FROM October 3 to 11, the 19th edition of PELÍCULA Spanish film festival will showcase the best of contemporary cinema from Spain, as the 2020 installment will screen eight full-length movies and four short films online.
According to organizers, the Spanish film festival has been an annual attraction in Philippine cinemas since its conception in 2002 by Instituto Cervantes de Manila. With the health crisis posing the greatest challenge in the history of the festival, PELíCULA responds by offering online screenings and webinars.
Even better, it is expanding to two other countries on this side of the world: Thailand and Australia.
Each movie will be available for viewing for free at www.pelikula.es for 24 hours starting at 6 p.m. in the Philippines and Thailand and 8 p.m. in Australia on the programmed screening date.
The festival will open on October 3 with La filla d’algú (2019), a film directed by 11 students from the Escuela Superior de Cine y Audiovisuales de Cataluña. Other movies in this year’s lineup are El increíble finde menguante (by Jon Mikel Caballero, 2019), the comedy Asamblea (by Alex Montoya, 2019) and dramas like Jaulas (by Nicolás Pacheco, 2018), and Arima (by Jaione Camborda, 2019).
Likewise, there will be documentaries such as Mudar la piel (by Ana Schulz and Cristóbal Fernández, 2018) and El cuadro (by Andrés Sanz, 2019). PELÍCULA will also feature Latin American cinema with one film from Costa Rica: El despertar de las hormigas (by Antonella Sudasassi, 2019).
Aside from the screenings, webinars and online discussions will be conducted, with the participation of the directors of the films featured in the festival. On October 5, there will be a roundtable discussion about “Marketing Asian Cinema in Europe, and Spanish Cinema in Asia.” On October 9, the directors of Spanish, Thai and Filipino major film festivals will hold a discussion to answer the question: “Any Future for Film Festivals?” These may be accessed for free via www.pelikula.es.
Encounters thru short films
THE Tagalog word pelikula comes from the Spanish película (film)—proof of the deep cultural ties shared between the Philippines and Spain. With this spirit in mind, since its first editions, PELÍCULA had among its main objectives the joint organization of Spanish-Filipino programs which could foster dialogue and collaborative projects between filmmakers from the Philippines and the Spanish-speaking world.
Under a similar approach, on October 10, PELÍCULA will offer “En corto:Short Films from the Philippines, Thailand, Australia and Spain,” where four recent short films—one from each country—will be featured, as their directors will take part in an online discussion thereafter.
Audiences get to judge
LAST, but not least, film buffs should not miss the yearly Audience Choice award. Established in 2004, the Premio del Público (Audience Choice Award) recognizes in each edition the film PELíCULA viewers have voted as the best of the festival. As a popular feature of the festival among the attending public, it will be maintained in 2020, adapting to the new condition of online festival.
Viewers will be given “virtual stubs” which they will use to rate the movie they have seen online. The winning movie will be screened once again on October 11, 6 p.m. at www.pelikula.es.
For the schedule, film details and further information on the Festival, visit www.pelikula.es, https://manila.cervantes.es, and on Facebook: InstitutoCervantesManila.