The art historian and doctor in cinematographic and cultural studies Pablo La Parra Pérez has been chosen as the new director of the Filmoteca de Catalunya, replacing Esteve Riambau, who has been at the head of the institution since 2010. La Parra will take office on July 1 and for a period of four years extendable to eight.
The winning project of the international competition launched in January of this year emphasizes the transformation of the Film Library into a flexible institution capable of facing the responsibility of preserving and disseminating cinematographic heritage at a time of profound changes caused by digitalization. The competition's selection committee has evaluated thirty applications.
The commission has considered La Parra for his career with experience in the management and leadership of teams and entities linked to cinema and audiovisual heritage, as well as the ambition of the project he presented, in which several objectives come together. Among them, the will to provide an innovative look at the functions of the equipment, which is seen as an inherently transitional institution, capable of responding to the responsibility of preserving and transmitting cinematographic heritage through flexibility, experimentation and constant transformation. , as well as the objective of promoting research and advanced production of knowledge in collaboration with Catalan and international research, development and innovation agents and the challenge of guaranteeing an expansion of the sustainable digital preservation system, both institutionally and environmentally, incorporating mechanisms of critical reflection on digitalization programs.
Likewise, the La Parra project ensures that it wants to reinforce the preservation and dissemination of Catalan cinema and implement strategies that contribute to the interconnection of the Film Library's heritage funds and the openness and accessibility for all types of audiences, reinforcing the dissemination programs and mediation from a responsible social vision that permeates all areas of the center's action.
Finally, the commission has considered La Parra the “ideal” candidate to complete a historic process for the institution: the approval of the draft Film Library Law, which will allow the center to be consolidated as a national facility dedicated to conservation, preservation and dissemination. of heritage and cinematographic culture at a time of profound changes in these areas.
Pablo La Parra Pérez has a doctorate cum laude in Cinematographic and Cultural Studies and has a degree (Extraordinary Award) in Art History from the University of Valencia. He has an Official Master's Degree in Comparative Studies of Literature, Art and Thought from the Pompeu Fabra University.
Since 2018 and until now, he has served as head of the Research Department and teacher at Elías Querejeta Zine Eskola, in the Basque Country, with tasks such as the conceptualization of the department, the academic direction and coordination of research projects, budget management, the promotion of national and international collaboration agreements and fundraising and institutional representation in professional and academic forums.
La Parra has also been the scientific director of the magazine Zine: film research notebooks. Likewise, between 2018 and 2023 he has held positions of responsibility at the San Sebastián International Film Festival as coordinator of the transversal area of Thought and Debate and director of the project Zinemaldia 70: all possible stories, which has led to the search, conservation and accessibility from the festival archive.
He also has a long career as director and curator of public programs and exhibitions at different conferences, conferences and seminars, and is the author of multiple publications.
The selection committee for the new director was formed by Judith Colell, president of the Catalan Cinema Academy, screenwriter and film producer; Frédéric Maire, director of the Cinémathèque Suisse; Josep Serra, director of the National Museum of Art of Catalonia-MNAC and, representing the Department of Culture, Jordi Foz, Secretary General, and Judit Sans, manager of the Catalan Institute of Cultural Enterprises (ICEC)
