LUIS MACIAS: Spectral Cinema (theoretical module)

Display Schedule

Code Completion Credits Range Language Instruction Semester
300MLMSC credit 1 30 seminar hours (45 min) of instruction per semester, 3 to 8 hours of self-study English summer

Subject guarantor

Alexandra MORALESOVÁ

Name of lecturer(s)

Alexandra MORALESOVÁ

Department

The subject provides Subjects and study plans provided by faculty

Contents

The mentoring course by Luis Macías, Spanish experimental filmmaker, audiovisual artist and co-founder of Crater-lab in Barcelona, proposes to conceive photochemical artistic practice as a direct exchange between laboratory and projection. Luis will foreground the relationships between materialist photochemical and plastic physical image and its virtual possibilities in projection. Departing from still images and the dispositive of projection the space of difference as a promise and condition for motion and sensations will be explored.

First, on Thursday, April 23, Luis Macías will present his artistic path, personal approach to cinema, and comment on the conditions of his artistic practice in a lecture entitled „Your Eyes Are Spectral Machines“ that will be accompanied by a screening of the excerpts of his earlier performances and two complete works from 35mm prints.

Second, on Saturdy, April 25, Luis Macías will perform two 35mm slide and 16mm performances INSIDE-OUTSIDE-AROUND and I CAN'T SEE THE SIXTH SUN in the theater Alfred ve dvoře.

Date, time, and location:

23/4/2026, 17.00-18.30 at FAMU, Screening Room, Smetanovo nábřeží 2, Praha 1

25/4/2026, 20.00-22.00 Alfred ve dvoře, Františka Křížka 495/36 170 00 Praha 7

Learning outcomes

The students will broader their knowledge in contemporary international experimental cinema and get familiar with another materialist approach to the making of experimental films.

Prerequisites and other requirements

The attendance at the previous mentoring courses focusing on experimental cinema practices is welcome but not compulsory.

Literature

Ramey, K. (2016). Experimental Filmmaking. Break the Machine. Focal Press (Taylor &

Francis).

Walley, J. (2020). Cinema Expanded. Avant-Garde Film in the Age of Intermedia. New York:

Oxford University Press.

Zinman, G. (2020). Making Images Move: Handmade Cinema and the Other Arts. Oakland:

University of California Press.

Evaluation methods and criteria

Attendance at the lecture at FAMU and attendance at the screening in Alfred ve dvoře and short reflection (length: 1,800–3,600 characters) to be submitted by May 31st via email to: morale01@st.amu.cz.

Note

BIO

LUIS MACIAS is an artist, filmmaker and image-moving composer. His pieces deal with the formal and spectral properties of the moving image, through the exploration of the cinematographic device itself and the photochemical nature of the medium. Focused on experimental and procedural practices of analog image, his works in Super 8, 16mm, 35mm and / or video format are composed for projection, performance or installation.

His films and pieces of expanded cinema have been shown in prestigious film, art and music festivals as well as art centers, museums and alternative spaces around the world.

He’s been part of collective exhibitions and had one individual so far. He has collaborated with various artists, musicians and filmmakers for the creation of collective works.

Co-founder and active member of CRATER-Lab, an independent artist-run-film lab for analog cinema. Luis alternates his artwork with specialized whorkshops in experimental cinema and the exploration of analogue moving images.

Contact persons for module enrollment: Alexandra Moralesová, e-mail: morale01@st.amu.cz, Andrea Petrovičová, e-mail: andrea.petrovicova@famu.cz.

Schedule for winter semester 2025/2026:

The schedule has not yet been prepared

Schedule for summer semester 2025/2026:

Date Day Time Tutor Location Notes No. of paralel
23.04.2026 17:00–18:30 Alexandra MORALESOVÁ Projection Room
Lažanský palác		 lecture parallel1
25.04.2026 20:00–22:00
Venue: Alfred ve dvoře, Františka Křížka 495/36 170 00 Praha 7 lecture parallel1

The subject is a part of the following study plans