FACE TO FACE WITH

Sebastià Arbonés Subirats, a journalist specialising in fantastic anthropology. He is also a filmmaker and a man of television and radio

Sebastià D’Arbó: “One must be entirely rational when studying enigmas and mysteries”

License Creative Commons

David Rabadà

My encounters with Sebastià-Daniel Arbonés Subirats, known as Professor Sebastià D’Arbó, stemmed from a mutual curiosity about the historical Jesus. This topic has led us to debates filled with arguments, facts, and reasoning that are far removed from the esotericism often associated with D’Arbó. I can confidently say that our discussions have woven a connection, one I now wish to showcase in this interview with this doctor of psychology, journalist, filmmaker, writer, scriptwriter, presenter, and media personality. Born in Tortosa on November 25, 1947, he considers himself more of a “river child,” referring to the Ebro River, than the man we see today. At heart, we are all still children living under the guise of adulthood. So, it is essential to interview this “river child” who swims through the media.

Your family moved to Switzerland. Did that influence your professional future?

Indeed it did. Growing up in the Third World-like conditions of Franco’s criminal post-war dictatorship is quite different from growing up in a culturally civilised country.

Your work on esoteric subjects and paranormal phenomena has perhaps garnered the most attention. Yet, in Africa, you filmed footage of wildlife (1969/70), which won TVE’s Antena de Oro award. Where does the journalist and filmmaker who captured real-life events stand today?

My adventurous life in Africa is far behind me. I lived in lands where cannibalism and anthropophagy were still practised. Now, in my older years, I live a much more sedentary life.

In 1975, you won the Ondas Award for the best radio programme with La otra dimensión on Cadena SER. What came next?

Later, I won two more Ondas Awards for the TV reports El asalto al Banco Central and Atentado de la ETA al Hipercor. On TV, I did Catalunya Oculta and Catalunya Misteriosa on TVE’s Catalan channel, and España Insólita and España Mágica on the state channel of TVE. Additionally, there was Pirineus màgics on Andorra Televisió, as well as En los límites de la realidad and El castillo de las mentes prodigiosas on Antena 3. And there were also segments of Misteris de Catalunya on TV3.

Later, you became known for hosting the series Catalunya Màgica on Catalunya Ràdio and Misterios con Sebastià d’Arbó on RAC 1, even creating your own thematic TV channel TeleMagik. However, people know little about your work as a filmmaker. Could you share a bit about that?

In 1972, as a producer, I won the Sonimag award for the documentary Parques Nacionales en los Pirineos. In 1974, I won first prize at the Sitges Fantasy and Horror Film Festival for the film Valdemar, el homónculus dormido. Finally, in 1976, I won the Golden Bear at the Berlinale in Germany for the film Ascensor, and so on and so forth.

“I don’t believe in competing as I don’t trust juries’ decisions”

Yes, there are many other things. I see that in the 1980s, you directed feature films such as Viaje al más allá (1980), El Ser (1982), Acosada (1984), Más allá de la muerte (1986), and Cena de asesinos (1988). In the 21st century, you made El misterio Fassman (2011) and produced El pionero (2018). What was this last project about?

It was a documentary about my long professional career across all areas of audiovisual creation. In a way, it’s quite surprising that I have won all these awards.

Why?

Because I’ve never applied for anything. I don’t believe in competing as I don’t trust juries’ decisions.

Why don’t you trust juries?

Because they tend to be biased.

Yet, you’ve won awards?

Yes, but I’ve won them by not submitting my work—just by doing a good job.

You created the first trilogy of parapsychological fantasy cinema in Catalonia and Spain, the so-called “Cine de la mente.” In 2002, the Sitges Festival paid tribute to your entire career, and in 2008, the Catalan Film Academy did the same as part of that same festival, for all your fantasy films. Did you apply for these awards?

No, I didn’t. As I mentioned, I accept professional and personal recognition from peers and followers, as not doing so would disrespect those who value my work.

You are currently running a YouTube channel on mystery stories: youtube.com/@MISTERIS-DARBO. Can one offer quality content on such topics?

The visual quality of our stories is extraordinarily good. It’s exceptional, and the content is available in Catalan, Spanish, and English. I invite everyone to watch and subscribe—it’s free.

Some critics question your use of artificial intelligence in creating the images. What do you think of these concerns?

Society must embrace changes and innovations without fear. The same thing happened with the invention of the steam engine, the industrial revolution, and even electrification of streets and homes. I vividly recall the latter.

Throughout your life, what has had more weight: paranormal phenomena or your filmmaking career?

Without a doubt, esoteric, magical, and mysterious topics, along with the study of paranormal phenomena, have been the leitmotif of my life. Through various media, I have shared these subjects.

Regarding your shows, do so many mysteries and paranormal phenomena really exist, or do we need to be more rational about them?

We must be entirely rational when studying enigmas and mysteries. While mysteries may appear to exist, the explanations are not rooted in obscurantism but often psychological, biological, or physical in nature.

