On November 27, 1895, Alfred Nobel signed his third and last will at the Swedish-Norwegian Club in Paris. When it was opened and read after his death, the will caused a lot of controversy both in Sweden and internationally, as Nobel had left much of his wealth for the establishment of a prize. His family opposed the establishment of the Nobel Prize, and the prize awarders he named refused to do what he had requested in his will. It was five years before the first Nobel Prize could be awarded in 1901.

In this excerpt of the will, Alfred Nobel dictates that his entire remaining estate should be used to endow “prizes to those who, during the preceding year, have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind”.

“All of my remaining realisable assets are to be disbursed as follows: the capital, converted to safe securities by my executors, is to constitute a fund, the interest on which is to be distributed annually as prizes to those who, during the preceding year, have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind. The interest is to be divided into five equal parts and distributed as follows: one part to the person who made the most important discovery or invention in the field of physics; one part to the person who made the most important chemical discovery or improvement; one part to the person who made the most important discovery within the domain of physiology or medicine; one part to the person who, in the field of literature, produced the most outstanding work in an idealistic direction; and one part to the person who has done the most or best to advance fellowship among nations, the abolition or reduction of standing armies, and the establishment and promotion of peace congresses. The prizes for physics and chemistry are to be awarded by the Swedish Academy of Sciences; that for physiological or medical achievements by the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm; that for literature by the Academy in Stockholm; and that for champions of peace by a committee of five persons to be selected by the Norwegian Storting. It is my express wish that when awarding the prizes, no consideration be given to nationality, but that the prize be awarded to the worthiest person, whether or not they are Scandinavian.”

Alfred Nobel’s will. Nobel Prize Outreach AB 2021. Internet: <www.nobelprize.org> (adapted).

El cine latinoamericano en el siglo XXI

El cine latinoamericano del siglo XXI: tendencias y tratamientos es un libro de Ricardo Bedoya, en el que este profesor de la Facultad de Comunicación de la Universidad de Lima y reconocido crítico de cine, analiza doscientas películas latinoamericanas. Lo hace a la luz de los tratamientos cinematográficos que se han desarrollado durante el siglo XXI y las tendencias que marcan el cine de esta región.

¿Qué tendencias ha seguido el cine latinoamericano a lo largo del siglo XXI?

Hay una tendencia muy fuerte hacia el trabajo con la memoria y la intimidad. En cuanto a memoria, me refiero a los hechos políticos pasados, sobre todo aquellos que implican traumas por la violencia generada desde el gobierno. Por ejemplo, las dictaduras argentina y chilena. Pero también hay una línea del cine contemporáneo que apunta al autorretrato, la autoficción. El cineasta se ve a sí mismo y su entorno, y convierte esa intimidad en material de registro. Por otro lado, hay una tendencia hacia el llamado cine del dispositivo. Es decir, películas que se hacen estableciendo autolimitaciones. Los directores se autolimitan a determinados elementos y reglas fijas. Por ejemplo, toda la película se graba con la cámara en mano o en un escenario o en términos de una conversación con una persona determinada. También se analiza en el libro el nuevo tratamiento de los espacios, sean estos entornos urbanos o rurales, y cómo se van transformando, cómo se demuelen algunos espacios tradicionales y se forman otros.

¿Qué géneros predominan?

Hay todo un trabajo de reapropiación de los géneros. Es decir, hay un diálogo con los géneros tradicionales. El cine latinoamericano de los últimos años, como el cine mundial también, lo que hace es tomar algunos elementos de los géneros tradicionales para transformarlos, para que esos esquemas de los géneros tradicionales iluminen determinadas zonas de la sociedad latinoamericana, de la política, la intimidad de los cineastas. Por ejemplo, se trabaja mucho el género policial, el cine negro, el terror, las películas de carretera o de viaje, que es un género típicamente norteamericano, pero que en el cine latinoamericano adquiere una dimensión distinta. La comedia, por otro lado, es un género más visible en las salas comerciales y tiene más éxito en términos de la asistencia del público. Pero en el Perú se hace cine en muchas regiones, y esta producción es menos conocida. Se hacen melodramas, películas de terror, sociales, se trabajan muchos géneros.

¿Cuáles han sido las películas más exitosas o más laureadas?

Comercialmente, Estación Central (Brasil); Nueve reinas (Argentina); El secreto de sus ojos (Argentina), Gloria (Chile). Hay otras que no tuvieron una exhibición tan amplia, pero fueron muy buenas, como El auge del humano (Argentina), Las Plantas (Chile). Pero si hay un auge del cine latinoamericano y hay películas que asisten a festivales internacionales es porque los Estados se han dado cuenta de que el cine es muy importante, porque proyecta una imagen del país. Por eso han creado mecanismos de apoyo y promoción, los cuales han logrado que el cine tenga un relieve muy particular.

¿De qué manera se fomenta el cine en otros países?

