PÖFF: Ocaña, an Intermittent Portrait

Ocaña was a painter from Andalusia who found the artistic freedom he lacked in the South in Barcelona. Provocative, sincere, uninhibited, and charismatic, the Ramblas and the Plaza Real were the playground of his colourful, bizarre, and unstoppable performances. An attitude that, beyond himself, defines a time and a city. Ventura Pons, a filmmaker with a prolific career recognised in festivals around the globe and a milestone for the LGBTQ+ film community, made his debut with this documentary. He manages to be so open, transparent, and invisible that the film becomes more than a documentary. A historic moment when everything was to be done and everything was possible. If you want to know what Barcelona was like, pay a visit to this (very modern) classic. The winds of liberty arrived everywhere once the dictator’s death opened the windows, the freedom invaded the streets, the brains (and the bodies), in a celebration of joy and life. All, embodied by Ocaña, who opened his home, his life, his soul, and his heart to the filmmaker and the audience.