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The life journey of Antonio Martín "Michael".

Thousands of planes take off and land at Adolfo Suárez Madrid-Barajas Airport, but only one person does it every day from the nearby neighborhood of Alameda de Osuna. He is the artist and the only terrevuelo commander in the world, Antonio Martín "Michael", with an intellectual disability and member of Envera.

The figure of "Michael" places us before an extraordinary artist who, in the great journey of his life, masterfully combines four audiovisual disciplines: photographer, musical composer, director and announcer of the sports program "El Pichichi" on Radio Terrícola and meticulous builder of wooden models of unique buildings. Through the exhibition "Al borde del aeropuerto", the short film "El vuelo de Michael" and the musical composition "Éxito feliz", the project "El viaje de la vida de Antonio Martín" shows the capabilities of a person with intellectual disabilities and highlights his point of view and the richness of the diversity of the global world.

Because as Envera's 40th anniversary slogan says: "We can all be the best at something".

Michael's Flight - Short Film
Photo by Antonio Martin

Awards

IBEROAMERICAN SHORT FILM FESTIVAL ABC (FIBABC) - Best Short Film with a Social Theme

BRAIN FILM FEST - SOLÉ TURA AWARD - Audience Award

REC RIBADEDEVA IN SHORT - Best Documentary Short

COLMENAR VIEJO SHORT FILMS EXHIBITION - Award

AARETALER KURZFILMAGE (Switzerland) - Audience Award 3rd. Place

Selections

LANZAROTE INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL (Spain)

PRE-SELECTION TRIBECA FILM FESTIVAL (USA)

CINE LAS AMERICAS INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL (USA)

REINO DE LEÓN FILM AND TELEVISION FESTIVAL (Spain)

SHORT TO THE POINT (Romania)

FESTIVAL INTERNACIONAL CURTAS DE CINE E BANDA DESEÑADA DE VILLAGARÍA DE AROUSA (Spain)

DECORTOÁN YOUNG YOUTH SHORT VIDEO COMPETITION (Spain)

GALLO PEDRO SHORT FILM COMPETITION (Spain)

MEDITERRANEAN FILM FESTIVAL (Spain)

VILLA DE LEIVA INTERNATIONAL INDEPENDENT FILM FESTIVAL (Colombia)

KOLKATA FILM FESTIVAL (India)

KARAMA HUMAN RIGHTS FILM FESTIVAL (Jordan)

FILM AND HUMAN RIGHTS FESTIVAL (Spain)

ETNOGRÁFICA - INTERNATIONAL ETHNOGRAPHYC FESTIVAL (Spain)

INTERNATIONAL EXPERIMENTAL DIGITAL EXPERIMENTAL FILM FESTIVAL OF ESPACIO ENTER CANARIAS (Spain)

CERTAMEN SOCIAL AUDIOVISUAL EDITA (Spain)

Antonio Martín at PhotoEspaña - At the edge of the airport

Antonio Martín "Michael" (Madrid, 1971) began his photographic career in May 1991 when his father, an Iberia employee, gave him a camera as a gift on a trip to Tenerife. Since then, for him, photography has been consubstantial to breathing. To that Kodak negative camera, he later added a Fujifilm digital camera and later the lens of his cell phone. Today every portrait has its replica in the three cameras.

Antonio lives glued to his cameras and with them he collects much more than an image: the experience of the perfect instant he wishes to remember. Through them he has built the graphic memory of a neighborhood and its protagonists, united by the almost sacred bond of "Michael's" red cushion. Moreover, each of these portraits is a victory over the prejudices faced by people with intellectual disabilities; each portrait is a triumph over ignorance and misunderstanding.These are some of his photographs:

These are some of his photographs:

"I took this photo at the beginning of 2016. It is an image of my old cushion, which was the seat of a Seiscientos, taken on the terrace of my house in Alameda de Osuna. The cushion is my signature."

"I started taking photographs on May 5, 1991 a year before I joined Envera. I was on a trip to Tenerife. I was 19 years old. The first photo was a landscape. Then I started taking portraits of my classmates at the Virgen de Lourdes school. In that school I met my friend Bruno, who is one of my sources of information for the program "El Pichichi", because he has been working for Real Madrid for a long time".

"A quarter of a century ago I was interested in airplane and landscape photos, but I gradually focused on portraiture."

"When they call me Iberia, I feel like an expert as a pilot and I get into the skin of commander Ramon Lopez. I am also an expert in meteorology. Necessary for the former. Without flying and without the airplanes I would be another person. Logical. This is the trip of my life".

2018

"My partner at the Envera Occupational Center Irene Barrado. Irene has amazing eyes and I like to portray her, like the rest of my colleagues at Envera where every day I go to learn something new and to do my Radio Terrícola program, "El Pichichi", which is the most listened to program in Spanish radio broadcasting".

2007

"Girl on the curb in Alameda de Osuna. For the photo to come out well I have to place myself at the right distance and make the people I am going to portray feel comfortable with me."

2010

"My neighbor Carolina. She is Colombian. I liked how she carried the umbrella to cover the child. I titled it "Umbrella in the sun".

The exhibition "Al borde del aeropuerto", curated by Mingote award winner Miguel Berrocal, is part of PhotoEspaña 2018 with the support of Iberia and the Madrid City Council being exhibited at the Gloria Fuertes Cultural Center and, later, at the Teresa de Calcuta Cultural Center. It was also hosted by the Blas de Otero Cultural Center in San Sebastián de los Reyes and, currently, it can be visited in the Islazul Shopping Center (Madrid).

"Al borde del aeropuerto" was officially inaugurated on June 15 with the visit of the director of PHotoESPAÑA, Claude Bussac; the president of the Municipal Board of Barajas, Marta Gómez; the director of Communication and CSR of Iberia, Juan Cierco; the president of Envera, José Antonio Quintero, and its general director, Pedro Sobrino; the curator of the exhibition, Miguel Berrocal; and the author of the exhibition, Antonio Martín "Michael".

Building constructor

"I started building buildings on March 19, 1983. It was the day my grandfather Rafael died. That was 35 years ago. That's a long time building constructions with bricks made from the wood of the sticks. There are the Wimbledon courts, I also have a morgue with heliport, the library of the Alameda de Osuna, an area for dogs ... And so dozens of them. This work has become, together with photography, radio and terrevuelos, my life. Without all this I would be another".

"Castle that I made with chopsticks. It has bedrooms, bathrooms and a rooftop pool that at first had a shower, but it wasn't needed."

"Tennis court."

"Children's swing park".

"Karting circuit".

"Casita with entrance from the street"

"Dog park".

"This church is the parish of St. Eve."

"Ambulatorio de la Alameda de Osuna".

The composer: "Happy success, success achieved".

"I started building buildings on March 19, 1983. It was the day my grandfather Rafael died. That was 35 years ago. That's a long time building constructions with bricks made from the wood of the sticks. There are the Wimbledon courts, I also have a morgue with heliport, the library of the Alameda de Osuna, an area for dogs ... And so dozens of them. This work has become, together with photography, radio and terrevuelos, my life. Without all this I would be another".

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