Tag: Pelicula

22nd PELÍCULA>Pelikula Spanish Film Festival: A Tribute to Acclaimed Director Carlos Saura

The iconic PELÍCULA>Pelikula Spanish Film Festival is rolling out its red carpet once again from October 5 to 15, 2023. A curated selection of twenty-three cinematic masterpieces will grace the screens at Shangri-La Plaza’s Red Carpet Theatre in Mandaluyong, while an additional seven films will be accessible online, extending its reach to audiences in Australia and Singapore.

An Annual Affair of Artistic Flair

Since its inception in 2002, orchestrated by Instituto Cervantes de Manila, the festival has been a beacon of Spanish and Ibero-American cinematic artistry. Similar to previous editions, this year’s film program has been carefully curated and selected from a range of genres which includes drama, comedy, horror, thriller, family, musicals and animation that will satisfy the cinematic interests of the Festival’s avid and diverse viewers and followers.

Special Sections

Headlining this year’s program is the Pelicula en Verde, an initiative in which for each spectator of any of the films marked as such, a tree will be planted. These films are Alcarràs (Carla Simón, 2023), As bestas (Rodrigo Sorogoyen, 2022), El Olivo ( Icíar Bollaín, 2016), Fonos ( Gabriela Badillo Sánchez 2021) and Tierra (Julio Medem,1996), whose themes are mainly about nature and environmental issues. This initiative is conducted in partnership with Haribon Foundation and is sponsored by Acciona, one of the top Spanish infrastructure companies whose headquarters for Asia are in Manila.

This year’s program will also include a tribute to Carlos Saura, acclaimed Spanish filmmaker who died early this year at the age of 91. A special section will be dedicated to him, which will include his films Embrujo, Goya en Burdeos and El Rey de todo el mundo.

The festival will also include films from Ibero-American countries including Chile, Colombia, Argentina, and Mexico, and will feature a co-production from Spain and Mexico.

Audience Choice Awards

Just like in the previous years, viewers may vote for their favorite films for the Audience Choice Awards. The winning film will again be screened on the last day of the Festival on October 15.

PELíCULA 2023 is a project of Instituto Cervantes and Shangri-La Plaza, in collaboration with the Embassies of Spain in the Philippines, Australia, and Singapore, the AECID, the Film Development Council of the Philippines, Filmoteca Española, the Embassy of Colombia and the Embassy of Mexico, with the participation of the Embassy of Chile, the Embassy of Argentina, and Haribon Foundation, and sponsored by Vibal Foundation, Acciona, Philippine Transmarine Carriers, Arthaland, SSI Group, Inc., Barcino, La Latina and Fundador.

All the screenings are FREE entrance on a first come, first served basis. All the movies are in Spanish (or their original language) with English subtitles. For updates on the Festival, please visit the website of the Festival (https://pelikula.org) or the Facebook page of Instituto Cervantes de Manila: www.facebook.com/InstitutoCervantesManila and https://www.instagram.com/institutocervantesmanila/

September 27, 2023
For its 21st edition, PELÍCULA Spanish Film Festival Runs at the Shang For The First Time

From October 5 to 16, 2022, the 21st edition of PELÍCULA-Spanish Film Festival will return to in-person screenings. After two years of having a virtual festival, PELÍCULA will screen more than twenty movies in three venues of Metro-Manila –Edsa Shangri-La Plaza, Cine Adarna at UP Diliman, and Instituto Cervantes Intramuros branch.

Since its creation in 2002 by Instituto Cervantes de Manila, PELíCULA has been an annual attraction in Philippine theatres. After the Covid-19 crisis, which forced cinemas to close worldwide and caused audiences of PELíCULA to migrate online, the festival returns to the big screen, on a first-come, first-served free admission basis. Furthermore, as well as in-person screenings in Metro Manila, the Festival will also host online screenings for the Philippines, Malaysia and Australia.

PELÍCULA Spanish Film Festival is showcasing 13 movies at Red Carpet at the Shang kicking off with El buen patron. It’s a 2021 comedy directed by award-winning screenwriter and filmmaker Fernando León de Aranoa and starring Oscar winner Javier Bardem. It’s about an owner of an industrial scales manufacturing business who tries to get his company an award in excellence while resolving problems with his workers at the same time.

Other comedy movies in the lineup include El test, a 2022 Dani de la Orden flick about a broke couple who have to decide whether to get €100,000 now or €1,000,000 10 years later, and Con quién viajas, a dialogue-heavy road film full of comical situations and thrills and tension. It’s directed by Martín Cuervo and released in 2021.

More feel-good films are screening at the festival. La boda de Rosa is a 2020 romcom film by Icíar Bollaín that portrays a burnt-out woman in her mid-40s who sets out to start anew by marrying herself. Sentimental is a 2020 Cesc Gay film about two couples who explore the secrets of keeping the fire alive in long-term relationships. Rendir los machos, a 2021 David Pantaleón film, tells the story of two brothers who are forced to move their cattle across the wild and hand them over to their greatest rival to receive the inheritance from their father.

