GEORGINA CORTES/ZOE CORPAS
Barcelona (EFE).- The Uruguayan poet Ida Vitale has attended in Barcelona, at the age of 99, the projection of a documentary about her figure that has been filmed by the director María Arrillaga, also Uruguayan, who during these years has made a documentary for “awake interest” in the look of this member of the Generation of ’45.
The documentary premiered at the Malaga Festival on March 11, while in Uruguay it will hit theaters at the beginning of summer and internationally it will not be seen until the second semester, so the screening this Tuesday in theaters Girona de Barcelona, thanks to Casa Amèrica Catalunya, has been a preview of things to come.
“Ida Vitale” is the debut feature by María Arrillaga, who documents in this film the life of these last years and the world view of the poet, essayist and literary critic.
Ida Vitale (Montevideo, 1923), who will be one hundred years old in November, is one of the most important figures of Ibero-American poetry, being the last representative of the generation of Uruguayan artists and writers of 1945, a cultural phenomenon with great relevance in the intellectual identity of the country.
In recent years, his work has been recognized in various awards such as the Reina Sofía (2015), Federico García Lorca (2016), Max Jacob (2017), FIL de Guadalajara Award (2018) and the Cervantes (2018).
With almost a hundred years, the Uruguayan poet has been present at the Girona cinemas in Barcelona for the special showing of her documentary, where a point of sale and signing of her books has also been organized.
“It is a documentary that tries to transmit his gaze, his sensitivity and the way of connecting with reality,” the film’s director, María Arrillaga, told EFE.
An audiovisual piece where Vitale’s freshness, great sense of humor and enjoyment of life are captured. “She has an impressive vitality at 99 years of age and a way of paying attention to details and the smallest things that surround her”, pointed out the director.
Casa Amèrica Catalunya has thus provided a unique and exclusive screening of the documentary. “That the opportunity to show the film in the context of Casa Amèrica is given is divine, it is a special visit to a place that Ida loves very much”, highlighted Arrillaga.
“My portrait of her”
The bond between María Arrillaga and Ida Vitale goes back to the director’s childhood thanks to her grandparents, who also belonged to the Generation of ’45, thus allowing Arrillaga to live with the artist from a very young age.
Arrillaga was clear about his goal of portraying Vitale with a personal vision. “If you want to know his life, the data is on the internet, you can search for his life and his work. Managing to portray her sensitivity was the challenge that caught my attention”, commented the director.
The recordings of the documentary began before the Uruguayan poet was to receive the Cervantes Prize (2018). “I started recording it at home, the camera never interrupted what was happening in everyday life”, Arrillaga highlighted.
From then on, both the director and the producer of the film accompanied them on all their trips. “We went on living during these years and that is how the film was made, as part of life, without a professional difference”, Arrillaga assured.
A message that the director wants to reach people and take it inside: “Poetry and attention to the beauty that surrounds us can be a way of resisting in this world and how her gaze and her poetry can change in some way the reality in which we live”.
Also, “the opportunity to arouse interest in the work of Ida Vitale, encourage people to learn more about it and invite them to read it”, commented the director.