Walter Benjamin, the aura of the road

Download technical specifications here (in English)

Synopsis

The philosopher Walter Benjamin attempted to flee the Nazi advance in 1940 by crossing the border between France and Spain on foot. His escape ended in suicide. The route he took between Banyuls and Portbou has since been named the Walter Benjamin Trail, and is traveled every year by hundreds of pilgrims who come to honor his memory along with that of other exiles: those of the Republican side after Franco’s coup in Spain, and those fleeing Nazi barbarism in World War II. The documentary “Walter Benjamin, the aura of the road” is the story of this route, a tale of historical memory, a reflection on exile and Benjamin’s thinking.

Technical specifications

  • Direction and production: Jacobo Sucari
  • Reading of Walter Benjamin’s texts: Dominique Delpirou
  • Voice-over narrator: Rafaela Carlier
  • Production Assistant: Pamela Gallo
  • Camera : Jacobo Sucari
  • Drone Camera : Tomás Gasulla
  • Ginbal Camera : Lucas Sucari Dunkel
  • Direct sound recording: Irina Warner
  • Interview recording control: Mireia Font
  • Original music: Tom Johnson
  • Digital sound creation: Jacobo Sucari
  • Sound editing: Luca Rulo fidalgo
  • Color editing: Natasha Ikoli
  • Design / graphics: Esteban Hernández
  • Assistant editor: Raquel García
  • Translation texts German / French: Marion Tamme de Aquista
  • Main characters : (in order of appearance)
    • Irina Warner
    • Roger Rull
    • Dominique Delpirou
    • Denis Lavant
    • Madeleine Claus
    • Alexandre Cloud
    • Lothar Eichhorn
    • Siegfried Joseph
    • Beat Röösli
    • Alex Wix
    • Michael Lowy
  • Running time: 57 minutes
  • Production: Banyuls, Barcelona 2024.

JACOBO SUCARI’S BIOGRAPHY

Born in Buenos Aires in 1958, I live in Barcelona.

  • Professor of video and documentary processes at the Faculty of Fine Arts at the University of Barcelona (U.B.).
  • Writer and musician.
  • Doctorate from the University of Barcelona.

CAREER SUMMARY:

Documentary filmmaker, musical improvisation instrumentalist and writer. PhD Professor at the Faculty of Fine Arts, University of Barcelona (UB). My creative work is based on the intersection of image, text and sound, constructed in a synchronic way, as an audiovisual composition. In my videography the narratives are often abstract or experimental; in others, closer to the documentary genre, the plot assumes a dramatic development. My work have been presented in different spaces and contexts, both in the artistic tradition such as museums and galleries, as well as in the cinematographic tradition: festivals, cinemas and programming in different TV channels.

STUDIES:

  • Cinematography and television at the ‘University of Fine Arts’ Tel-Aviv, Israel’. 1977- 1979.
  • Diploma in Information Sciences ‘Autonomous University of Barcelona. 1980-85
  • Doctorate from the University of Barcelona with a thesis on ‘The expanded documentary’, screen and space’. 2009.

FILMOGRAPHY

  • LINA BO BARDI. FROM GLASS TO CLAY. Documentary. 43 min. 2021
  • ISRAEL ON MY MIND. Documentary. 28 min. 2020.
  • AKHA, AT THE BORDER. Documentary. 56 min. 2019.
  • HOUSING LAW PAH. HEALTH AND HOUSING. Participatory documentary. 2017.
  • MEMORY AND IDENTITY IN THE COMMUNITY OF SALITRE. Participatory documentary. 52 min. 2015
  • THE DREAM OF HEROES. TV documentary. 56 min. 2013
  • A DANCING COSMOS, SUFISM, MYSTICISM AND MUSIC. TV documentary, 54 min. 2011.
  • DESTROY AND BUILD. THE STORY OF A FACTORY. TV documentary, 56 min. 2011.
  • THE TRANSFORMED CITY. INSTALLATION. Expanded documentary. 2008.
  • THE STRUGGLE FOR URBAN SPACE. TV documentary, 59 min. 2006-2007.
  • ILLUSORY BEHAVIOUR. Installation. 2004.
  • STORIES FROM THE PERIPHERY. TV documentary, 54 min. 2003.
  • DISCIPLINE. INSTALLATION. Extended documentary. 2002-2003.
  • PARALYSED, IN A STATE OF TERROR. Documentary, 47 min. 2001.

Jacobo Sucari ARTISTIC CV

Audiovisual work prizes:

  • First prize for the thematic work ‘H2O’ for: ‘DES HISTOIRES DE LA PÉRIPHÉRIE’. Documentary. VAD Festival. Girona, Spain, 2007.
  • VISIONES DE FUTURO- RETEVISIÓN’ award for artistic projects, for the installation project: ‘DISCIPLINA, SIN MEMORIA Y SIN PODER’. Barcelona, Spain, 2001.
  • Special mention at the Festival of the Instituto de Cooperación Iberoamericana, for the video-creation ‘EL EFECTO KULESHOV’, Buenos Aires, Argentina, 2000.
  • First prize at the Llivia-Estavar Video Festival, for ‘LA VENTANA (RELATO)’. France. 2000.
  • Travelling exhibition - Video creation prize: ‘MUESTRA DE ARTE ELECTRÓNICO’. Generalitat de Catalunya. Spain, 2000.
  • First Prize at the Navarre International Video Festival, Spain, for the creative documentary ‘REM, ESTUDIOS SOBRE EL COMPORTAMIENTO NOCTURNO’ (REM, STUDIES ON NIGHT BEHAVIOUR). Spain, 1998.
  • Travelling exhibition prize: ART AND TECHNOLOGY. Generalitat de Catalunya. Spain, 1998.

