28th Ji.hlava International Documentary Film Festival

24. 10.–2. 11. 2025
Log inČeštinaEnglish
Greater Gospelplay
Greater Gospel
Greater Gospel
Greater Gospel
Greater Gospel

Greater Gospel

Javier Codesal / Spain / 2021 / International Premiere / 138 min.


synopsis

Josete Massa Residence in Madrid is the world’s first retirement home for senior LGTBIQ+ citizens. Javier Codesal filmed here between 2019 and 2020, while the building was undergoing renovations. He places the residents of the home among the rubble almost like living sculptures in a gallery. Their bodies, like their souls, defy heteronormative notions of beauty. They recite fragments of biblical texts and quote Pasolini and Jarman like modern-day apostles. The religious texts flowing from their lips are not so much about faith as they are about cultural tradition. They have laid the foundations for centuries of canonical narratives that reduce the representatives of sexual minorities to a set of stereotypes.

“A woman being made from Adam´s rib attributes a mythical importance to trans people. This fable leads us to believe that the physical reality of trans expresses the original traits of our changeable corporeality.”

biography

Javier Codesal (* 1958) is a Spanish filmmaker, poet, and painter. He has been making movies since the 1980s. He graduated in audiovisual studies in Madrid and he is considered a pioneer of Spanish video art. He often deals with themes such as pain, illness or death, as in his films O Milagre da Carne (1994) and Evangelio Mayor (2021).

more about film

director: Javier Codesal
producer: Javier Codesal, Julia Sieiro

contact

Javier Codesal / Madrid, Španělsko +34 606451765 / codesaljavier@gmail.com

Film at festival

premiere type:International Premiere
festival edition:2022
section:Ji.hlava Online, Opus Bonum
awards:Cena za originální formát
language:Spanish
subtitles:English
colour:Colour

Info

director:Javier Codesal
original title:Evangelio mayor
country:Spain
year:2021
running time:138 min.

Festival partners

Ministerstvo kultury
Fond kinematografie
Město Jihlava
Kraj Vysočina
Creative Europe Media
GEMO
Česká televize
Český rozhlas
Aktuálně.cz
Respekt
Dafilms

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