Paul Motian's drums and Gary Peacock's double bass exquisitely accompany Bill Evans' piano notes on Irving Berlin's melody Always. In the Bar, there's a certain late afternoon calm, in that no-man's-land moment between midday after-dinner conversations and the first dinner service, when only a few enjoy a certain relaxation. It is at that moment that Anna Solà makes an appearance and leans against the bar.
--- A glass of white wine, please. If I can choose, let it be a Penedès.
Manager and executive director of the Institut Català de les Dones between 2004 and 2010, Anna has been co-director, along with Marta Selva, of the Audiovisual Media Promotion Cooperative, Drac Màgic, and of the Mostra Internacional de Films de Dones de Barcelona which, precisely, celebrates its 30th anniversary with the publication of Un trajecte pels feminismes fílmics. An elaborate commemorative volume edited by the Barcelona City Council that, through various films programmed in several editions of the event, addresses its contribution to the development of the feminist debate around different areas of life and thought.
"I am very proud to have managed to develop a professional career without ever losing the playful dimension, working hard and with the very good creative company of a team like Drac Màgic. I have developed in free human spaces very permeable to our desire to introduce the poetics of cinema into various existential areas, open mental borders and innovate," explains the regular who also has experience as an associate professor at the UPC and is part of the Association of Film Critics and Writers and is an Honorary Member of the Catalan Film Academy. In addition to being a mother of a son and a daughter, "who are my greatest pride."
Caught by "the feeling that life has made the decisions for me," she admits that it was decisive to choose to study Art History and not Architecture, "I had to study and work, and I saw that a career like Architecture I would never be able to carry it out, so I opted for Art History and for doing militant work and cultural activism in my town, Sant Cugat, in the field of cinema and feminism. That's where I began to trace my professional future."
Dialogue of generations
Hoy ya jubilada, Anna asegura disfrutar de no tener que ir a trabajar, pero sigue colaborando con el actual equipo de Drac Màgic y del festival, así como, puntualmente, con otros festivales y editoriales. "Me hace feliz seguir participando en la programación de la Mostra y seguir presente en la cooperativa. Sentirme integrada en un equipo con muchas generaciones que mezcla experiencia e innovación en un contexto de creación. En este sentido, no he cortado el hilo, sino que hay un vínculo y una transición basada en un diálogo intergeneracional".
--- ¿Te sientes a gusto lidiando con chavales que recién empiezan?
--- Sí, por supuesto. Tiene que haber una transmisión de conocimiento, porque nadie nace aprendido. Si te fijas, a veces una misma palabra no se entiende de la misma manera por parte de los jóvenes y de los que no lo somos tanto. No le otorgamos el mismo significado, y eso se soluciona armonizando conceptos a través de mucha comunicación.
Barcelona por espacio interpuesto
Lo que más molesta a Anna de la ciudad es su ruido: "Hay muy poco respeto por el silencio. En Barcelona el ruido interfiere y agrede, sobre todo en el interior de los espacios públicos. A mí es algo que cada vez me afecta más. Hay ciudades que quieren cuidar mucho este aspecto y Barcelona debería tenerlo en cuenta y, en cambio, ampliar la presencia de la música en la calle".
Esta sensibilidad a la agresión sonora quizás tenga su origen en una noción de ciudad vista desde sus afueras. "Yo soy de Sant Cugat y en mi infancia siempre viví Barcelona con distancia física. Hoy sigo sintiendo que hay espacio territorial entre mi lugar, el pueblo, y la urbe. Mi territorio está en los márgenes y eso determina mi mirada". Una mirada que ama el mestizaje, los contrastes, la vida de los barrios de una Barcelona cuyos espacios ha podido conocer "gracias a mi trabajo, que me ha permitido explorar lugares a los que nunca hubiese llegado como simple paseante y, en algunos casos, dotarlos de un carácter cinematográfico con actividades como, por ejemplo, las iniciativas de Cinema fora de lloc".
In love with the city's dialogue with the sea and "how Barcelona has integrated the sea into its human landscape in a playful way, enhancing its Mediterranean essence and its connection with the Greco-Latin essence," Anna Solà declares herself an unconditional fan of the libraries here: "They are an invisible luxury, as are the bookstores that, instead of going extinct, I see new ones opening. It's a miracle."
--- And, besides limiting noise, is there anything else you miss in the city?
--- Well, I think there is a need for public spaces for intergenerational encounters, where different life cycles, different ages, coexist.
--- Well, that's what bars are for!
The regular customer remains silent as she finishes her glass of white wine, sketches a faint smile full of nuances, while enjoying the phrasing of Bill Evans and his trio and glancing at the menu.