Master Class

“Found footage” refers to cinema made with found archival material (home movies, historical archives, advertisements, pornographic films, reportages, documentaries, collage films, etc.), which is re-edited, remixed, and distorted with the purpose of generating a new audiovisual work. This autobiographical master class analyzes the appropriation of found footage in the history of cinema, beginning with the pioneering works by Soviet filmmaker Esfir Shub, passing through early examples drawn from the European and American avant-gardes, and concluding with a spotlight on Colombian cinema, primarily focusing on Ospina’s own work.

Generously co-sponsored by Los Angeles Filmforum as part of the Getty’s Pacific Standard Time: LA/LA initiative, Ospina’s visit to the Department of Spanish and Portuguese forms part of a larger program on Latin American experimental cinema, which culminates in a final series of screenings at the UCLA Film and Television Archive’s Billy Wilder Theater, from January 19-21.

Born in Cali, Colombia in 1949, Luis Ospina began his career as a film student at UCLA from 1969-72. Through the 1970s, Ospina was co-director of the Cine Club de Cali and cofounder (with Andrés Caicedo, Carlos Mayolo, and Ramiro Arbeláez) of the film journal Ojo al cine. He first gained renown with his satirical 1978 meta-documentary, Agarrando pueblo (co-directed with Carlos Mayolo). Since then, Ospina’s activity as a film director, editor, critic, curator, and teacher have been unrivaled in the history of Colombian and Latin American cinema alike.