About movie

Of Eagles, falcons and Hobby Horses

Original title D’Àligues, Falcons i Cavallets

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The Toc d’Inici is a unique event that marks the start of Barcelona’s annual festival La Mercè. This grand parade of giants, musicians and historical beasts through the city centre brings together a wide cross-section of the population: local residents, politicians, tourists and protestors who use it as an opportunity to draw attention to their demands. By following three of the groups, the film explores the complexity of this public ritual through focus on the role of festive images during the celebration, on the processes by which Catalan popular culture is transmitted, and on the way participants themselves perceive the festival and its relationship to the city. The film portrays Barcelona as a constantly changing city that is both local and global, in which traditional festivities continue to play a crucial social and political role.

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Author/s Roger Canals

Roger Canals is a lecturer and researcher at the Department of Anthropology of the University of Barcelona. Specialist in Afro-American religions and Visual Anthropology, he holds a PhD in Anthropology from the Ecole des Hatues Etudes en Sciences Sociales in Paris and the University of Barcelona. He has been appointed Honorary Staff member at the University of Manchester. He has been visiting fellow at the department of Visual Anthropology of the l’Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales. He is a member of the editorial board of the on-line journal Anthrovision, consecrated to Visual Anthropology. Roger Canals has published various articles on visual anthropology and Afro-American religions in journals such as L’Homme and Publishers as Routledge or Berghahn. He has also published the book L’image nomade (Editions Universitaires Européennes, 2010). He has made several ethnographic films, internationally awarded. His first ethnographic film, The Many Faces of a Venezuelan Goddess (2007), which explores the cult of María Lionza in Venezuela, has received recognition and awards at several festivals.

Research Roger Canals
Photography Roger Canals
Sound Roger Canals
Editing Jordi Orobitg