INTRODUCTION

The technological revolution that has taken place in the West over the last three decades – and particularly since the 1990’s – has brought about a series of social and cultural changes and one of fundamental challenges for humankind today is to analyze and elucidate these changes. We now live in one of the most complex societies the world has ever known: globalization, neo-liberalism, ecology, geopolitics, neo-imperialism, and cooperation are just some of the concepts that make it possible for us to conceive of the new spaces man is now traversing due to a series of developments that often do not allow space for reflection and analysis.

However, concurrently, at a time when the enormous capacity for disseminating the discourses of power seems to threaten the individual’s capacity to express himself, the very same technology that has made it possible to create an “official version” of the world has brought with it an unusual democratization of media production, and with it, alternative and very valid forms of interpreting, reflecting and analyzing the modern world. Thus, in a space such as the West, where we have aspired to create a so-called culture of the image, we have taken action to replace those codes that are arbitrarily manipulated with veritable virtual languages that are more suitable for exposing the mechanism whereby a unitary worldview is created.

Many strategies have been used and many groups of citizens have developed communications systems, allying themselves with the potential that new technologies offer in order to leave a testimony both of what can be seen and of what cannot be seen. In this context it would appear that the rise of one of the oldest and most verifiably effective film genres, the documentary, is no coincidence. We might define the documentary as the effort made by a group of citizens to tell the truth about the world – a part of the world – using the resources available to them and with the sole aim of leaving a testimony of what they could see. The “document” and the “documentary filmmaker” have become a sort of alternative “eye” through which it is possible to see “another” world within the world.

A festival such as MiradasDoc aspires to become part of this context of thought and reflection on the image and the documentary genre. In each edition, MiradasDoc, which is an international project, would like to reflect on the genre, on the image, and on the new virtual languages; publish scripts; make critical reviews; interview the main actors involved in this form of expression; and, above all, become familiar with the work of documentary filmmakers from the so-called Third World, because they are quite likely the only ones who can offer relevant evidence of what is going on in their countries.

In this second edition of MiradasDoc, we are opening our doors to young students through “EnseñanDoc”, so that, in these scheduled projections, they may find a way to educate themselves as citizens. Nowadays, education cannot be limited to the mere transmission of theory; it is also imperative that we transmit positive civic attitudes and values. And, in this framework, MiradasDoc offers young students tools to develop a political culture, an active, responsible and critical participation in public life, and such attitudes and values as: tolerance, social justice, equality, human rights, solidarity, participation, human dignity … which will help make us responsible citizens.

This year, EnseñanDoc presents a selection of films aimed at young people between the ages of 15 and 18 years old. During matinee sessions from November 12th through the 16th, these films will bring a different film genre closer to many students. Following the projection, there will be a meeting with the director and with one of the film’s protagonists, which will make it an even more enriching experience.