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A special anniversary

July 2012

  • Christopher Sanders

Spanish Film Festival director and founder Natalia Ortiz was “really concerned” this year’s anniversary event wouldn’t run due to Spain’s economic woes. Thankfully, Palace Cinemas wouldn’t let that happen.

“For a while we considered it might not happen and this was one of the reasons we changed it [Spanish Film Festival] from May to July,” Ortiz said. “I met Palace Cinemas and I put it on the table that I can’t go ahead with the festival, I can’t commit. I don’t have enough funding or sponsorship, and they very quickly took on board the executive side of the festival and said, ‘we’re not going to let this slip after 14 years’. They could have given us the flick and said, ‘we’ll organise our own stuff’ but they were really good and said, ‘we can’t let the festival disappear’.”

Given the strength of this year’s program, it’s a major relief that the festival is going ahead, so we can view the wonderful collection of Spanish and Latin American Spanish-language films such as the touching comedy/drama Chinese Take Away, the creepy Sleep Tight and the animated hit Wrinkles. No one will be more relieved than Ortiz to sit in the cinema and watch the films.

“It’s been tremendously difficult to put together because of all the financial reasons, so it will be a relief when the lights go down and the films start.” 

Spanish films, Spanish talent and Spanish language movies have broken through to mainstream acceptance across the globe. Javier Bardem was the first actor to be nominated for a Best Actor Oscar speaking entirely in Spanish in 2011, and Mexican Guillermo Del Toro turned down studio offers to film Pan’s Labyrinth in English, instead directing in the language the film was set in, Spain. Aside from these achievements, you have horror hits such as The Orphanage to join auteurs such as Pedro Almodóvar. There is much more to Spanish film than these big names.

“I’m a little bit concerned that our industry, which is really rich, has been summarised by Pedro Almodóvar, Penélope Cruz and Javier Bardem,” Ortiz says. “We have a lot to be thankful to with Pedro Almodóvar but I don’t think he is the only interesting director we’ve got. Obviously he is brilliant in many ways, but there are many more.”

The Spanish Film Festival is the event to attend to view the breadth and depth of Spanish and Latin American films.

 

15th Spanish Film Festival

July 5 to July 15

Palace and Kino Cinemas

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