A space to browse a thousand experimental and documentary films, à la carte.
Viewing takes place in the physical space of the Archive, located at the CCCB, equipped with a collective screen and two monitors for one viewer each. You can prepare your visit in advance by consulting our online catalogue of films, filmmakers’ bios and recorded presentations of many of the titles (Filmmaker’s Word).
We want the kind of cinema that Xcèntric promotes to reach as many viewers as possible, so we’ve made it easy. Our film sessions are unique and once-only, but at the Archive you can see the work of some of the filmmakers who have made their mark on our screen. We don’t replicate our programmes—that would be impossible—but we do propose itineraries in the form of playlists, bespoke guided tours and even educational activities for all audiences. Of course, if you’re a film writer or researcher and you know what you want, here you have an archive that is unique in Europe, rich in content and easy to consult.
The Xcèntric Archive came into being as part of the exhibition "That’s Not Entertainment. Cinema Begets Cinema", incorporating into the exhibition a space where visitors could sit down and enjoy some of the works referred to, in their entirety. The Archive was originally created with 300 titles, but today, thanks to periodic acquisitions, it now has a thousand, a figure that continues to grow with the incorporation of new titles and artists.
The works that make up the Xcèntric Archive are mostly short films by artists for whom the cinema is the chosen means of expression. Some of them have been screened in our programmes; others are simply related. Each film is presented with a synopsis and filmmaker bio, and is sometimes accompanied by a short statement from the artist by way of presentation (Filmmaker’s Word). Some of the filmmakers represented are Peggy Ahwesh, Martin Arnold, Stan Brakhage, Abigail Child, Stephen Dwoskin, Harun Farocki, Claudio Caldini, Jean Genet, Jean-Luc Godard, Kurt Kren, Malcom Le Grice, Len Lye, Mara Mattuschka, Jonas Mekas, Norman McLaren, Werner Nekes, David Perlov, Jürgen Reble, Hans Richter, Paul Sharits, John Smith, Alexander Sokurov, Peter Tscherkassky, José Val del Omar and Johan van der Keuken.
Films can be viewed at the Archive in person, not online. You can choose films by maker or by title, but also by country and even by various other tags (architecture, animation, photography, dance, collage…), and view them still by still. You can also discover the Xcèntric archive through the playlists, thematic itineraries that include all the practices of experimental film.
It is free of charge, but appointment is required (contact [email protected]).
Children under 18 years of age only accompanied by adults.
To make an appointment for a guided group visit, write to [email protected]
For educational activities for children and adolescents, write to [email protected]
Opening times:
Tuesday to Sunday, from 11:00 to 20:00
Place:
Basement 1 of the CCCB
The Xcèntric space has two rooms:
Room for individual use (with two monitors): 2 people.
Groups room: 1 person and up to 12 people.
It is free of charge, but appointment is required (contact [email protected]).
Booking of the individual/groups room at the Xcèntric Archive will be for a minimum of 30 minutes. The timetable is from Tuesday to Sunday from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. last access at 7.30 p.m. We would kindly ask you to indicate the time you are booking for (30/60/90 minutes).
In order to prepare your visit, we would encourage you to have a look at the catalogue and proposals for the Xcèntric Archive.