Books and DVDs publications in recent years:

  • 2022: ‘Technologies for the common good: from collective knowledge to community good’. (essay) 2021 - ‘Frustrated projects’ (fiction).
  • 2015 - 2021: Publication in specialist journals of various research works on art, science and technology (essay). https://jacobosucari.com/publications/
  • 2015: Distribution of the DVD in bookshops: DVD ‘Un cosmos qui danse, soufisme mystique et musique’. Documentary. 54 minutes.
  • 2014: Formes de l’imaginaire techno-esthétique. The cinema of thought. Editorial Aldea Global. Published by the University of Valencia, Spain (essay).
  • 2012: Le documentaire élargi, l’écran et l’espace. Editorial UOCPress (essay)
  • 2011: ‘The transformed city’. Two television documentaries and an installation on urban transformation: ‘The struggle for urban space’ and ‘Destroy and build, the story of a factory’. DVD. Caixaforum, TV3, and La Trinxera Audiovisual SCCL.

    Expositions:

  • Barcelona Beat Sesion. Vídeo, poesia i música. Llibreria Calders. 2018.
  • L’experiència col·lectiva. Exposició Vídeo. Virreina Centri de la Imatge. Comissari i autor. 2018.
  • LEM. GTS. Projecte PAPF. Directe música-Vídeo. 2017.
  • Flux. Festival Vídeo d’Autor. Projecte PAPF. 2017.
  • ESPOL. Documental Participatiu. Guayaquil l’Equador. 2015.
  • Casa de Cultura. Instal·lació La ciutat transformada .Girona. Espanya 2012.
  • Istanbul international architecture and urban films. 2011
  • MARQ. Societat d’Arquitectes. Instal·lació La ciutat transformada . BS AS. l’Argentina. 2011
  • Espai-Ciutat: Instal·lació La ciutat transformada. 2010 Vitòria Gasteisz.
  • Galeria MX10Espai. Vídeo-Art. La Contemplació. Loop 2010. Barcelona.
  • Ecocinema. Videoart i Documental. Israel 2008.
  • Vídeo i Arts Digitals. VAD. Girona 2007. Espanya.
  • Habitar el Present. Nous Ministeris. Madrid 2007.
  • Festival Internacional de Cinema de Conca, l’Equador. 2007
  • Abastos. Mostra Cinematogràfica de l’Atlàntic. 2007
  • XXIV Festival de cinema de Bogotà.2007.
  • Festival Internacional de Cinema de Medi Ambient de Catalunya. 2007
  • III Festival Internacional de Documentals 2007, Caracas Marató DocFestival
  • Festival de Cinema de Màlaga, 2007.
  • Fluxus. Vídeo d’Autor. Mediateca de Caixaforum. 2006. Espanya.
  • “La Capella”. Instal·lació “La caiguda”. Barcelona, Espanya. 2005.
  • Sala d’Art de Vic. Vic. 2005. - OVNI 2005. Mostra de vídeo. Barcelona, Espanya.
  • Loop. Videoart. Barcelona 2004/2005. Espanya.
  • Festival Internacional de Vídeo i Arts Digitals, VAD. Girona, 2004, España
  • Cinema du Rèel. Festival França 2004.
  • Galeria MXEspai. Cicle “Poètiques Polítiques”. Barcelona 2004.
  • Festival Cinema du Réel. París. França, 2004.
  • Festival Internacional de Cinema de Catalunya. Sitges, 2003.
  • Festival de cinema L’Alternativa. Barcelona, 2003.
  • Videozone. Israel, 2002.
  • Videobrasil, 2001.
  • Wide World Vídeo Festival. Amsterdam, 2000.
  • “Monocanal”. Mostra Itineante del Museu d’Art Reina Sofia. Itinerant per set museus d’art contemporani a Espanya. 2003.
  • Instal·lació Documental. “Disciplina, sense memòria i sense poder. La Capella. ICUB. Barcelona. Febrer- Abril 2003.
  • Videozone. Col·lectiva de Videoart. Israel. 2002.
  • Exposició sobre art a Llatinoamèrica, secció imatge “B&N i de color”, en el Museu d’Art Reina Sofia. 2000-2001.
  • Videobrasil. Colectiva de Videoart. 2001.
  • MAMBA, Museu d’Art Modern de Buenos Aires, 2000. Projecció de treballs.

More info:

www.jacobosucari.com

Contact:

jacobosucari@gmail.com +34699385179 Barcelona 2025