From October 5 to 15, PELÍCULA-PELIKULA, the biggest Spanish film festival in Asia, will be featuring the best of contemporary Spanish cinema at the Greenbelt 3 Cinemas, Makati. Presented by Instituto Cervantes, the Embassy of Spain-AECID, the Film Development Council of the Philippines (FDCP) and Ayala Cinemas, the 16th edition of the Spanish Film Festival will screen more than 20 films.
Since its conception by Instituto Cervantes in 2002, the Festival has traditionally been graced by the presence of Spanish and Latin American filmmakers. In this edition, film director Salvador Calvo will fly to Manila to open the Festival with his movie 1898, Los últimos de Filipinas. Produced in 2016, the film retells the story of the siege of Baler, where in 1898 a group of Spanish soldiers resisted for 337 days without knowing that the war was over.
On October 6, at 4:30pm, Spanish director Sally Gutiérrez will present her non-fiction film Ta acorda ba Tu el Filipinas? Produced in 2017, and selected by several festivals around the world like the Seminci (Valladolid, Spain) and the Los Angeles Philippine Film Festival, the Manila screening will be the world premiere of Sally Gutiérrez’ work.
The line-up of films shows a list of genres ranging from romance and comedy (La noche en que mi madre mató a mi madre, El ciudadano ilustre) to documentaries (Frágil equilibrio), thrillers (Al final del túnel, El hombre de las mil caras), animation movies (Psiconautas), and dramas (Que Dios nos perdone, Tarde para la ira).
Aside from its line-up of movies in different genres, the film festival also gives tribute to Latin- American cinema with movies from Argentina, México and Venezuela.
On October 10, in collaboration with the Embassy of Argentina, Película will focus on the Argentinean film industry with the showing of the documentary El auge del humano, the multi-awarded comedy El ciudadano ilustre, and the drama Kóblic, which will be played at 4:30pm, 7:30 pm, and 9:30 pm, respectively.
In December, thanks to the collaboration of the Film Development Council of the Philippines (FDCP), a selection of the films shown in the Festival will travel to other cities in the Philippines, and will have a second leg in Baguio, Ilo-ilo, and Davao.
Audience Choice Award
Also, one should not miss the “Audience Choice” Award that happens in every edition of PELÍCULA. During the Festival, the audience will be given stubs with which 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 a round-trip ticket to Spain.
Presented by Instituto Cervantes, the Embassy of Spain–AECID, the Film Development Council of the Philippines (FDCP), and Ayala Cinemas,PELÍCULA is made possible by Rustan’s, Fundador, Turkish Airlines, and TurEspaña, in collaboration with Ayala Museum, Philippine Transmarine Carriers, Diamond Hotel, the Spanish Chamber of Commerce, Buzz Productions, the Embassy of Argentina, the Embassy of Mexico and the Embassy of Venezuela.
For the schedule, line-up of films and further information on the Festival, please log on to Instituto Cervantes website (www.manila.cervantes.es) or visit the Facebook page of Instituto Cervantes: www.facebook.com/InstitutoCerv
