llengua catalana English language

 

This image below is displayed at the end of my short film, 'Homage to a Catalonian Christmas'. View a slide show of images from the film or watch the first few minutes as a QuickTime further below.

George Orwell's comments about Catalans
donate to Homage to a Catalonian Christmas film project

     Watch the video on YouTube


Click the image above to start the movie.
Animation by Joan Romani (Scaramuix)		 Do you have any images or video of the llufa, 3 kings arriving in Barcelona, tió, caganers, or any unique Catalan Christmas tradition, that you would like to see in the video?
Letter to Catalan President Pasqual Maragall i Mira

This is the 2:18 introduction to my 17 minute short film, 'Homage to a Catalonian Christmas'. The above QuickTime movie is 11 megabytes in size and was created using the mpeg-4 compression.
Click here to fix QuickTime movie player problems.

Dali photos courtesy © photo DESCHARNES / daliphoto.com

Homage to a Catalonian Christmas
directed by Greg Wilcox
Des Moines, Iowa, U.S.A.

wilcoxgregorya@yahoo.com

 

Synopsis
Witness a unique Catalonian Christmas that includes the scatological traditions of the nativity and the caganer (shitter) and the shitting of the tió (Christmas log). Catalonia is an autonomous region in Northeast Spain that has been fighting for its cultural and political independence ever since Spain conquered it in 1714.
     

Credits
Interviewer/translator
Guide
Animation/Large caganer
Nose Man photos
Dali photos
Director


Laia Vicens-Fusté
Anna Maria Fusté-Peris
Joan Romani (Scaramuix)
Ramon Llaberia
Descharnes/daliphoto.com
Greg Wilcox

 What is a Catalan?
     

Greg Wilcox's Van with Catalonian Sticker
My van licensed in Iowa.
Greg Wilcox under Catalonian flag on September 11, 2003
A toast to Catalonia.
St. Louis, Missouri, USA, Sept. 11

Greg Wilcox's car with Catalonian Sticker and Bush caganer

The van has been replaced by another car.

 
Director Bio/Filmography
I was born in 1963 in Des Moines, Iowa and received a bachelor degree in computer science in 1997. ‘Homage to a Catalonian Christmas’ is my second short film. My first short, ‘Fortunate Son’ (2003, 4 minutes), features Creedence Clearwater Revival, Wrangler Jeans, and President George Bush as a fortunate son who had the political power to evade combat in the Vietnam War. It played in nineteen film festivals in 2003 - 2004.

 

October 25, 2005

Greg Wilcox                                                             
Des Moines, IA
U.S.A.

 

Molt. Hble. Sr. Pasqual Maragall i Mira
Pl. de Sant Jaume, 4
08002 Barcelona
Spain

 

Dear Molt. Hble. Sr. Pasqual Maragall i Mira;

I have sent you my short film, ‘Homage to a Catalonian Christmas’. I created it from video that I recorded in the winter of 2003 ­ 2004. I have always been interested in Europe and after the Christmas visit, I am in love with Catalunya. I have written to express my good wishes for your country and to ask for your support. My experience in the U.S., is that few people know of Catalunya. I hope to help change that by sending this film to festivals around the world. I will be promoting Catalunya and Catalan culture.

My hope is that one of your governmental departments can help me with the entry fees. I sent my first short film, ‘Fortunate Son’, to over 50 festivals. It played in Barcelona and Bilbao. I would like to send ‘Homage’ to as many festivals as I can afford. Most film festivals in Europe do not charge an entry fee. All festivals in the US do charge a fee. It varies from country to country. Some of the costs include DVDs, mailing material, postage, entry fees, printing, conversion to make the film viewable on different festival projection systems (BetaSp, HDCAM, PAL), travel, and web hosting. I have spent hundreds of hours on this non-commercial project and hope that audiences around the world will be introduced to the great nation of Catalunya. In fact, a couple of people I showed it to at the Des Moines Art Center said that they now want to visit Catalunya.

I plan to post this letter on my website, www.catalonian-christmas.com. The beginning of the film can be found there. If you respond, I will post your response as well. Finally I ask humbly and without expectation, for any Catalan publications in English. And since my film is in part about the caganer, I would love to tell audiences that the President of Catalunya sent me a signed caganer of himself.


Sincerely

Greg Wilcox

The president did not write back.

 

Proposal for reform of the statute of autonomy of Catalonia (Nation's past, proposed future)

 

Catalonia is a nation
Milers i milers de persones van ocupar literalment la Gran Via de Barcelona en una manifestació de proporcions gegantines.
Thousands and thousands of persons occupied the main road of Barcelona in a demonstration of gigantic proportions.
Pere Virgili - Feb 19, 2006, photo was taken from www.avui.cat, a Catalan newspaper