Hay mecanismos de estímulo a la producción cinematográfica a través de fondos del Estado. Se obtienen recursos de la exhibición cinematográfica, pues parte del boleto pasa a un fondo especial. También hay aportes de empresas privadas, que a cambio reciben beneficios tributarios. Esas son políticas que apoyan la producción. Aparte, hay otras que apoyan la presencia de películas en festivales. Los festivales son ferias con stands de diferentes países, donde se entrega a la gente información sobre las películas. Estas campañas atraen la mirada hacia el cine de cada país e incluso sirven para promover rodajes extranjeros en el territorio del país. Eso es muy importante, porque puede rodarse una película de Hollywood en un país latino, y eso deja mucho dinero por concepto de consumo de servicios de restaurantes y hoteles. Pero para eso hay que estar organizados.

Universidad de Lima. Internet: <www.ulima.edu.pe> (con adaptaciones).

On November 27, 1895, Alfred Nobel signed his third and last will at the Swedish-Norwegian Club in Paris. When it was opened and read after his death, the will caused a lot of controversy both in Sweden and internationally, as Nobel had left much of his wealth for the establishment of a prize. His family opposed the establishment of the Nobel Prize, and the prize awarders he named refused to do what he had requested in his will. It was five years before the first Nobel Prize could be awarded in 1901.

In this excerpt of the will, Alfred Nobel dictates that his entire remaining estate should be used to endow “prizes to those who, during the preceding year, have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind”.

“All of my remaining realisable assets are to be disbursed as follows: the capital, converted to safe securities by my executors, is to constitute a fund, the interest on which is to be distributed annually as prizes to those who, during the preceding year, have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind. The interest is to be divided into five equal parts and distributed as follows: one part to the person who made the most important discovery or invention in the field of physics; one part to the person who made the most important chemical discovery or improvement; one part to the person who made the most important discovery within the domain of physiology or medicine; one part to the person who, in the field of literature, produced the most outstanding work in an idealistic direction; and one part to the person who has done the most or best to advance fellowship among nations, the abolition or reduction of standing armies, and the establishment and promotion of peace congresses. The prizes for physics and chemistry are to be awarded by the Swedish Academy of Sciences; that for physiological or medical achievements by the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm; that for literature by the Academy in Stockholm; and that for champions of peace by a committee of five persons to be selected by the Norwegian Storting. It is my express wish that when awarding the prizes, no consideration be given to nationality, but that the prize be awarded to the worthiest person, whether or not they are Scandinavian.”

Alfred Nobel’s will. Nobel Prize Outreach AB 2021. Internet: <www.nobelprize.org> (adapted).

Hoje poderíamos acrescentar a última e talvez a mais formidável forma de tal dominação: a burocracia, ou o domínio de um intrincado sistema de departamentos, no qual homem algum pode ser tido como responsável, e que poderia ser chamado com muita propriedade o domínio de Ninguém. (Se, de acordo com o pensamento político, identificarmos a tirania como um tipo de governo que não responde por seus próprios atos, o domínio de Ninguém é claramente o mais tirânico de todos, uma vez que não existe alguém a quem se possa solicitar que preste conta por aquilo que está sendo feito. É esse estado de coisas que torna impossível a localização da responsabilidade e a identificação do inimigo, que figura entre as mais potentes causas da inquietação rebelde que reina em todo o mundo, de sua natureza caótica, e de sua perigosa tendência a descontrolar-se.)

Hannah Arendt. Sobre a violência.

Art. 17. É livre a criação, fusão, incorporação e extinção de partidos políticos, resguardados a soberania nacional, o regime democrático, o pluripartidarismo, os direitos fundamentais da pessoa humana (...)

Constituição Federal de 1988, Capítulo V.

Hoje poderíamos acrescentar a última e talvez a mais formidável forma de tal dominação: a burocracia, ou o domínio de um intrincado sistema de departamentos, no qual homem algum pode ser tido como responsável, e que poderia ser chamado com muita propriedade o domínio de Ninguém. (Se, de acordo com o pensamento político, identificarmos a tirania como um tipo de governo que não responde por seus próprios atos, o domínio de Ninguém é claramente o mais tirânico de todos, uma vez que não existe alguém a quem se possa solicitar que preste conta por aquilo que está sendo feito. É esse estado de coisas que torna impossível a localização da responsabilidade e a identificação do inimigo, que figura entre as mais potentes causas da inquietação rebelde que reina em todo o mundo, de sua natureza caótica, e de sua perigosa tendência a descontrolar-se.)

Hannah Arendt. Sobre a violência.

Art. 17. É livre a criação, fusão, incorporação e extinção de partidos políticos, resguardados a soberania nacional, o regime democrático, o pluripartidarismo, os direitos fundamentais da pessoa humana (...)

Constituição Federal de 1988, Capítulo V.

Redu, Belgium — Nearly 40 years ago, books saved this village.

The community was shrinking fast. Farming jobs had disappeared and families were moving away from this pastoral patch of French-speaking Belgium. But in the mid-1980s, a band of booksellers moved into the empty barns and transformed the place into a literary lodestone. The village of about 400 became home to more than two dozen bookstores — more shops than cows, its boosters liked to say — and thousands of tourists thronged the winsome streets.

Now, though, more than half the bookstores have closed. Some of the storekeepers died, others left when they could no longer make a living. Many who remain are in their 70s and aren’t sure what’ll happen after they’re gone.

It’s not just the businesses at risk. It’s Redu’s identity.

Reis Thebault. This village was a book capital. What happens when people stop buying so many books? In: The Washington Post. Internet: <www.washingtonpost.com> (adapted).