Xcèntric 2025
Vicente Monroy and Andrés Duque
A Brief History of Darkness
Debate + Audiovisuals
Xcèntric hosts the presentation of the book Breve historia de la oscuridad: Una defensa de las salas de cine en la era del streaming [A brief history of darkness: A defence of cinemas in the era of streaming] (Anagrama, 2025). Its author, Vicente Monroy, will be talking to filmmaker Andrés Duque in a session that includes the screening of the films Hoy es jueves cinematográfico by Ignacio Agüero and Watching the Detectives by Chris Kennedy.
What secrets does darkness conceal? In our culture, we tend to associate it with evil, fear, ignorance and barbarism, but sometimes it is also a welcoming refuge. This is the case of cinemas, sanctuaries where myths, desires and ideals are forged, temples of pleasure in whose artificial night we can free our repressed emotions and seek answers that we seldom find in the light of day. Under cover of darkness, bodies lose their inhibitions and the chains of the forbidden fall. In our present of multiple screens, this book calls—without nostalgia, but also without resignation—for cinemas where spectators share hopes and fears, dreams and nightmares. The darkness of these cinemas is illuminating.
Screenings
Hoy es jueves cinematográfico (Ignacio Agüero, 1978, 4’)
Watching the Detectives (Chris Kennedy, 2017, 16mm, silent, 37’, original version with Spanish subtitles)
Digital screening. Copy of Hoy es jueves cinematográfico courtesy of Ignacio Agüero and copy of Watching the Detectives supplied by Light Cone.
Participants: Vicente Monroy, Andrés Duque
Directors: Ignacio Agüero, Chris Kennedy
This activity is part of Xcèntric 2025
