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Glauber Rocha’s 1970 work “Cabezas Cortadas” (“Cutting Heads”) will be among the anticpated restorations in progress presented at this year’s International Classic Film Market (MIFC), taking place during the Lumière
Film Festival in Lyon.
The MIFC’s Re>Birth Programme showcases five ongoing or upcoming restoration projects as well as five recently restored films, selected for the Lumière Festival under the Lumière Classics label.
Described as “one of the most unique and fascinating works in the history of Spanish cinema” as well as “one of the most unusual and misunderstood works” by Rocha, a leading figure of Brazil’s Cinema Novo movement, “Cabezas Cortadas” is being restored by sister companies Video Mercury Films and FlixOlé and the Madrid Film School (ECAM).
The film centers on Díaz II (played by Francisco Rabal), an exiled dictator haunted by his memories of repression and brutality as he descends into decadence and madness. The cast also included Pierre Clémenti, Marta May, Rosa María Penna, Emma Cohen and Luis Ciges.
“Cabezas Cortadas” divided critics and audiences following its 1970 premiere at the San Sebastián Film Festival. For some, according to FlixOlé, “it was an allegorical masterpiece, a visceral scream against tyranny, colonialism and the agony of dictatorial power.” For the general public and mainstream press, “it was unintelligible nonsense, unable to assimilate its fragmented aesthetic and excessive symbolism.” Indeed, not only was it a major flop, it is seen as a “cursed film” that all but disappeared from the history of Spanish cinema.
Rocha, in self-imposed exile from Brazil and its military dictatorship, shockingly realized his tale of fascism with the assistance of the Franco regime. The director initially presented the project under the title “Macbeth 70,” disguised as a harmless and very loose adaptation of Shakespeare, successfully obtaining official screenplay approval from the Spanish authorities and substantial state funding from the Franco government.
“The fact that a filmmaker of Glauber Rocha’s importance came to Franco’s Spain to shoot a film opposing the dictators strikes us as a marvelous paradox and makes for a fascinating film in the history of Spanish and Latin American cinema,” says Miguel López of Video Mercury Films, who is presenting the project at the MIFC.
“We have now completed the 6K digitization of the original film and sound negatives,” Lopez told Variety. “Color grading and digital image restoration work is currently underway. We hope to have a new digital copy of the film ready by 2027.”
Video Mercury Films is overseeing the digitization while ECAM is handling the grading and color correction. Although the film has been digitized in full-screen format at 6K resolution, during the editing process, the final master will be cropped to remove perforations and elements that do not belong to the film’s original format, resulting in a genuine 4K resolution, without the need for re-scaling, López explains.
As Spain’s biggest film rights owner, Video Mercury Films is a leading player in restoring heritage titles. The company holds the rights to “Cabezas Cortadas” and will oversee its distribution. All worldwide rights and formats are available, with the exception of Brazil.
The collaboration between Video Mercury Films, FlixOlé and ECAM reflects their common goal of preserving and raising the profile of Spanish films of great historical value that do not have digital copies available for distribution, López stresses. “The intention is to give them a new second life and ensure their distribution through specialized circuits dedicated to this type of restored classic cinema.”
“Cabezas cortadas” represents the first collaboration between Video Mercury Films and ECAM, which last year launched its Master’s in Film Preservation and Restoration program. “This is a very significant initiative in Spain, as programs of this kind are not very common, and the fact that an institution of its stature is running such a course is excellent news,” López says.
While a formal agreement has yet to finalized, the hope is that the collaboration will be extended to include more Spanish films in the future.
