“Let me be concise: Maps are designed to preserve the spaces in between. And if we constantly return to them, it is because we are seeking to overcome the obstacles that threaten our intimate desire to get lost. The lines of wandering, in fact, are tenaciously traced as we activate and deactivate that longing. The sequence would be this: the desire arises; the obstacles that prevent it from being fulfilled appear; and in the face of discouragement, the impulse to activate the expectation is activated. The force of the wind can uproot a tree, a home and even a presence while we are absent. However, it would be necessary to specify that everything is much more complex, because the lines of the maps do not indicate how to prevent chaos, but how to wander in the magnetic direction dictated by the senses".

This audiovisual piece is part of the Matadero - Loop 2022 Curatorial Residency, with the participation of the curator Gema Darbo and the selection of a piece already produced for this exhibition.

https://www.mataderomadrid.org/residencia/genesis-valenzuela 

Photo: Archive of The NOAA Photo Gallery, "Koza" by Nuri Bilge Ceylan.

Authors: Génesis Valenzuela

Génesis Valenzuela (Dominican Republic, 1988) was initiated in the performing and visual arts at an early age at the National School of Fine Arts in her country, the Dominican Republic. In these spaces he discovered his interest in the themes of the Dominican countryside, specifically in the south of the country, the region where his roots come from. He later entered the Altos de Chavón Film School to study film directing. This school has a comprehensive academic programme, which covers all areas of film art, and at the same time encourages thinking in a critical Caribbean aesthetic and ethic. The configuration of these studies allowed him to broaden his artistic training and deepen his obsessions: the peasantry and the consumerist tendency that was growing voraciously in society. His first films dealt with these themes with a delicate poetic and essayistic treatment. After migrating to Spain, where he completed a master's degree in Experimental Filmmaking at the Elías Querejeta Zine Eskola, he began to work on multidisciplinary projects that address issues such as rootlessness, gender/race/class and the colonisation of the West Indies. His films have circulated in various film festivals, including the Festival Internacional del Nuevo Cine Latinoamericano de La Habana, the Festival Internacional de Cine Doc Buenos Aires, the Muestra de Cortometrajes Iberoamericanos del Festival Internacional de Cine de Quito, the Festival de Málaga, among others. In 2018, he won first place in Screenwriting at the National Film Competition of the Dominican Republic (FONPROCINE). His projects have also participated in several workshops and artistic residencies, such as the Ibermedia Project Development Workshop, the MiradasDoc Project Incubator, the Matadero Artistic Residency Centre, the RAW film residency at DocLisboa and Márgenes, among others.

Collaboration: Archive footage from The NOAA Photo Gallery, Nuri Bilge Ceylan's "Koza"

Aknowledgements: Marcel Beltrán, Carlos T. Lied, Escuela de Cine de Altos de Chavón