Many of the creative attitudes that Spanish cinephiles—traditionally marked by a certain low self-esteem—have admired in the modern French tradition, such as passionate writing understood as another form of filmmaking or the programming of films as a revelatory gesture, akin to the dialectics of montage, found a singular embodiment in José Ignacio Fernández Bourgón. During the seventies and eighties, this restless young man from Madrid left a mark as unmistakable as it was discreet in several specialized press publications and in the film series at a small cinema.

His untimely death and close ties to an earlier generation—that of Drove, Oliver, Marinero, and others—contributed to his career and legacy being somewhat obscured. However, today they reappear with particular intensity in the eyes of new cinephiles. Many will be surprised by Bourgon's pioneering writing on filmmakers who are now undisputed figures, but who for a long time remained practically invisible in our context: Oliveira, Straub/Huillet, Duras, Kramer, Van der Keuken, Van de Staak, Schroeter, and Akerman. These are directors and films that Bourgon captured in a unique and inimitable critical style: a style that takes formal risks, attends to the political dimensions of cinema, and seems designed to resonate with the audience of the future.

The book launch will feature the participation of Barbara Mingo Costales (writer), Jonas Trueba (filmmaker) and Luis E. Pares (book editor), in a colloquium about the figure and writing of José Ignacio Fernández Bourgón.