The 19th edition of the Festivalito de La Palma hosts this jThursday June 27, at 12 noon, in the Santa Cruz Casa Tey (Calle Apurón, 3) the presentation of the book “Don Miguel, el del Cine. Miguel Brito Rodríguez (1876-1972): pioneer of cinema and photography in the Canary Islands”, by researcher Benjamín Reyes, who will be accompanied by Manuel Poggio Capote, official chronicler of S/C of La Palma.
The publication highlights the crucial importance of the figure of this multifaceted man and fan of all the innovations that emerged in his time, which led him to be a pioneer in the introduction in the Canary Islands of inventions related to image and sound that marked the transition from the 19th to the 20th centuries: photography, the phonograph and the cinematograph. Thanks to his insatiable curiosity, he carried out the first film screening in the Canary Islands, on February 13, 1898, the date on which he exhibited a series of films with the cinematographer Lumière, on the ground floor of the Círculo Mercantil in the capital of Tenerife.
He also promoted the first screening of the cinema on La Palma. On April 14, 1898, the Lumière cinematograph premiered at the Teatro Chico in the capital of Palma with the screening of the films “The Seven Steps of Jesus”, “Dance Lesson”, “Drunkenness” and “Carnival of Paris”.
Also in 1898 he opened a photographic studio, under the name Photographers and Dibujantes. Between 1898 and 1932 he accumulated 21,384 snapshots (currently housed in the General Archive of La Palma), which democratized photography among the Palma society and captured in images what the society of the time was like, in such a way that he became the portraitist of the palm trees Thanks to his good work, in 1900 he was appointed royal photographer under the mandate of Queen María Cristina. The 154-page book is illustrated by 75 images that reveal what the Palm society was like 100 years ago. It can be purchased at the Papiro and Ítaca bookstores in S/C de La Palma.
The book is the fruit of arduous research that brings to light for the first time the personal documentation of Miguel Brito housed in the Diocesan Archive of Tenerife. In the pages of this book the frames of the life of Miguel Brito are gathered, which allow us to compose the complete portrait of the life of one of the most interesting Canarians of the 20th century.
About the Author
Benjamín Reyes has a degree in Art History and Journalism. In recent decades, he has focused on research for various cultural activities such as art exhibitions or documentaries. His signature is included in the catalog of the photographic exhibition “Madagascar 1906” (2012). He has carried out the documentation, interviews and production of the documentaries “Déjame ser” (2014) and “Amaro Pargo: entre la legend y la historia” (2017).
In 2016 she obtained the XLVI Leoncio Rodríguez Journalism Prize awarded by the newspaper “El Día” thanks to her investigative report “12 pioneers”. In 2019 he published the book “Camposanto de San Juan (1814-1983). History of the city of La Laguna through its first cemetery.” In 2022 the publication “Valle de Guerra y su Librea” comes to light under the umbrella of the Cultural Association Friends of the Valle de Guerra Livery. “Don Miguel, the one from Cinema. Miguel Brito Rodríguez (1876-1972): pioneer of cinema and photography in the Canary Islands” is his third book.
