🎬 The Gaze of José Val del Omar with live classical guitar by José Vílchez 🎶

José Val del Omar | 1932-1939 | Spain | 42’ | silent

This performance invites us to journey into the poetic and visionary universe of José Val del Omar, the Granada-born filmmaker, photographer, and inventor whose work always transcended the boundaries of art and technology. Through three films from the 1930s, we discover the intensity of his vision of Granada and its landscapes, a lyrical gaze that transforms the documentary into a sensory experience.

The screening of Estampas, Vibración de Granada, and an intimate Película familiar is accompanied by the live classical guitar of José Vílchez, weaving a dialogue between image and sound that renews the power of his legacy.

Val del Omar’s participation in the Pedagogical Missions of 1933 in the Alpujarra—a cultural project that brought art and education to rural communities—was a decisive starting point in his career. From that experience remained a mark that resonates throughout his work, where the popular and the experimental merge into a singular vibration. Beyond his involvement in the cultural initiatives of his time, Val del Omar emerges here as a unique, pioneering, and profoundly innovative creator, capable of transforming the memory of a land into pure visual poetry.
 

Estampas | José Val del Omar and other “missionaries” | 1932 | 13’

Vibración de Granada | José Val del Omar | 1935 | 20’

Película familiar | José Val del Omar | 1933-1939 | 9’
 

José Vílchez, a musician, actor and rhapsodist, has lived in Granada for 10 years, where he has developed his artistic career in various areas of music and poetry. Specialising in the Spanish classical guitar, his work has been marked by a deep connection with the musical tradition around the city of Granada and a love for the poetry of Federico García Lorca, which he recites with devotion.
He studied classical guitar at the Conservatorio Superior del Liceo in Barcelona, which allowed him to explore a vast range of musical styles and genres. Throughout his professional career, he has collaborated with different groups and projects in the fields of chamber music, folk, rock, tango, electronic music, opera or storytelling, playing mainly guitar and double bass, as well as other traditional string instruments. Currently, José Vílchez is dedicated to the rescue and dissemination of the traditional music of the Alpujarra, developing a project to recover its sounds. He also teaches traditional music workshops in the region, where he has been teaching for more than 8 years, transmitting his knowledge and passion for music to new generations.