After two years of online editions, Película Spanish Film Festival makes its way back to the big screen this October 5-16, 2022 at the Red Carpet Cinema, Shangri-La Plaza Mall, Cine Adarna in UP Diliman, and at Instituto Cervantes's Intramuros branch.
Javier Bardem, Antonio Banderas, Penelope Cruz, and Javier Cámara are among the internationally renowned actors with films showing in the 21st edition of Película that boasts a mix of contemporary films of different genres, classics, documentaries, and shorts.
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| Javier Galván, Director Instituto Cervantes de Manila |
This edition boasts a selection of more than 20 films, the majority of which will be shown on cinemas with a number only available to view online from anywhere in the Philippines, Malaysia, and Australia.
Audiences will also get to rate movies that they've seen, with the highest rated film winning this year's Premio del Publíco/Audience Choice Award and be screened once again on the final day of the festival.
Here is the lineup for the 21st Película, Spanish Film Festival. All films will be shown in Spanish or in their original language with English subtitles.
A las mujeres de España. María Lejárraga/To the Women of Spain. María Lejárraga (2022)
Director: Laura Hojman
Cast: Kiti Mánver, (Narrator), Cristina Domínguez, Antonina Rodrigo, Rosa Montero, Vanessa Montfort, Juan Aguilera
In her new film, director Laura Hojman tells the story of María Lejárraga, a writer and pioneer of feminism in Spain during the 1920s, whose production came to light under the name of her husband, theater impresario Gregorio Martínez Sierra. The most prolific Spanish playwright of all time, author of works such as Cradle Song, made into films five times, or the libretto of El amor brujo, by Falla, was also a deputy for the Second Republic and founder of pioneering projects for women's rights and freedoms. Those dreams of progress were dashed by the outbreak of the Civil War.", "author": "Laura Hojman. After graduating with a degree in Art History, she developed her career as a screenwriter, documentary film maker and producer with Summer Films. In 2018 she made her debut as a director with Tierras Solares, a documentary feature film inspired by the work of the poet Rubén Darío that premiered in the official section Doc España of the International Film Week in Valladolid and was selected at festivals such as the Seville Festival, the Festival de Cine Iberoamericano of Huelva, Alcances or IberoDocs. Antonio Machado. Los días azules is her second feature film as a director.
Algo azul/Something Blue (2021)
Director: Mariel Garcia Spooner
Cast: Elizabeth Grimaldo, Carlos Torres, Andrea Pérez Meana, Robin Duran, Andrés Morale, Fabiola Sánchez, Ash Olivera, Mike Martinez, Samuel Ibarra, Juanxo Villaverde, Claudia Lamboglia, Mike Pérez
By accident, Ana loses her wedding dress a week before the wedding. In a room of the hotel where she works she finds the dress of her dreams. Tempted, she decides to try it on, but the owner of the dress discovers her. Ana runs away from the hotel dressed as a bride and decides that she must get married that same day. She will now start a race against the clock to convince her fiancé and manage to put everything together before she is caught, while becoming a media phenomenon.
Bertsolari (2011)
Director: Asier Altuna
Cast: Miren Amuriza, Maialen Lujanbio, Joseba Zulaika, John Miles Foley, Jon Sarasua
The "bertsolari" is a kind of minstrel who improvises verses and sings them in Basque. This oral tradition has evolved and adapted to the times, connecting with the younger generations, reaching up to 14,000 people in the final round of the last championship. It is an art form of austere aesthetics that surprises in this time of spectacularism and special effects.
Competencia oficial/Official Competition (2021)
Directors: Mariano Cohn, Gastón Duprat
Cast: Penélope Cruz, Antonio Banderas, Oscar Martínez, José Luis Gómez, Manolo Solo, Nagore Aranburu, Irene Escolar
A billionaire businessman in search of fame and social prestige decides to make a unique, groundbreaking film. To achieve this goal, he hires the best of the best: A stellar team consisting of famous filmmaker Lola Cuevas and two well-known actors who boast not only an enormous talent, but also an even bigger ego: Hollywood star Félix Rivero and aging theater thespian Iván Torres. They're both legends, but not exactly the best of friends. Through a series of increasingly hilarious tests set by Lola, Félix and Iván must confront not only each other, but also their own legacies.
