FROM OCT. 3 to 13, the 18th edition of PELÍCULA Spanish Film Festival will feature the best of contemporary Spanish cinema at Greenbelt 3 in Makati. Presented by Instituto Cervantes, the Embassy of Spain, Turespaña, and the Film Development Council of the Philippines (FDCP), the 2019 Spanish Film Festival will screen more than 20 films under the motto “18 Years advocating quality films on the Big Screen.”

Since its conception in 2002 by Instituto Cervantes, the Spanish Film Festival has been an annual attraction at Greenbelt. Following that tradition, the first leg of the Festival will be held at Greenbelt 3 Cinemas from Oct. 3 to 13, and it will conclude at the Cine Adarna-UP Film Institute at UP Diliman, Quezon City from Oct. 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 movie for every viewer. The Festival will open with an animation 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 movies in this year’s lineup 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 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, the intimate movie for which director Dani de la Orden recently received the Best Film Award at the 2019 Malaga Film Festival. Dani de la Orden doubles in PELíCULA with the comedy, El mejor verano de mi vida (2018).

There are several 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 show 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 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, since its first editions the Festival has aimed to offer joint Filipino-Spanish programs and since this is the Centennial Year of the Filipino Cinema by a Presidential Proclamation, PELíCULA will pay tribute to the rich history of Philippine film industry. On Oct. 12, 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 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.

Last but not 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. The winning movie will be re-shown on Oct. 13, 7 p.m., at Greenbelt 3, and on Oct. 24 at Cine Adarna (UP Diliman).

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.

RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR