Bigas, who is an artist and art curator based in California, and Bigas Luna specialist Santiago Fouz Hernández (Professor in Hispanic Studies and Film Studies at Durham University, UK). He and Professor Alfredo Martínez Expósito (University of Melbourne) will lead the panel discussions that will follow screenings of Jamón, Jamón.
Photo Credit: Bigas Luna photograph by Betty Bigas