Con quién viajas/Carpoolers (2021)
Director: Martín Cuervo
Cast: Salva Reina, Ana Polvorosa, Pol Monen, Andrea Duro
Four strangers meet in Madrid’s city center to go by car to Cieza, Murcia, through a share-ride app. During the journey, passengers chat about aspects of their lives to break the ice. Everything flows normally, but the driver seems to be hiding something and is behaving strangely. The trip will turn out to be very surreal and more fun than they expected.
Dosena (2022)*
Director: Kyla Romero
Cast: Andrew Figueroa (Ajay), Michael Odono (Chito), Shalomar Binamira (Isay), Aaron Alcoran, Vee Rolle, Alli Maw, Shieka Aljunaibi, Jhon Lopez, Peso Ratschild, Rich Ignacio, Daniella Sison Torres, Pong Sarcilla, Christian Louie Espiritu, Arvin Belarmino
A timid young boy who grew up with misfits deals with confusion and tragedy on the night of his 12th birthday.
El buen patrón/The Good Boss (2021)
Director: Fernando León de Aranoa
Cast: Javier Bardem, Manolo Solo, Almudena Amor, Óscar de La Fuente, Sonia Almarcha, Fernando Albizu
Básculas Blanco, a Spanish company producing industrial scales in a provincial Spanish town awaits the imminent visit from a committee that holds its fate in their hands as to whether they merit a local Business Excellence award: everything has to be perfect when the time comes. Working against the clock, the company’s proprietor, Blanco pulls out all the stops to address and resolve issues with his employees, crossing every imaginable line in the process.To win the competiton, the manipulative “good boss” shamelessly meddles in his employees’ private lives and crosses every line imaginable, unknowingly starting an explosive chain reaction with wild consequences.
El olvido que seremos/Forgotten We'll Be (2020)
Director: Fernando Trueba
Cast: Javier Cámara, Nicolás Reyes Cano, Patricia Tamayo, Juan Pablo Urrego, Laura Londoño, María Teresa Barreto
Based on Hector Abad Faciolince’s cult novel, Forgotten We’ll Be portrays the life of Héctor Abad Gómez, a prominent doctor and human rights activist in the polarized, violent Medellin of the 70s. A family man who is worried not only for his own children but those of the underprivileged classes as well, his home was imbued with vitality and creativity, the result of an education based on tolerance and love. Nothing could foretell that a terrible cancer would take the life of one of his beloved daughters. Driven by sadness and rage, Héctor devoted himself to the social and political causes of his time. But Medellin’s intolerant society would harass him until he was finally silenced. This is an intimate story seen through the eyes of his only son, Héctor Abad Faciolince, one of the most outstanding writers in modern Spanish-language literature.
El siglo de Galdós/The Century of Galdós (2020)
Director: Miguel Ángel Calvo Buttini
This documentary is about Benito Pérez Galdós, an extraordinary narrator of his era and a man committed to his time, which spans from the second half of the 19th century to the beginning of the 20th. He is a prestigious writer and a politician, yet very little is known as far as his private life is concerned. He was nominated several times for the Nobel Prize, but never received the award. Through his letters, his illustrations, interviews with personalities, along with archival material which has never been published, and exploring the places where he spent his life, the documentary narrates the existence, the work and the century that Galdós lived. A century, the century of Galdós, fierce and interesting.
El sur/The South (1983)
Director: Víctor Erice
Cast: Omero Antonutti, Sonsoles Aranguren, Icíar Bollaín, Lola Cardona, Rafaela Aparicio, Germaine Montero, Aurore Clément, María Caro, Francisco Merino, José Vivó
Based on a novel by Adelaida García Morales, the film is about Estrella's relationship with her parents —Agustín and Julia—, with whom she lives in a house in the north. Agustín is a doctor and a dowser. Julia was a teacher and was retaliated after the Republican defeat. The girl is attracted by the mysterious personality of her father, who one distant day leaves the south and has never wanted to return.
