JMQ, A Quest For A Dream Premieres at the Comedia Cinema

Last 5 of November saw the premiere of the documentary JMQ, A Quest For A Dream in Cinema 1 at the Comedia in Barcelona. Produced by the Aula Film Foundation – Josep M. Queraltó Collection with the collaboration of Aragonés Media Consulting and postproduction by Apuntolapospo, the focus of the 88-minute film is the figure of Josep M. Queraltó, one of the most important collectors of cinema related material in Europe, and the dream he has been following for more than ten years of establishing a magnificent interactive cinema and audiovisual museum open to the general public.

Friends, family, film industry bods and representatives from film and culture institutions attended the event to share this transcendental moment in Josep M. Queraltó’s life. It was no simple task, but finally he could see his dream becoming a reality on the big screen in one of the most emblematic cinemas in Barcelona. Queraltó wanted to show off more than just the film, however, and brought to the occasion two impressive pieces from his collection: an Edison 35 mm projector from 1897, and a moviola with sound capability from 1924.

JMQ, A Quest For A Dream showed at the 21st Latin American Film Festival of Catalonia held in Lleida last April, where it was awarded the third place Audience Prize. The film is structured in three parts: the first introduces the character of Josep M. Queraltó, his early life, his self-taught skills as he entered the business and the effort and tenacity he displayed to overcome all odds; the second and longest part delves into the most interesting, valuable and ground-breaking items in his collection, which serve as a connecting thread to tell the chronological history of cinema technology, with some historical clips from significant films along the way; and the third part speaks of the dream referenced in the title, to establish a permanent space for the amazing Queraltó collection so that it can be enjoyed and appreciated by the wider public.

The documentary includes the participation of more than 30 notable figures from the world of cinema, among them Isona Passola, Esteve Riambau, Yvonne Blake, Juan Mariné, Ana Arrieta, Tomàs Pladevall, Laurent Mannoni, Constantin Costa Gavras, Josep M. Aragonés, Josep Maixenchs, Jean-Claude Seguin, Lourdes Cirlot, Josep Maria Caparrós, Emilio Gutiérrez Caba, José Batlle, Josep Fiestas, Camilo Tarrazón and Antoni Vilacasas.

The basis of the film is a series of interviews of this diverse range of figures from the Catalan audiovisual industry conducted in 2010 by film critic and writer Ángel Comas, and produced by Joan Bosch and José Luis Chico, with Josep M. Queraltó among them. The soundtrack to the film was created by Catalan musician and composer Alfred Tapscott, recorded with the Bulgarian Symphony Orchestra and mixed in Los Angeles.

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