The festival also screens documentaries like the 2022 Laura Hojman film A las mujeres de España; María Lejárragathat tells the story María Lejárraga, writer and pioneer of feminism in Spain during the 1920s; and thrillers like La hija, Manuel Martín Cuenca’s 2021 movie about a pregnant teenager from a juvenile detention who agreed to give her baby to a couple desperate to have a child.

It also features dramas such as Maixabel, a 2021 Icíar Bollaín production based on a true story of a widow who met one of her husband’s assassins in prison after breaking ties with the Spanish separatist group ETA, and El olvido que seremos, a 2020 Colombian film by Fernando Trueba about an author recounting his life with his father who fought against oppression and social inequality and killed by Colombian paramilitaries.

PELÍCULA is also promoting Latin American films such as the Panamanian romcom Algo azul(Mariel García Spooner, 2021) on a hotel employee who steals an expensive wedding dress; and Competencia oficial, a 2021 Spanish-Argentinean comedy directed by Gastón Duprat and Mariano Cohn, and led by Penélope Cruz, Antonio Banderas,and Oscar Martínez. It’s about a wealthy businessman who wants to produce a brilliant art film.

To celebrate its 21st edition, PELÍCULA is going to screen a celebrated classic Spanish film, the Cannes winner Muerte de un ciclista(Juan Antonio Bardem, 1953), which is a social realist Spanish drama about an adulterous pair of lovers whose lives are about to turn around after hitting a cyclist.

As part of its longtime tradition, the festival is encouraging moviegoers to vote for their favorite entry. The film with the most votes will receive the Audience Choice Award and will be screened again on PELÍCULA’s closing night. All the movies are in Spanish or their original language with English subtitles. Catch one of the most beloved cultural events in the country, don’t miss the PELÍCULA Spanish Film Festival for the first time at the Red Carpet in Shangri-La Plaza starting October 5!

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.

All the screenings are FREE entrance. All the movies are in Spanish (or their original language) with English subtitles.

For updates on the Festival, please visit the website of the Festival (https://pelikula.org), or the Facebook pages of Instituto Cervantes de Manila (www.facebook.com/InstitutoCervantesManila) and Shangri-La Plaza www.facebook.com/shangrilaplazaofficial.

October 6, 2022
Pelicula Spanish Film Festival is back!

From October 5 to 16, 2022, the 21st edition of PELÍCULA-Spanish Film Festival will return to face-to-face screenings. After two years of having a virtual festival, PELÍCULA will screen around twenty movies in three venues of Metro-Manila -–Shangri-La Plaza, Cine Adarna at UP Diliman, and Instituto Cervantes Intramuros branch.

Since its creation in 2002 by Instituto Cervantes de Manila, PELíCULA has been an annual attraction in Philippine theatres. After the Covid-19 crisis, which forced cinemas to close worldwide and caused audiences of PELíCULA to migrate online, the festival returns to the big screen, on a first-come, first-served free admission basis. Furthermore, the Festival will also host face-to-face online screenings in Malaysia and Australia.

In the Philippines, the Festival will open on October 5 with El buen patrón (Fernando León de Aranoa, 2021), a comedy starring Javier Bardem. Other comedies in the line-up include El test (Dani de la Orden, 2022), Con quién viajas (Martín Cuervo, 2021). The official entries also include documentaries such as A las mujeres de España. María Lejárraga (Laura Hojman, 2022), dramas such as Maixabel (Icíar Bollaín, 2021) or El olvido que seremos (Fernando Trueba, 2020), and thrillers like La hija (Manuel Martín Cuenca, 2021).

PELÍCULA will also feature Latin American films such as the Colombian documentary Jinetes del Paraíso (Talia Osorio Cardona, 2020), the Panamenian comedy Algo azul (Mariel García Spooner, 2021), and Competencia oficial, a Spanish-Argentinean comedy directed in 2021 by Gastón Duprat and Mariano Cohn, and featuring Penélope Cruz, Antonio Banderas, and Oscar Martínez.

To celebrate the 21st edition of the cinematographic showcase, there will be a special selection of clasic Spanish films. These films are Esa pareja feliz (Juan Antonio Bardem & Luis García Berlanga, 1951), Muerte de un ciclista (Juan Antonio Bardem, 1953), Mamá cumple cien años (Carlos Saura, 1979) and El sur (Víctor Erice, 1983).

PELíCULA 2022 is an initiative of Instituto Cervantes in Manila and Sydney, the Embassies of Spain in the Philippines, Malaysia and Australia, and the AECID, in collaboration with the Film Development Council of the Philippines, ICAA, the Embassy of Colombia in the Philippines, the Embassy of Panama in the Philippines, the UP Film Institute, the University of the Philippines and Intramuros Administration.

All the movies are in Spanish (or their original language) with English subtitles. For updates on the Festival, please visit the Facebook page of Instituto Cervantes: www.facebook.com/InstitutoCervantesManila.

August 9, 2022