El test/The Test (2022)
Director: Dani de la Orden
Cast: Alberto San Juan, Miren Ibarguren, Blanca Suárez, Carlos Santos, Antonio Resines, Luna Fulgencio
What would you choose, one hundred thousand euros now or one million in ten years’ time? Héctor and Paula, overwhelmed by serious economic problems that threaten their own marriage, face a dilemma proposed by their rich friend, Toni, to help them. Héctor wants €100,000 to try to turn his unprofitable bar into a successful business, but Paula prefers to wait for the grand prize.
Esa pareja feliz/The Happy Couple (1953)
Directors: Juan Antonio Bardem, Luis García Berlanga
Cast: Fernando Fernán-Gómez, Elvira Quintillá, José Luis Ozores, Félix Fernández, Matilde Muñoz Sampedro, Rafael Alonso
Juan and Carmen live in a humble Madrid neighborhood. He works as an electrician in a movie studio and she takes care of the housework, while daydreaming about a better life. Her dreams of prosperity come true when they win a contest sponsored by a soap brand. They have been chosen "the happy couple" and must meet the prize requirements: for 24 hours the winning couple must receive all kinds of invitations and gifts.
España, la primera globalización/Spain: The First Globalization (2021)
Director: José Luis López-Linares
Cast: Antonio Valero, Rubén García Benito, Alicia Relinque, Abigail Horro Rodríguez, Lou Hiling, Carlos Martinez-Shaw, Marcelo Gullo
The "black legend" has caused that much of the history of Spain, America and the Philippines is poorly known, especially in its commercial and scientific aspects. This documentary focuses on correcting certain stories of that "black legend", a propaganda operation so persistent and effective that it has managed to firmly establish itself in the collective imagination. With the intervention of thirty-nine historians from around the world, the documentary offers new readings on the exciting historical period that began with the reign of the Catholic Monarchs, the discovery of America and its future, dismantling the black legend and spreading a more balanced picture of those times.
Handia/Giant (2017)
Directors: Jon Garaño, Aitor Arregi
Cast: Joseba Usabiaga, Eneko Sagardoy, Ramón Agirre, Iñigo Aranburu, Aia Kruse, Iñigo Azpitarte
After having fought in the First Carlist War, Martín returns to his family farmhouse in Gipuzkoa and discovers to his surprise that his younger brother, Joaquín, is much taller than normal. Convinced that everyone will want to pay to see the tallest man on Earth, both brothers embark on a long journey through Europe in which ambition, money and fame will forever change the fate of the family. The story is inspired by real events.
Jinetes del Paraíso/Horseman of Paradise (2020)
Director: Talía Carolina Osorio Cardona
Cast: Cholo Valderrama, Daniel Triviño, Yuri Alvarado, Juan Galvis
In Colombia, a farmer has won a Grammy and few know the landscapes that inspire his songs. El Llano provides a paradise, a delirious experience where nature shows its enigmatic beauty in couplets. Here, music, landscape, horsemen and horses are the protagonists of a vibrant culture, brought to the stages of the world through the verses and the voice of the narrator Orlando "El Cholo" Valderrama, but whose greatness is not known by the inhabitants of the city.
La boda de Rosa/Rosa's Wedding (2020)
Director: Iciar Bo llain
Cast: Candela Peña, Sergi López, Nathalie Poza, Ramón Barea, Paula Usero, Xavo Giménez, Paloma Vidal
About to turn 45, Rosa comes to realize that her full life has always been devoted to please others and decides to shake things up and grab hold of the reins of her life. But first, she wants to get married to herself. But Rosa will soon discover that changing her life is going to be anything but easy. Getting married, even with herself, is going to be the hardest thing she’s ever done.
La hija/The Daughter (2020)
Director: Manuel Martín Cuenca
Cast: Javier Gutiérrez, Patricia López
Irene is a fifteen-year-old who lives in a center for juvenile offenders. She just got pregnant and is determined to turn her life around with the help of Javier, an educator at the center. Javier offers her to secretly come live with him and his wife Adela in the house they have in a remote and rugged spot in the mountains so she can hide and comfortably carry out her pregnancy. The only condition is that in exchange, she agrees to give them the baby she is carrying in her womb. This feeble pact will be put in jeopardy when Irene starts to feel like the life growing inside her belongs to her.
