The 18th PELÍCULA-Spanish Film Festival will feature the best of contemporary Spanish cinema until October 13 at Greenbelt 3. Presented by Instituto Cervantes, the Embassy of Spain, Turespaña and the Film Development Council of the Philippines, PELÍCULA will screen more than 20 films under the theme “18 Years Advocating Quality Films on the Big Screen.”
The Spanish Film Festival has been an annual attraction at Greenbelt since Instituto Cervantes started holding it in 2002. In line with this tradition, the first leg of the festival will be held at Greenbelt 3 Cinemas and it will conclude at the UP Cine Adarna from October 23 to 24. The second leg will feature a selection of the programmed films, including the winner of the Audience Choice Award.
With genres ranging from comedy, drama, historical, thriller, documentary, fantasy, and even animation for adults, there is a film for every viewer. PELÍCULA will kick off with an animated film for adults, Buñuel en el laberinto de las tortugas (“Buñuel in the Labyrinth of the Turtles”), which was preselected by the Spanish Film Academy for the next Oscars.
Other films in this year’s line-up are Els dies que vindran (Carlos Marques-Marcet, 2019), Isabel Coixet’s latest film, Elisa y Marcela (2019), the biopic Yuli (Icíar Bollaín, 2018), and the multi-awarded Isaki Lacuesta’s film Entre dos aguas (2018), which bagged the Golden Shell to the Best Film at the 2018 San Sebastian Film Festival.
Dramas will be well-represented in this year’s edition, with works like No sé decir adiós (Lino Escalera, 2017), Quién te cantará (Carlos Vermut, 2018), and Litus, for which director Dani de la Orden recently received the Best Film Award at the 2019 Malaga Film Festival. De la Orden doubles in PELíCULA with the comedy, El mejor verano de mi vida (2018).
From the country that produces thrillers like the world-acclaimed series La casa de papel (“Money Heist”), you can expect a few gripping crime and suspense movies like the multi-awarded political thriller, El Reino (Rodrigo Sorogoyen, 2018), the thriller 70 binladens (Koldo Serra, 2018), and the pseudo-documentary Apuntes para una película de atracos (“Notes for a Heist Film”), directed by León Siminiani in 2018.
PELÍCULA will also screen Latin American cinema, with one feature film from Colombia, El piedra (Rafael Martínez Moreno, 2018), and three Argentine-Spanish co-productions: El Ángel (Luis Ortega, 2018), Mi obra maestra (Gastón Duprat, 2018), and maestro Juan José Campanella’s latest work, the black comedy El cuento de las comadrejas (“The Weasels’ Tale”).
A Tribute to Filipino Cinema
The Filipino word “pelikula,” derived from the Spanish word “película,” echoes the cultural ties shared by the Philippines and Spain. In line with this, the Festival has offered joint Filipino-Spanish programs since its first editions. This year, declared the Centennial Year of Philippine Cinema, PELíCULA did not want to let the opportunity pass to pay tribute to the rich history of Philippine film industry.
On October 12, at 2 p.m., film historian Nick Deocampo will deliver a talk on the origins of cinema in the Philippines. The same day, at 4:30 p.m., PELÍCULA, in collaboration with TBA Studios, will screen Habambuhay (2019), presented by its director Clodualdo del Mundo. Habambuhay is a documentary that commemorates the lives and efforts of the people behind and in front of the camera who shaped the Philippine movie industry. It features archival footage, clips and photos, as well as exclusive interviews with screen legends like Anita Linda, Eddie Mesa, Rosemarie Gil, and Eddie Garcia, in the actor’s last in-depth interview before his passing.
Audience Choice Award
Last but not the least, film buffs should not miss the yearly “Audience Choice” Award. The audience will be given stubs where they can rate the movies they have seen. For every five movies, members of the audience qualify to join the raffle where they get a chance to win free dinners in five of the best Spanish restaurants in town –namely La Pícara, Barcino, Bar Pintxos, Tapella, and Pablo Bistro. The winning film will be shown again on October 13, 7 p.m. at Greenbelt 3, and on October 24 at Cine Adarna in UP Diliman.
PELÍCULA is also made possible by Ayala Cinemas, Rustan’s and The PTC Group of Companies, in collaboration with the Spanish Chamber of Commerce in The Philippines-La Cámara, UP Film Institute, Intramuros Administration, Nettflix, TBA Studios, Restaurante La Pícara, Barcino, Bar Pintxos, Tapella and Pablo Bistro.
For the schedule, film details and further information on the Festival, visit https://manila.cervantes.es or the Facebook page of Instituto Cervantes: www.facebook.com/InstitutoCervantesManila
