• The section When America Dared to Dream brings together four films that reflect on North America’s recent history.
• All the films invoke the past through archival footage, featuring icons such as the legendary Henry Fonda, The Beatles’ visit to New York, the great photographer Ernest Cole, and blues singer Caiti Lord.
• The series will be screened from May 6 to 9 at La Casa Encendida, as part of the parallel programming of Documenta Madrid 2025.

Documenta Madrid, the International Documentary Film Festival organized by the Madrid City Council, and La Casa Encendida collaborate in this 22nd edition with When America Dared to Dream, a series of four films to be shown during the festival week, from May 6 to 9. This initiative is part of the Camera Lucidas program, dedicated to films that help us reflect on the present through a critical, political, and poetic lens.

The section invites reflection on how cameras can create memory and even shape worldviews. In a time of visual saturation, it champions films that encourage thought—about contemporary society, about history, and about what lies ahead. Just as lucid cameras once brought the outside world into the rooms of painters, it is now necessary to reclaim films that bring what is remote closer to us—be it history or lost forms of socialization.

This edition presents a selection of films that capture moments when struggle and dissent—expressed through art and thought—energized the cultural and political life of the United States. This year, Camera Lucidas presents four recent films that will take audiences back to “burning” eras in which North America was engulfed in deep crises, yet also gave rise to visionary and harmonious voices, convinced that the nation—and the world—could be changed.

The creators of these films—portraits of socially engaged, creative individuals—are foreign filmmakers reflecting on America. Four outsider perspectives that shed light on a land in shadows. All of the films summon the past through archival footage, from the iconic Henry Fonda to The Beatles' visit to New York, the celebrated photographer Ernest Cole, and blues artist Caiti Lord.

The program includes, from May 6 to 9 respectively, the following titles: Henry Fonda for President (Alexander Horwath, 2024, Austria), Grand Theft Hamlet (Pinny Grylls, Sam Crane, 2024), Ernest Cole: Lost and Found (Raoul Peck, 2024, France), and Caiti Blues (Justine Harbonnier, 2023, France/Canada). All screenings will be preceded by an introduction from the Documenta Madrid team.

In this way, La Casa Encendida joins the main venues of Documenta Madrid 2025 with a program that highlights the archive as a field of aesthetic creation and a vehicle for political memory. This collaboration underscores the shared commitment between both institutions to auteur documentary cinema, formal experimentation, and critical thought.

Documenta Madrid 2025
Organized by Cineteca Madrid, the festival remains a key meeting point for contemporary documentary and non-fiction cinema. This edition will once again feature three competitive sections—International, National, and Corte Final—with €36,000 in prizes, as well as a distribution award managed by Agencia Freak, along with a robust parallel program of retrospectives, special screenings, professional meetups, and workshops. The main venue will be Cineteca Madrid, which will host the Corte Final section in its entirety.

In addition to Cineteca, Documenta Madrid 2025 will extend to other major venues across the city, including the Museo Reina Sofía, Filmoteca Española, La Casa Encendida, and Fundación Casa de México. It is supported by ECAM, Madrid Film Office, Acción Cultural Española (ACE), the Romanian Cultural Institute, UNAM-Spain’s Center for Mexican Studies, the Swiss Embassy, Fundación Juan March, and Ricardo Bofill Taller de Arquitectura, among other national and international cultural institutions.

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Inquiries and interviews: prensa@documentamadrid.com; mdelriego@mahala.es