● The day began with the screening of the opening film, The Sky Trembles and the Two Eyes Are Not Brothers
● The opening gala also featured a sound performance by Philippe Ciompi, based on the extensive archive of sounds he has accumulated over the years working with directors such as Ben Rivers and many others
● Starting tomorrow, screenings will take place at CineCiutat, while masterclasses and professional meetings will be held at the Pati de Dones (La Misericòrdia)
Palma – The seventh edition of MajorDocs, Mallorca’s documentary film festival, has officially begun.
It was shortly after eight in the evening when the opening gala commenced, featuring a specially created sound performance by Philippe Ciompi, a jury member of this year’s edition. Ciompi invited the audience to connect with personal memory through sound.
British filmmaker Ben Rivers, guest of honor this year, inaugurated MajorDocs’ programme with the presentation of his documentary The Sky Trembles, a film that traces one journey within another: the shooting of Oliver Laxe’s fiction film in the Moroccan Atlas gradually dissolves into its real context. What begins as a making-of becomes a ritual, a drift, a trance.
The gala was presented by filmmaker Victoria Morell, who highlighted slowness as one of the defining characteristics of the festival: “with MajorDocs, we pause time to look more deeply.” Miguel Eek, director of MajorDocs, invited attendees to “surrender to reality and allow each story to pass through us.” He also shared a moment of solidarity with other festivals that have been forced to pause due to the financial difficulties currently affecting the cultural sector. Likewise, he expressed MajorDocs’ support for filmmakers and citizens who have lost their future in conflict zones such as Ukraine and Palestine.
After the opening gala, the festival’s programme will continue on Wednesday, October 26, with professional sessions held in the Pati de Dones at La Misericòrdia. The first day includes a masterclass by Ben Rivers titled “The Creative Process as an Uncertain Territory.” This will be followed by the first Doc Session, a round table in which Laura Diéz, Rubén Pérez, and Álvaro Silva Wuth will explore sound as a narrative language, highlighting how sound work builds meaning and emotion and can act as an invisible narrator.
