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Agustí Villaronga

Agustí VILLARONGA (1953, Spain) was born on the Spanish island of Mallorca. After obtaining a degree in History of Art at the University of Barcelona, he made various short films and documentaries. His debut feature Tras el cristal (1987) is one of the most disturbing films of the 1980s and was effectively banned in Australia. His second feature El Niño de la luna (1989) was nominated for the Palme d’Or and a Gold Hugo. After taking on a number of commissioned projects in the 1990s, El mar (2000) was considered a return to form. The film earned him his third Gold Hugo nomination, as well as a Golden Bear nomination. In 2011, his work was the subject of the IFFR programme Signals: Agustí Villaronga. In 2016, Tras el cristal screened at the Berlinale in celebration of the 30th anniversary of the Teddy Awards. He received the Joseph Plateau Honorary Award at the 2019 Ghent International Film Festival. His work often deals with themes of homosexuality, sexual awakening and violence. Together with Javier Pérez Santana, he is the founder of production company Testamento.

Filmography

Anta mujer (1976, short), Al-Mayurka (1980, short), Laberint (1980, short), Tras el cristal/In a Glass Cage (1987), El niño de la luna/Moonchild (1989), El drac de na Coca (1990, video), Al-Andalus (1992, doc), El passatger clandestí/El pasajero clandestino (1995, TV), 99,9 (1997), Pedagogia aplicada (1997, TV short), El mar/The Sea (2000), Gracia exquisita (2000, short, co-dir), Aro Tolbukhin- En la mente del asesino (2002, co-dir), Fuck Them All (2005, video), Miquel Bauçá: poeta invisible/Miquel Bauçá: Invisible Poet (2006, short doc), Després de la pluja/After the Rain (2006, TV), 50 años de (2009, TV series, episode: Fe), Pa negre/Black Bread (2010), Carta a Eva/A Letter to Evita (2012, TV series), El rey de la Habana/The King of Havana (2015), El testament de la Rosa (2015, short doc), Incerta glòria/Uncertain Glory (2017), Born a King (2019), El ventre del mar/The Belly of the Sea (2021)

More info:
Agustí Villaronga
Wikipedia, Agustí Villaronga

Agustí Villaronga at IFFR

  • El ventre del mar

    A hellish shipwreck more than 200 years ago proves scarily contemporary in this artistic mix of theatre and film.

    • Harbour

  • Aro Tolbukhin – En la mente del asesino

    Refined game of truth and fiction in the virtuosic unravelling of a mysterious serial killer’s life story. Every cinematic stylistic is upended and ye

    • True Stories

  • The Whistlers

    A corrupt policeman gets into hot water in this lively, stylish and witty thriller from Romanian maestro Porumboiu.

    • Limelight

  • Tras el cristal

    Villaronga’s legendary film debut from 1987 is controversial and has lost nothing of its power. To those unafraid, it provides an insight into human d

    • Signals: Agustí Villaronga

  • El mar

    Raw, surrealist, homoerotic and sometimes violent melodrama – a highlight of Villaronga’s oeuvre. Mallorca 1936: a mass execution by fascists is witne

    • Signals: Agustí Villaronga

  • El niño de la luna

    Fantasy film that delights the eye. The moon-child is a blonde orphan during the Interbellum, who believes that he has been chosen to fulfil an ancien

    • Signals: Agustí Villaronga

  • 99.9

    After the mysterious death of her ex-boyfriend, a radio presenter is troubled by the paranormal. Villaronga was brought in as the director and gave th

    • Signals: Agustí Villaronga

  • Anta mujer

    Surreal, allegorical short film about the Woman and the Sea, set to the music of Carl Orff.

    • Signals: Agustí Villaronga

  • Miquel Bauçà: poeta invisible

    Bauçà (1940-2005) was a radical poet and author, contrary and unclassifiable. Ideal for Villaronga in other words. A documentary done as a feature fil

    • Signals: Agustí Villaronga

  • Fuck Them All

    Music video for singer-songwriter Mylène Farmer, in Villaronga’s signature style. Production design by Martial Leiter. Screened before After the Rain.

    • Signals: Agustí Villaronga