“While mysteries may appear to exist, the explanations are not rooted in obscurantism but often psychological, biological, or physical in nature” 

In the 1980s, your programme Catalunya Misteriosa aired for over three years on television. Why did it come to an end?

Because we had to begin España Mágica, and then came the radio version, which ran for another seven years on Catalunya Ràdio.

Some say that mysteries are merely esoteric. How would you respond to that?

Not at all. In 2004, I revamped the previous programme into another called Misteris amb Sebastià d’Arbó on RAC 1. I also created my own television channel, TeleMagik. Furthermore, I am the organiser and director of Magic Internacional and the Festival Internacional de las Ciencias Ocultas in Barcelona, as well as the Congreso de Ciencias Parapsicológicas, from which the Enciclopaedia de las Ciencias Ocultas y Parapsicologia was born.

I see you also started a collection of books on fantastic cinema. With such a broad range of personal activities, what are you hoping to achieve?

I do it because it is part of who I am and my destiny, which is to pave the way for heterodox knowledge.

You often wear red. Is that to draw attention or for some other reason?

I wear red as a true Sagittarius, a solar sign symbolised by the colour of blood that gives us life. That’s why I always wear red garments.

What led you to pursue your current professional career?

First, my grandfather, who was a water diviner and sought out minerals underground. Then, my grandmother, who was a healer and would fix bones that were out of place. Later, I met a professor who introduced me to hypnosis and strange phenomena, Professor Fassman. I continued my education through books and with different teachers and institutions in France, England, and America. Once I had acquired the necessary knowledge, I began with educational work and then moved on to dissemination through the media.

You were a true pioneer in this country and during that era. From whom did you gain a better understanding of the social reality in which we live?

I learned about the reality during my 30 years as a reporter for TVE, travelling across Spain and exploring four of the five continents. That’s how I came to understand, firsthand, the miserable social reality in which we live on this planet and the pathetic cultural situation in our country.

Can you share the details of your latest personal or professional project?

At my age, I aim to have future projects to complete before I die. I am currently writing books, producing a weekly television programme, digitising my films, and producing a YouTube channel on mysteries, made with artificial intelligence. And perhaps, if I still have the strength and will, I would like to make one final film.

What positive links would you establish between your professional and personal growth and the education you received in school?

None. Everything I learned in school was theoretical and has been of absolutely no use to me. Later, when faced with real life, it was empiricism and pragmatism that shaped my knowledge and idiosyncrasy. Bear in mind that you are talking to someone who was already a psychologist before the University here had a Psychology Department or a College of Psychologists; someone who was already a journalist before the Department of Information Sciences or the College of Journalists existed; and who was already a filmmaker before all those film institutes and academies existed, in which I ended up teaching. I am from another era.

Do you think the current education system would have improved or hindered your professional career?

In some respects, it might have helped me acquire knowledge earlier since, in my time, there were no formal courses in psychology, journalism, or filmmaking. That said, my professional career has been relatively successful, especially considering I always worked from Barcelona and not Madrid, where there are far more professional opportunities.

How did your academic teachings affect you?

Formal academic teachings stifled my creativity, except for the technical teachings.

Considering your professional path, how do you believe the current education system could be improved?

It could simply be improved by adopting the liberal education systems found in countries that are more civilised than ours.

“It could simply be improved by adopting the liberal education systems found in countries that are more civilised than ours”

What are you most professionally proud of?

I’m proud to have worked with some of the most important media outlets in Catalonia, such as La Vanguardia, Radio Barcelona (SER), Catalunya Ràdio, RAC1, TVE, Antena 3TV, BETEVE, TV3, and 8tv. I’m also proud to have won an Antena de Oro, three Premios Ondas, and, in the realm of cinema, to have won the Sonimag Award, the top prize at the International Fantastic Film Festival of Sitges, and the Golden Bear at the Berlinale in Germany.

And all of this with the layer of esotericism on top?

Yes, but my films are screened annually at the Filmoteca Nacional Española—though not yet in Catalonia.

A prophet is not without honour except in his own country

Perhaps I am part of the gallery of Catalan “monsters” (figures), having been for many years the second most imitated person in Catalonia.

I see you’re often impersonated on the TV3 programme Polònia.

Yes, and as a crowning achievement, I am listed in the Gran Enciclopèdia Catalana as one of the universal Catalan figures.

Ideologies are often part of who we are. From a utopian perspective, what would be your wish for the personal or national future?

Undoubtedly, granting people the freedom to choose their own future and create their universal destiny.

And finally, what do you expect from your personal life?

I have little future left, though I hope to hold on a little longer to complete my life’s work of 50 years. As for the world around me, aside from the medicine that keeps me alive, thanks to science, I expect nothing. What others might think or say about me and my work is their problem. I only hope that one day institutions will have enough ethical sense to recognise my work of study, research, and dissemination of the unknown world within fantastic cultural anthropology over more than half a century of existence—probably long before they were born.

Source: educational EVIDENCE

Rights: Creative Commons