On 19 and 20 September, the El Bartolí botanical orchard, home of Todolí Citrus Fundació in Palmera, and the gardens of the Hotel Montsant in Xàtiva will once again host a new edition of Avant-Garde Cinema in the Garden, a showcase dedicated to experimental and avant-garde cinema.

Promoted by Todolí Citrus Fundació since 2022, this project proposes a dialogue between cinematic creation and the singular citrus landscape created by art curator Vicente Todolí. Over these five years, the cycle has articulated a journey through different ways of approaching nature through cinema, dedicating each edition to a specific theme: the garden, botany, water and, on this occasion, the earth understood as a sensitive territory.

Under the title The Sensitive Field, this fifth edition proposes a mythical and nostalgic reading of nature through films and characters that advocate ways of life deeply integrated in the countryside and rural life.

Works inspired by the philosophy of poets such as Virgil, whose Georgics constitute an ode to the earth and agriculture; or by the botanical gaze of Emily Dickinson, who wrote innumerable verses on botany; the works gathered in the programme portray artists or gardeners who live in communion with nature, understanding it as something “sacred and valuable”; or psychedelic abstractions and explosions of colour that reveal the fascination of these filmmakers with the natural world.

The programme brings together works by classic experimental filmmakers such as Bruce Baillie, Marjorie Keller or Bruce Elder, alongside contemporary filmmakers such as Jodie Mack or Joel Schlemowitz. Also to be screened is the film arising from the collaboration between artists Peter Nadin, Aimée Toledano and Natsuko Uchino, a work that understands cultivation of the land as artistic practice and a form of knowledge.

Established as one of the most singular cultural events of the Valencian rentrée, Avant-Garde Cinema in the Garden offers every September the opportunity to discover cinema of extraordinary artistic and poetic value, usually far removed from commercial circuits and closer to the realm of the visual arts. The experience of an open-air screening, in dialogue with the landscape of El Bartolí and the gardens of the Hotel Montsant, turns each session into an invitation to look at cinema from another perspective.

The showcase is curated by Andrea Franco, researcher and audiovisual programmer. Since the creation of the cycle in 2022, she has developed a curatorial line that explores the relationships between experimental cinema, landscape and nature. She has recently been awarded the José Luis Soler Curatorial Prize, which will lead to a photography exhibition opening next September at Bombas Gens, within the official programme of PHotoESPAÑA 2026.

The cycle also has the sponsorship of INELCOM, a technology company founded by the Quilis family, owners of one of Spain’s most important private collections of contemporary art. Their support reflects a firm commitment to cultural patronage and to initiatives that foster dialogue between artistic creation, territory and society.

For the third consecutive year, Hotel Montsant joins the project by hosting the second session of the cycle in the gardens of its emblematic location in Xàtiva, at the foot of the castle. This collaboration expands the territorial reach of the initiative and allows the programme to engage with another space of great historical and landscape value, where citrus trees are also present. The same programme will be screened in full at both venues.

Both sessions will be free of charge until full capacity is reached, and attendance must be confirmed by email at cine@todolicitrus.org

+Download invite (only in Spanish)

+Download programe (only in Spanish)

+Download press release (only in Spanish)