Non-nuclear family

It is a chronological journey through different experiences of urban communal life that emerged from movements of the 60s and 70s, challenging the nuclear family. Through the choral narration of different characters we’ll know the development and transformation of these alternative family experiences in the city of Barcelona, from the Ítaca commune (1976-82) to Villa Dorita, Can Masdeu or Rimaieta, still underway.

Director’s note

In the early 70s, when I was two to five years old, my parents were involved in a shared parenting experience with two other couples, all with only one child. We lived in Barcelona and each family had its own house, but the three children used to go from one house to another to make life easier for our parents. We still arrange to meet today and the three of us have the feeling of being brothers. When I was five, my parents split up. My mother took part in extreme left-wing groups and at home we were visited by people ideologically very close to the Ítaca commune. In the early 90s I lived for a year in a squatted house in Amsterdam with a collective of 25 people. This experience resulted in my first documentary, Krakers, which was co-directed with the filmmaker Cesc Gay.

I have got to know first-hand environments similar to those of the communes and I know the needs that families have in the city today. This empathy helps me approach the subject and the characters of the documentary. To me, it is important to understand these alternative family models and avoid the stereotypes they sometimes generate in society. When I talk about communes or shared parenting at my daughter’s school, the interest is far greater than I expected.

Many families living in large urban environments feel much lonelier than people think and they are curious to know more about this subject. It can be controversial and stir consciences, and even question the nuclear family model. But it is necessary when the most important pillar of our society is undergoing a forceful change.

Produced by Frame Zero, coproduction with the Catalan Public Television, with the collaboration of the CCCB and REDS.