Maixabel (2021)
Director: Icíar Bollaín
Cast: Blanca Portillo, Luis Tosar, María Cerezuela, Urko Olazabal, Tamara Canosa
In the year 2000, Maixabel Lasa’s husband, Juan María Jaúregui, was killed by ETA. Eleven years later, she receives an incredible request: one of the men who killed Juan wants to meet with her in the Nanclares de la Oca prison in Álava (Spain), where he is serving his sentence after breaking ties with the terrorist group. Despite her reservations and her immense pain, Maixabel Lasa agrees to meet face to face with those who ended the life of the person who had been her companion since she was 16 years old.
Mamá cumple cien años/Mama Turns 100 (1979)
Director: Carlos Saura
Cast: Geraldine Chaplin, Amparo Muñoz, Fernando Fernán Gómez, Norman Briski, Rafaela Aparicio, Charo Soriano, José Vivó
The grandmother is about to turn one hundred years old and all the members of the family travel to the farm for her birthday party. The two sons, Fernando and Juan, with their respective wives and daughters, as well as Ana, the former governess, arrive at the old mansion. All the children wait for the old woman to die in order to sell the farm and thus come out of ruin.
Muerte de un ciclista/Death of a Cyclist (1955)
Director: Juan Antonio Bardem
Cast: Lucia Bosè, Alberto Closas, Otello Toso, Bruna Corra, Carlos Casaravilla, Manuel Alexandre
Juan and María José, lovers in a past prior to the Spanish Civil War, meet after a few years of separation, the conflict having ended a long time ago, and they resume their love. But now María José is no longer free and their love turns into adultery.
Muga deitzen da Pausoa/Border Crossing (2018)
Director: Maider Oleaga
Cast: Antón Mendizabal, Kontzita Beitia, Miren Tirapu
Two women meet in an old house in San Sebastián. One is alive and is a filmmaker; the other is called Elvira Zipitria Irastorza who died in 1982. The filmmaker discovers that she lives in a place charged with an invisible presence, with multiple barely salvageable echoes. Some resonate from the Franco dictatorship, a time when Elvira, a pioneer in the teaching of Basque, created a clandestine school to teach the language. The former tenant of the house was an important figure in 20th-century Basque culture and politics. However, she remains in the shadows. The filmmaker, driven by the need to know more about her, begins to investigate. A search that is not easy at all that will soon become performative. Making the film represents the ultimate way of approaching Elvira.
Oreina (Ciervo)/The Deer (2018)
Director: Koldo Almandoz
Cast: Laulad Ahmed Saleh, Patxi Bisquert, Ramón Agirre, Iraia Elias, Erika Olaizola
Khalil is a displaced young man who lives on the outskirts of the city, where the industrial estates meet the river and the marsh. Khalil makes a living as best he can and spends his days with an old poacher who shares a house on the riverbank with a brother he hasn't spoken to in years. On the shores of the marsh, the tides mark the time of love and heartbreak, of friendship and revenge.
Rendir los machos/Our Father (2021)
Director: David Pantaleón
Cast: Alejandro Benito, Lili Quintana, José Mentado, Julio César, Lucifer Rodríguez, Lionel Cepa, Aurelio Carnero Hernández, Emilia Cazorla, Carlos Luis Monzón
The plot revolves around a more than 100-kilometer journey across barren lands with the seven most reputed male goats in the island of Fuerteventura… and two brothers who hate each other. Alejandro and Julio are the two sons of the Cabreras, the most respected goat raisers and cheese producer family in the North of the island. Don Guillermo, the family patriarch, and his two sons have not talked to each other for many years. After the rift, the burden of taking care of the father and the family business falls on Alicia, the only daughter. When their father dies, he leaves one particular last wish in his will which must be fulfilled before the inheritance can be shared out among his children. Alejandro and Julio must travel with the male goats across the island on foot, which they see as a punishment, and hand them to the historical antagonist family of the Cabreras.
