La Vijanera
16mm film
Black and white and colour and sound
25 minutes
2019
La Vijanera features a winter masquerade, celebrated on the first Sunday of the year in the village of Silió, Cantabria, Spain. This carnival displays a strong social critique of local and international politics through songs called “The Coplas”. Every year, these satirical verses are written by the village to form a common voice. The celebration features the birth of the New Year, while the symbolic chase and subsequent killing of a bear on the main village square represent the dismantling of the figures of politics. This documentary investigates the embodiment of power and studies the relationship between the visual form of this ritual, its social imaginary and function.
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Location: Silió, Cantabria, Spain, January 2019
Camera: Sony A7
Lens: Zeiss 50 mm prime
Director of photography: Théodore Hugonnier
Editing: Susanne Dietz, Marine Hugonnier
Grading: Alex Grigoras
Executive producer: Alix Hugonnier