Summer, sun and beach and, sheltered from the high temperatures, also culture. Like the one offered by CaixaForum, the free digital platform for the dissemination of science and culture of the ”la Caixa” Foundation, which continues to add premieres to its content with the arrival of essential titles.
On July 20, the figure of the legendary spy Mata Hari landed on the platform in the form of a ballet. A sublime new creation by Ted Brandsen with music by the renowned Tarik O'Regan. The respected choreographer recounts in this piece the life of the legendary Margaretha Geertruida Zelle, the dancer-turned-spy known as Mata Hari. The immense talent of principal dancer Anna Tsygankova and the realism of the more than 300 costume pieces created by François-Noël Cherpin, as well as the impressive set design by Clement
In the month of August you can already enjoy the month of Yasujirô Ozu, one of the undisputed masters of the history of cinema. This is the way in which CaixaForum dedicates a month to an important figure in the history of cinema and screens one of his most outstanding films together with a documentary that explores his creative universe.
Thanks to the collaboration with the Barcelona Film Fest and A Contracorriente Films, the two films that will be available on the platform from August 1 will be Cuentos de Tokio (1953) and Tokyo-Ga (1985). The first is the masterpiece of Ozu's "transcendental" style in which he addresses, with his usual sobriety and minimalism, the story of an elderly couple who, when traveling to Tokyo to visit their children, discover that they are too busy how to take care of them. In the second, of the documentary genre, the German filmmaker Wim Wenders approaches the creative universe and the vital landscape of Yasujirô Ozu, also managing to x-ray a country in continuous metamorphosis.
CaixaForum continues to expand its series with new chapters during the month of July. The third installment of La Caverna with Declan Donnellan is now available, who talks about his career and the company Cheek by Jowl with Arantxa Vela, a TVE journalist specializing in performing arts. This series is one of the contents that are part of the new Temporada Alta channel, a CaixaForum space dedicated to the performing arts through which a group of artists will pass to reflect on their career, the performing arts and the world of creation.
Also Traveling Series, the first podcast that combines series and trips, has released a chapter. In this case, the last of the 10 that make up the Big Cities season, an episode dedicated to New York, the city that never sleeps and the backdrop for some of the most famous series in history. Other content in podcast format is added to the premieres for the month of July: the fourth episode of the second season of Maestros del journalismo, dedicated to Pedro J. Ramírez. This series collects the experiences and experiences of great figures in the profession.
We will also find on the platform five episodes with a marked literary accent of the Backstage interview series, in which prominent professionals from different areas who have met at CaixaForum centers talk about their career, share their experiences and reflect on areas as diverse as fashion, cinema, science, music or comics, among others. In this case, the protagonists will be the writers Eva Baltasar, Enrique Vila-Matas, María Dueñas, Laura Fernández and Alejandro Zambra. As of August 10, the iconic composer and interpreter of Spanish pop music Christina Rosenvinge will pass through the Backstage seat; Marcos Morau, internationally renowned choreographer and director of La Veronal; and John M. Grunsfeld, an astrophysicist and former astronaut who has been NASA's chief scientist.
Among other news from CaixaForum, we will find the case of Jujol-Gaudí, an exciting documentary that brings us closer to two architectural geniuses and will be released on August 17. Based on the testimony of knowledgeable experts and scholars of Jujol and Gaudí architecture, the documentary, directed by Luis Campo Vidal, allows us to know in depth what Jujol and Gaudí represent for Catalan architecture.
Two new concerts will meet on the platform. From Vienna and led by conductor Jakub Hrůša, the Bamberg Symphony Orchestra performs a unique Mahler Symphony No. 2, in the version by Gilbert Kaplan. We will have to wait until August 24.
On the 31st of the same month, CaixaForum will allow its users to be privileged witnesses of a unique event: Gustavo Dudamel's first concert as musical director of the Paris Opera. From the magnificent Palais Garnier, the program for this inaugural concert is made up of a selection of unmissable operatic moments, including several pieces from Carmen, by Georges Bizet; Doctor Atomic, by John Adams; Lohengrin, by Richard Wagner and Peter Grimes, by Benjamin Britten.
