We interviewed Diane Pernet, creator of the A Shaded View on Fashion blog and upcoming A Shaded View on Fashion Film festival.

What is your experience of Barcelona?

About six years ago, Juan Montenegro from B-Guided invited my first fashion film festival, You Wear it Well, to the Arts Santa Mònica gallery for a screening and for years I used to write for B-Guided. I think I discovered Barcelona with his help.

What images do you most strongly associate with the city?

I read the book The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafón and I absolutely was under its spell, so the last time I visited Barcelona I wanted to experience the Gothic area of Barcelona. I loved it and came home with various sizes of skull candles.

How did it come about that Barcelona was chosen as the next destination for the festival?

ASVOFF has always been a travelling fashion film festival and Alex Murray-Leslie proposed that I bring ASVOFF to Barcelona and acted as the motor that has made this event happen. I’ve always been attracted to Spain and am really happy to be able to bring the festival to the wonderful CaixaForum Barcelona this January 2012.

Are there elements of Spanish cinema which have inspired you over the years?

I have read that you are a fan of Buñuel and Almodóvar, which images, scenes or costumes stick out in your mind?

You are right in assuming that I love Spanish cinema. When I was studying film in university I was crazy about Luis Buñuel’s films. All film students know Un Chien Andalou, the surrealist short film that Buñuel made with Salvador Dali in 1929. After seeing that I explored every Buñuel film that I could get my hands on. There are so many of his films that I loved, some are Nazarín, The Exterminating Angel, Belle de Jour, Tristana, The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie and Él.

I’ve been under the spell of Almodóvar since I saw Pepi, Luci, Bom and Other Girls Like Mom in 1980; since then I saw every film he ever made. As for favorites, Law of Desire, Matador, What Have I Done to Deserve This, Dark Habits, Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown, Kika, The Flower of My Secret, All About My Mother, Bad Education, Volver…

As for costumes, Almodóvar, Kika, I loved the camera on her head and of course Matador with the hair pin, well, really any of his films pay attention to fashion and the tiniest details of an actor’s look – he has a real sense of fashion as a strong element used to build his characters, Buñuel the same but I guess for fashion the most memorable was Belle de Jour.

What elements of this year’s edition ASVOFF are you most excited about or intrigued by? Any special recommendations? For example Spanish/Catalan artists or designers whose work you follow?

The sheer scale and variety of this year’s films have astounded me. There is cinematography capturing everything from uplifting theatrics and cheeky satire to confrontational characters and scenes that are saturated with decadence and luxurious wardrobes – while others have been choreographed by a very austere hand. The screenings will take the viewer on a ride that runs the gamut of emotions. Imagine the contrast between sublime innocence and a primal sense of arousal; or images of pure bliss and eye-candy rounding off the edgier side of life like eerie moods, avant-garde clothes and controversial narratives. All this, through the lens of fashion, style and beauty. I hope that the public and the jury will be as delighted, haunted, enchanted, challenged and thoroughly entertained by what they see as I have been.

I was not there but one of my contributors had the pleasure of going to the Balenciaga museum and I’ve been enchanted by the catalogue. As for contemporary Spanish designers I like Carlos Díaz Díaz, David Delfín and José Castro. Enjoyed Locking Stocking in the past and many more I need to discover.

ASVOFF has now had collaboration from many an artist both known and unknown, but are there any “fantasy collaborations,” or people you’d still love to get onboard?

I’m sure you can guess, I dream of having Pedro Almodóvar on my jury. I have to say that I did get my nicest refusal for my jury from him this year and he did say that he liked the Project. Well the rejection letter came from his production company El Deseo and it gave me some hope that perhaps next year he might collaborate with ASVOFF. I can dream, can’t I?

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