On December 21, the winter solstice and shortest day of the year, Instituto Cervantes de Manila, the cultural center of the Embassy of Spain, and Ayala Museum will offer a free screening of four multi-awarded Spanish short films — namely Elena Asins-Génesis, Pulse, Luchadoras and Consulta 16 — as part of El Día Más Corto/The Shortest Day, a short film festival celebrated simultaneously in more than 300 places worldwide.
The Shortest Day is an idea that was set in motion by the French Short Film Agency in 2011, in which more than two million people from all over the world participated. In 2012 the initiative was emulated by other countries and in 2013 it grew into a truly international event, with the affiliation of a total of 12 European countries, as well as Canada.
El Día Más Corto took place in Spain for the first time in 2013. It was organized by the Spanish Association for short films, coordinadoradelcorto.org, with 100 selected short films distributed in 20 recommended programs.
The main idea was that everyone can organize a film festival for friends and neighbors in order to celebrate short films everywhere: schools, hospitals, streets, bars — every place is welcome to screen.
Several television channels (TVE and Canal+) aired special short film programs, and Instituto Cervantes created a playlist of short films for its centers worldwide. The National Film Board and all regional film boards and cinematheques also joined the event.
Instituto Cervantes joined this Festival in 2015, with the aim of showcasing the creativity of Spanish and Filipino short film productions. As an indicator of the vitality of the medium in Spain, the short film Timecode, directed by Juanjo Giménez Peña, was chosen Best European Short Film at the European Film Awards 2017, celebrated last December 8 at Dublin. It previously bagged the Palme d'Or in the short film category of the Cannes Film Festival.
By joining the worldwide screenings, Instituto Cervantes and Ayala Museum will help put the Philippines in the map of the said film festival. In 2017, the Philippines will be one of almost 50 countries worldwide that will celebrate together the love for short films.
El Día Más Corto is brought to you by Instituto Cervantes, the Embassy of Spain, Ayala Museum and the Film Development Council of the Philippines. All films will be shown in their original version with English subtitles.
The screenings will take place at Ayala Museum starting at 5 p.m. Admission is free on a first-come, first-served basis. For those who register at http://bit.ly/AMlectureRegistration, there will be free popcorn courtesy of Instituto Cervantes. For more information please check out their Facebook page or the El Día Más Corto website.