Sentimental/The People Upstairs (2020)
Director: Cesc Gay
Cast: Javier Cámara, Belén Cuesta, Alberto San Juan, Griselda Siciliani
Julio and Ana have been together for over fifteen years. They don’t look at each other or touch each other anymore and daily conflicts have become the norm. This evening, Ana has invited the upstairs neighbors over. Salva and Laura are slightly younger than them and welcomed them with open arms when they moved into the building, but the constant moaning and groaning coming from their apartment has become a source of arguments for Julio and Ana... perhaps it’s jealousy, they wish their own sex life was as spicy. This evening, the neighbors will become both the instigators and victims of an emotional tsunami, brought on by an unusual and surprising proposal. The four neighbors can’t help but get caught up in an evening of excess and catharsis.
Totem loba/She Wolf (2020)*
Director: Verónica Echegui
Cast: Isa Montalbán, Delia Brufau, Usúe Álvarez, Almudena, Hinarejos, Elena Ábalos, Elisa Drabben, Fátima Baeza, Sofía Alberola
Estíbaliz accepts her friend Raquel’s invitation to attend her village’s festivities. What initially seems like an exciting weekend turns nightmarish as Estíbaliz finds out these festivities involve the men dressing up as wolves and hunting the women during the night.
*Shorts
Here is the schedule for the cinema screenings. Admission is free, on a first come, first served basis.
October 5, 2022, Shangri-La
7:30 PM El buen patrón
October 6, 2022, Shangri-La
2:30 PM Muerte de un ciclista
5:00 PM El test
7:30 PM Con quién viajas
October 7, 2022, Shangri-La
2:30 PM A las mujeres de España. María Lejárraga
5:00 PM Algo azul
7:30 PM El olvido que seremos
October 8, 2022, Shangri-La
2:30 PM Maixabel
5:00 PM Sentimental
7:30 PM El buen patrón
October 9, 2022, Shangri-La
2:30 PM La hija
5:00 PM Competencia oficial
7:30 PM La boda de Rosa
October 10, 2022, IC Intramuros
2:30 PM Jinetes del Paraíso
5:00 PM Bertsolari
October 11, 2022, IC Intramuros
2:30 PM Muerte de un ciclista
5:00 PM Oreina (Ciervo)
October 12, 2022, IC Intramuros
2:30 PM España, la primera globalización
5:00 PM Sentimental
October 13, 2022, UPFI
2:30 PM A las mujeres de España. María Lejárraga
5:00 PM Handia
7:30 PM Muga deitzen da Pausoa
October 14, 2022, Shangri-La
2:30 PM Shorts
5:00 PM La hija
7:30 PM Rendir los machos
October 15, 2022, Shangri-La
2:30 PM La boda de Rosa
5:00 PM El test
7:30 PM Competencia oficial
October 16, 2022, Shangri-La
2:30 PM El olvido que seremos
5:00 PM Premio del Publíco
7:30 PM Sentimental
Here is the online screening schedule available at www.pelikula.org. Films will be available for viewing for 48 hours from the beginning of their accessibility.
October 11, 2022
4:00 PM Esa pareja feliz
October 12, 2022
4:00 PM Muerte de un ciclista
6:00 PM España, la primera globalización
October 13, 2022
4:00 PM Mamá cumple cien años
6:00 PM El siglo de Galdós
October 14, 2022
4:00 PM El sur
6:00 PM A las mujeres de España. María Lejárraga
Película 2022 is a project of Instituto Cervantes in Manila and Sydney, the Embassies of Spain in the Philippines and Australia, and the AECID, in collaboration with the Film Development Council of the Philippines, Shangri-La Plaza, Instituto Etxepare, Filmoteca Vasca, the Embassy of Colombia in the Philippines, the Embassy of Panama in the Philippines, the UP Film Institute, the University of the Philippines, Intramuros Administration, Vibal Foundation, Philippine Transmarine Carriers, Acciona, Rustan’s, Arthaland, La Pícara, and Emperador.
