Plenary Talks

Professor José María Caparrós Lera (University of Barcelona) -- news (click here)

Women Directors in Spanish Contemporary Cinema

A notable phenomenon in the history of Spanish – and international – cinema has been the absence of women directors. But for the past two decades the significant increase in women behind the camera has coincided with the movement labelled Young Spanish Cinema. We will present a panoramic overview of the promising future of new women directors in the early years of the twenty-first century, a kind of historical-biographical journey with 67 Spanish women directors and their 125 films.

Dr Concepción Cascajosa Virino (University of Carlos III Madrid)

Women and Creating Television in Spain: Blanca Álvarez and the Pioneers in RTVE during the Transition

One of the most significant developments in the Spanish audiovisual sector since the coming of democracy was the definitive incorporation of female professionals into this field, a process that was particularly evident in public television, where Radiotelevisión Española (RTVE) had a virtual monopoly. These professionals first opened up a path in the news rooms and then in the areas of entertainment and fiction, revealing and contributing to profound legislative and socio-cultural advances that were already changing the situation of women in Spain. Women were also being brought into administrative and directive positions, a process that culminated with the appointment of Pilar Miró as Director-General of RTVE in 1986. The evolution of professional women in the audiovisual field is best revealed by Blanca Álvarez, a presenter during the founding years of RTVE, who, in the following decades, took over different creative and directive roles, being responsible for putting in place a new model of children’s programmes in a new context of democracy. Her career will serve to illustrate the trials, challenges, and difficulties which confronted professional women in RTVE during the crucial periods of dictatorship and transition to democracy.

Dr Catherine O'Leary (National University of Ireland, Maynooth)

Daughters on/of the Stage: from la nueva mujer moderna to the Backlash and Beyond ...

The story of women in the theatre from the early twentieth century to today not only reflects the history of the stage and of performance, but also charts the social and political transformation of Spain. The early decades of the twentieth century saw the emergence of a group of female dramatists whose work was marked by a political and feminist outlook and whose optimism about new social and political structures was echoed in their writing. For many ot them, exile or silence followed the end of the civil war. Later, during the years of the dictatorship, the Spanish stage was dominated by male dramatists and by new concerns, and feminist themes all but disappeared. During this period, it is also interesting to note how women were represented on stage by the leading dramatists and to consider how this mirrored the political invisibility of women outside the theatre. Finally, we will explore the situation and status of female-authored theatre in contemporary Spain, focusing on themes of gender politics and the recovery of 'lost' voices from the past.