Social awareness is the new black. Global warming, genocide in Dafur, First Amendment violations, racism, and many others have recently become the subject of evening news specials, races and fundraisers, and even children’s books, such as the Down-to-Earth Guide to Global Warming by Laurie David and Cambria Gordon, aimed to enlighten the 9 to 12 on the facts about Global Warming and to provide, “suggestions for how kids can help combat global warming in their homes, schools, and communities” (editorial description). In addition, there is growing contingency of committed filmmakers – besides Michael Moore – who are combining high quality work with pressing social issues. This year’s festival, I think, displays some of the best films available in terms of quality vis-à-vis global awareness and attendant issues of justice. Invisibles is an anthology film that, as the title suggests, depicts neglected problems from around the world. Four of the five shorts that comprise Invisibles are directed by (mostly young) Spaniards. There exists in Spain an already strong tradition of social issue cinema in that dates back to the Conversaciones Cinematográficas (Cinema Conversations) conference, which took place in Salamanca in 1955 during the Franco years, and specifically Juan Antonio Bardem’s condemned en masse of Spanish cinema of the day as “socially false” and “aesthetically devoid.” Bardem called for a new, aesthetically pleasing and engaged cinema that would expose social ills to the extent that this was possible under very strict censorship. Early films by J.A. Bardem (Esa pareja feliz, Muerte de un ciclista, Calle Mayor) and Luis Garcia Berlanga (Bienvenido Mr. Marshall) inspired an entire sector of latter-day Spanish filmmakers to seek relevance (and distinction from Hollywood) through the portrayal of the here and now in contemporary Spain.
Likewise, most of the segments offered in Invisibles are created and directed by some of the best that the Spanish film industry has to offer: Isabel Coixet (My Life without Me, The Secret Life of Words), Fernando León de Aranoa (Princesas, Los lunes al sol, Barrio, Familia), and Mariana Barroso (In the Time of the Butterflies) are all well-regarded directors. The inclusion of Wim Wenders further speaks to the pedigree of the project and those involved. The shorts proffered in Invisibles, however, departs from the here and now of the Continent in order to deal with themes beyond the borders of Europe, international problems that are all too often ignored and completely “invisible” to us. What follows is a brief description of each of the five segments: 1. The first film, “Letters to Nora,” directed by Isabel Coixet (one of the contributors to Paris, je t'aime), follows a Bolivian woman working in Spain. Through letters from her sister Nora in Bolivia, we learn, among other things, that she is in Spain working in order to send money back home to help her family cope with medical costs incurred from a mysterious disease called “la chancha,” which incapacitates and kills millions of people in Latin America who live in poverty. We never hear directly from Nora’s sister but we can infer from her expressions how these problems weigh on her as well as her social position within Spanish culture.
3. Fernando León de Aranoa (Princesas, Barrio, Los lunes al sol) directs the third film, “Night Commuters.” With “Night Commuters,” Aranoa introduces us to the plight of children of the Acholi tribe in Northern Uganda who are routinely forced to join the Lord’s Resistance Army. The harrowing stories of their induction into the LRA seem to be a complete contradiction to the physical beauty of the region, which Aranoa also presents in exquisite color. 4. “Bianca's Dream,” directed by Mariano Barroso, is about Sleeping Sickness, a disease transmitted by the tsetse fly that kills 50,000 people a year in sub-Saharan Africa. This segment cuts back and forth between the people who it afflicts and a conversation between two humanitarian workers and executive from a large pharmaceutical company. The juxtaposition is meant to highlight the problem as well as the obstacles and moral indifference that make fighting it impossible. 5. The final segment, “La voz de piedras,” directed by Javier Corcuera, could just as easily fit into last year’s festival on heroism. Corcura tells the story a group of peasants who were displaced from their lands by guerrillas and paramilitary groups and who are now, courageously, making attempts to take back their land.
Dr. Paul Begin is an Assistant Professor of Spanish at Pepperdine University, where he teaches Spanish language, literature, and cinema. He has most recently published academic articles on subjects such as the transnational character of contemporary Spanish youth culture and theoretical writings of Luis Buñuel. Panelists: Dr. Paul Begin, Jeffery Overstreet
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Essay by Dr. Paul Begin
Juan Antonio Bardem’s influence can still be felt today, such that there is currently in Spanish cinema a strong tendency toward socially conscious cinema, one that is largely supported by the film establishment and especially the Goya awards (Spain’s version of the Oscars). One of the major players in this movement is Javier Bardem, nephew of Juan Antonio Bardem and the mastermind behind Invisibles. Within his extensive filmography is are several recent films which reflect this growing interest in tackling relevant social issues. Films such as Sundays in the Sun (2002) and Mar adentro (2004), respectively deal with unemployment and its effects on traditional social structures and euthanasia (coincidentally in the same year that Million Dollar Baby was released). 
2. The second, untitled segment, directed by Wim Wenders, is a form of testimonial in which women from the Democratic Republic of Congo speak directly to the camera about the abuses which they and their families have suffered at the hands of rebels and the military. Wenders uses a fading technique to bring the women in and out of the scene and thereby highlight their invisibility.
One final consideration: Recently there has been a lot of talk in the popular press about a perceived crisis in the movie industry because of the decline of movie attendance and big summer blockbusters. It seems that folks are not showing up in droves as in the days of yore... One suspects that with tickets going for $10 or more a piece (at least in Los Angeles) combined with the latest technology (DVD, surround sound, plasma, LCD, iPod, etc.) and the ease of Netflix, there is simply no reason for us to rush out to the theater when we can just as well have a similar experience without having to get dressed. But I also wonder about other possible factors: that the two-hour, “classic” format has become stale; the sheer lack of creativity (Batman again?); and an aversion to hot-button issues for fear of financial repercussions. In other words, it seems like now is the time for filmmakers to try and do something different with the big screen. Perhaps now is the time to mine avant-garde techniques, such as the collage, and combine them with a globalized social awareness. Recent films such as Babel, Crash, Sud Express, and even Paris, je t’aime better explore the possibilities of film as a medium that can connect disparate realities and cultures while also exposing “invisible” problems. In short, apart from the issues of justice that are raised in these films, one of the things that we may also want to consider at this festival is the format or structure of films that bring these issues into public discourse. Invisibles is particularly compelling precisely because it challenges us on both fronts, the aesthetic and the thematic. Ultimately, the viewer will need to decide about the quality and effectiveness of Invisibles, but its very structure should also give us pause to think.