Reasons to Dream

Graduated at the E.O.C. in 1968, Antonio Drove belongs to the generation of cineastes that started their career during the last years under Franco and developed the mayor part of it during the last years of transition. His best known film stems from this period: La verdad sobre el caso Savolta / The truth about the case Savolta - a work that is crucial for an understanding of the Spanish cinema during the period of transition from dictatorship to democracy. The films of Antonio Drove have only irregularly appeared on the screens, sometimes even with years in between. Yet, by watching them in succession one can appreciate the coherence of his postulates: the negation of cinema as a mere spectacle, the affirmation of cinematographic narration as a means of knowledge for author and viewer; the belief in the ability of the image to accentuate and sometimes even transform the words; the effort that no single image should be banal, but instead full of signification. All these characteristics already appear in his first short films he made at the film school. And they can still be found in his most recent works.