In this edition of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria Film Festival we have decided to include again the section DÉJÀ VU, always destined to rescue titles we consider essential and believe that should not get lost in the more and more vast history of cinema. Most of the times, some of these films are not even included in this history, they are neglected by those who write the history, living only in the memory of a cinephile, maybe in an article of a specialized journal, or in a tin box at the bottom of a film archive.

In an industry so masculinized, it is not strange that this has happened to infinite films directed by women despite being authentic cinematographic jewels, pioneers both in style and form. In the worst cases, the authorship of these films has been ascribed to others or they have been left as anonymous. They even have been completely eclipsed by other films of minor interest due to the lack of support of the industry in general, and of distributers and exhibitors in particular. These films, although having passed by festivals with success among the critic and public, have been relegated to this little screen that opened for them once.

This year we are going to remember (or discover) seven titles directed by seven women to whom we want to pay a humble tribute, which we are conscious might be very extensive. Sticking to the limits we have as a short-term cultural event, we have focused particularly on films recently restored, some of which have been re-premiered in other international film festivals such as Cannes or Venezia. By doing so, we want to support the important work of cinematographic restoration, crucial not only for the preservation of filmic material, but for giving a second opportunity given to these films and for letting some of them become part of the history of cinema.

It is necessary to add that these seven films, although very different in form and content, do not only have in common that they have been restored and endowed by a new opportunity to be shown to the public. The great majority of films have main female characters that place women within the social and historical reality, making of it their own and making visible what had been invisible for a long time. They show a feminist reflection through different perspectives, which denounce directly and indirectly the distorted way of representing women both in cinema and in society.

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