Relaciones cruzadas Pathé - NO-DOdos miradas a las ciudades españolas

Abstract

The reply letter dating of April 1952 that Audibert, director of Pathé Jounal, addresses to Soriano, director of NO-DO, is the starting point of this research, in which the exchange of documentation collections between the two newsreels is analysed. From its beginnings, NO-DO intended to complete its archive with cinematographic recordings prior to the Spanish Civil War and to its own creation, on account of the historical value of them. Newsreels provide an important tool to analyse how collective imaginary is shaped and how prevailing politics and culture affect the way to show buildings and cities are shown in the cinema screens. Contents studied of both Pathé and NO-DO are mainly official acts and visits, in which the filmed architecture creates the atmosphere and scenographic background for the politic and social action. Therefore, and respectively, buildings and urban spaces shown both for foreign public, through the social icons 1732 activity, and for domestic public, through the purposeful glance of the Francoist regime, might help provide a certain image of reality that covers the different stages of the 20th century. Specifically, this paper focuses on those pieces of news which capture how the Spanish cities are glimpsed in the reports of both media productions in order to appreciate physical and social transformations happened in them.