...the Filipino movies for Spain

Spanish envoy wants to bring PHL films to Spain ‘soon’

By IBARRA C. MATEO

10/03/2011

GMA News

Even as they are busy preparing for this week’s Pelicula: 10th Spanish Film Festival, Spanish and Filipino officials are also discussing the possibility of staging a Philippine film festival in Spain.

Describing cinema as “a vibrant reflection of culture," Spanish Ambassador to the Philippines Jorge Domecq said, “We hope that soon the Philippines will take its movies to our country, whose audience is wishing to see the works of Filipino filmmakers."

At a press conference last Sept. 29 to announce the 10th edition of Pelicula, Domecq said, “Spain has taken the initiative to promote Philippine cinema, not only in Spain, but also in the Philippines as demonstrated by the recent publication by Instituto Cervantes de Manila of the book: 44 Cineastas Filipinos/44 Filipino Filmmakers."

The embassy describes Pelicula as “one of the biggest showcases of Spanish and Latin American films in Asia."

“We are aspiring for a genuine partnership with the Philippines in terms of cinema. For that reason, we have initiated this year a partnership with the Film Development Council of the Philippines, which we hope will be most fruitful," Domecq added.

24 films

Pelicula begins on Oct. 4, with the invitational screening of “La Verguenza" (The Shame, 2009), winner of the Best Film and Best Screenplay awards at the 2009 Malaga Spanish Film Festival. Its scriptwriter-director, David Planell, will grace the Philippine premiere of his directorial debut, which tackles the decision of a rich couple to return an adopted child who was found to have behavioral disorders.

“On this 10th year, Pelicula will once again showcase a collection of more than 20 awarded films carefully selected from Spain, as well as from Argentina, Chile, Mexico, and Uruguay, all presenting a wide range of perspectives and styles," said Eduardo Calvo, the newdirector of Instituto Cervantes de Manila.

“I guarantee that Instituto Cervantes will always choose the best quality, the most attractive, and the most interesting sights of all Spanish cultures from Spain and other Spanish-speaking countries,’ he added.

Among the 24 films to be shown are the Javier Bardem starrer “Biutiful," for which he won the Best Actor award at the 2010 Cannes International Film Festival and at the 2011 Goya Awards. Directed by Alejandro Gonzales Iñarritu, “Biutiful" tells the story of Uxbal, who is engaged in the trafficking of illegal migrants and struggles to reconnect with his children when he discovers he has terminal cancer.

Calvo said a special cycle of screening of all the winners of the “Audience Choice Award" from 2002 to 2011 will be mounted during the festival, along with a photo exhibit documenting the history of Pelicula since it started.

The Asian premiere of Filipino director Raya Martin’s “Buenas Noches, España" (Good Evening, Spain) will be held on Oct. 10, he added.

Jose Maria Fons, cultural officer of the Instituto Cervantes de Manila, told reporters that Filipinos will have a chance to dialogue with “La Verguenza" scriptwriter-director David Planell on Oct. 5 and “Yo, Tambien" (Me, Too) scriptwriter-director Alvaro Pastor on Oct. 11, after the screening of their films. Planell and Pastor will also hold filmmaking workshops for Filipinos, he added.

Fons said one of this year’s highlights is the “Mexican Night" that will screen three Mexican films: “La Zona," a story about two divergent worlds that live in hatred and in fear of each other; Bardem’s “Biutiful"; and “Morirse esta en Hebreo," a comedy about relationships and life after death.

Noting that Filipinos often see some elements of local culture when they watch Spanish films, Ambassador Domecq said the success of Pelicula lies in its ability to “bring over to the Philippines a very accurate picture of what the main concerns and dilemmas of the Spanish people are these days, which these very good directors are making into films."

Beyond film

Calvo said the Instituto Cervantes is looking into the possibility of going beyond films and reaching out more closely to very young Filipinos through other art genres such as flamenco for dance and jazz for music. “We would like to offer the young Filipinos the best of Spanish culture," he said.

Side by side with Pelicula, Domecq said an international conference on the Galleon Trade will be held at the University of the Philippines in Diliman on Oct. 8 to be participated in by Spanish, Mexican, and Filipino experts.

“Foto," an exhibit of photographs by Spain’s top 15 photographers, will be launched at the Metropolitan Museum this month while the National Archives will exhibit historical documents from the Ilocos region in November, he said.

As part of the 150th anniversary of Jose Rizal’s birth, the ambassador said the Spanish Embassy and the Instituto Cervantes are launching an annotated version of “Noli Me Tangere" on Nov. 22 in connection with their “Philhispanic Classics." Historian Ambeth Ocampo wrote the introduction for the latest edition of “Noli" while philologist Isaac Donoso wrote the annotations.

The original “Noli" was published in 1886 in Berlin by the Berliner Buchdruckerei Actien Geseellschaft, while the 2011 “Noli" is published by the Biblioteca Clasicos Hispanofilipinos.

In Madrid, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs opens an exhibit on Rizal on Nov. 28 at the Spanish National Library, Domecq added. - YA, GMA News