The collective from the personal. Alcaldesa y Metamorphosis

Abstract

This review analyses two documentaries: Alcaldesa (Pau Faus, 2016) and Metamorphosis (Manuel Pérez, 2015) from the same moment, the electoral race and success of Ada Colau as Barcelona’s mayor. Both documentaries share the same process with the strategy of video confessions, but in Alcaldesa is Adau Colau the center, meanwhile in Metamorphosis, Laia Forné, a party organizer. The conflict presented is also common, how to win an election, how to participate in the institutions, and at the same time make it without sacrificing horizontality, i.e. the democratic principle of the origins of the movement? Each film is focused on one aspect, Alcaldesa in the problems of the leader with institutions, and how she is changing; Metamorphosis in the tensions of the group who prepares the campaign. The similarities between the documentaries, and the open access to the process offer a great opportunity to think about this singular moment.