Extra-Academic Programs

The aim of this project was to explore the content, trajectory and development of this famous Spanish director’s work.

We started the week by assigning to all group members to one of four different research projects: Almodóvar’s biography, the political and social background of Spain throughout his filmmaking career, his filmography and an overview of La Movida de Madrid, the social movement of which Almodóvar was part when he started making movies in the late 1970s and early 1980s.

On the same day, after sharing and discussing all this information, we started watching the films in chronological order, according to their production years.

Of the 17 feature films Almodóvar has directed to date, we managed to watch the following six:

Labyrinth of Passions (1982)
Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown (1988)
The Flower of My Secret (1995)
All About My Mother (1999)
Talk to Her (2002)
Volver (2006)

Some of the topics we discussed were the changes/refinements in the director’s techniques over the years; the at-times socially transgressive subject matter of the movies and their motivation; the intertextuality between the films; character development and treatment.

All in all, an instructive and enjoyable three days!

Snow cave PBL March 2010

After watching the rain for a week we were amazingly lucky to be leaving the college on a Sunday morning in brilliant sunshine. After a short drive to Steiestølen we started our trip by crossing the river on a row of stepping stones. Only one ski got wet, and we could all happily continue skiing up into the mountains. Without too much trouble we reached the area where we had planned to build a snow cave, but had to spend quite a while searching for a god spot. However, when we did find the spot, it was perfect; lots of snow, sheltered location and water.

Daniel and Simon quickly volunteered to start digging the cave and were later helped and relieved by the rest of the group. We also built a toilet and a small kitchen area. The cave became a nice and large one – though with a sloping floor the first night…

On Monday we woke up to lovely weather and could enjoy porridge while looking at the sun and snow. We made the cave slightly larger and the floor level for a better nights sleep and then set out for a nice ski trip. The ski trip took us to Taket where we had a great lunch in the sunshine, then as the clouds started to gather in the distance, we continued our trip to Styggeheia. On our way back we had some snow and wind, but by the time we were back at Taket again, the sun had come out again and we could go back to our cave for a nice oriental stew.

Being fairly cold in the evening everyone was in the cave by 6 pm and all was quiet by 7.

Tuesday morning was grey, but still fine. We had breakfast and packed our bags before heading towards the road and our ride home. The light making all contours disappear it was a bit of a challenge at the start, but everyone helped each other and we made it down to the road well in advance of our pick up time. Deciding that we had time and that the road would be hard to get up with the van, we skied down the steepest bits of road. At the bottom we met a driver who was very pleased not to have to drive up the steep hills we had come down.

I think we all had a great trip. Everyone was incredibly good at helping out and being team players, and all but Sibusiso, who can’t get much more tanned, have bright red faces to prove that we had some nice sunny weather!