76 WORKS FROM 29 COUNTRIES WILL COMPETE FOR THE THREE DANZANTE PRIZES THAT QUALIFY FOR THE OSCAR AWARDS PRESELECTION
MARISA PAREDES, RODRIGO SOROGOYEN AND ISABEL PEÑA, AND EGEDA WILL BE GIVEN A TRIBUTE IN THIS 47th EDITION OF THE FESTIVAL
THE ACTORS ITZIAR MIRANDA, DAVID VERDAGER, GOIZALDE NUÑEZ AND THE DIRECTORS CARLOS MARQUES-MARCET, PERI AZAR, TONI GARCÍA, AS WELL AS THE ARAGONESES ELENA CID AND CARLOS VAL AMONG MANY OTHERS, WILL COME TO HUESCA
The Huesca International Film Festival has announced the program of its 47th edition. From June 7 to 15, the capital of the Huesca province will, once again, become an international benchmark for the short film; A total of 76 films, from 29 different countries, will compete for the Danzante Award in each of its three categories: International, Ibero-American and Documentary. This distinguished prize allows each of the three respective winners to enter directly the preselection stage of the Oscar Awards, in addition to receiving the endorsement for the Goya Awards. The official section has 12 premieres, 24 debut films and 8 works from film schools; Spain, Germany and France are the most represented countries.
This 47th edition will count on four major players of the cinema industry. The filmmakers Rodrigo Sorogoyen and Isabel Peña will receive the Carlos Saura City of Huesca award for their career and projection, at the opening gala. This award also intends to highlight their work as screenwriters and will be delivered by Carlos Saura himself. In the same ceremony, EGEDA (the non-profit organization for the management of audiovisual producers’ rights) will be distinguished with the Pepe Escriche Award for its ability to build bridges between cultures through cinema. Its president, Enrique Cerezo, will personally pick up the iconic knife designed by Isidro Ferrer. Finally, on Wednesday June 12, the great protagonist of the day will be Marisa Paredes; the Spanish actress who will be distinguished with the Luis Buñuel Prize of this edition in recognition to almost six decades of cinema, working on more than one hundred films.
STRONG WOMEN PRESENCE AND NUMEROUS PREMIERE SCREENINGS
One of the hallmarks of this year is the strong presence of women over the program. Within the official section, 40% of the total of the selected works are directed by women such as Carla Simón who has been recognized in festivals such as Berlin, Venice or Malaga and Claudia Costafreda, winner of the 2017 Ibero-American Danzante Award.
With regard to feature films, the international premiere of Gran Orquesta directed by Argentinian artist Peri Azar -who will come to Huesca on this occasion- will be screened on the 10th of June; Also, Valeria Bruni Tedeschi’s La casa de Verano (Les estivants) and Las niñas bien by the Mexican director Alejandra Márquez Abella will be shown prior to their commercial premiere. General Alsina square will once again be the meeting point for the last two nights of the festival and on Friday the 14th the festival offers, in collaboration with the Aragonese Institute for Women, a free show of the feature film Yuli (Iciar Bollaín).
The Olimpia theater will host the two galas (June 7 and 12) that will be conducted by the actress, director and producer Encarni Corrales from the Teatro Indigesto company. Outside the competition nights, on Tuesday 11th, the festival will present the premiere of the winning film of the Malaga Festival, Los días que vendrán by Carlos Marqués-Marcet, starring David Verdaguer (Lo dejo cuando quiero, Verano 1993, 10,000km) and Maria Rodriguez Soto; its director and main actors will be there to promote the film and share their experience with the audience. The opening session on June 7 will show the first short films of Sorogoyen and Peña, while on the 12th we will be able to watch the most recent international productions by Marisa Paredes, Latin Lover (Mi familia Italiana), and the festival will close with a special evening of open-air cinema with the film Apuntes para una película de atracos by León Siminiani, winner of the Feroz Prize for the best documentary.
CHILDREN, ELDERLY AND GASTROCINE
Some of the Festival’s proposals have become an essential part of it, and a mean to reach all kinds of audiences. Every year, almost 1,000 children have taken part in the activity “Children at the festival”. This proposal introduces them to the seventh art in a didactic and fun way; this year, the activity is reinforced thanks to the intensive audiovisual training course for primary and secondary teachers (6-June), which will be carried out thanks to the collaboration between the Festival, the “Un día de cine” program and ESCAC (Escuela Superior of Cinema and Audiovisual of Catalonia). The youngest will also have a range of activities every day in the children’s tent. Finally, a circus show, and the visit of the Star Wars characters will also seek their attention to raise their awareness about the importance of blood donation.
The Festival also takes cares of another segment of the population: the elderly who live in the residences of the city will have the opportunity to see short films through the “Mayores al Festival” program, that brings the festival closer to those people who cannot go to the official projections.
One of the most expected moments of the festival is “Gastrocine”, a culinary experience paired with various short films where gastronomy plays a prominent role, the appointment will be on Sunday, June 9 at 9pm. This year, El Enebro restaurant will be hosting the activity that will feature the show cooking of chef Najat Al Yaluli El Hamdi. The menu will be inspired by the four short films which will be screened and explained by the chef in between each on them, generating a unique atmosphere.
NINE MEMBERS TO DECIDE THE DAZANTE AWARDS
The jury of the official section has been announced during this presentation. There will be a total of nine members (three per contest): the actress Goizalde Núñez (Que se mueran los feos, Villaviciosa de al lado, Estoy vivo, Los Serrano), the director Toni Garcia (who will also present his feature film currently in production: D’Artacan y los tres mosqueperros), the producer Arturo Méndez whose short film Timecode was nominated for the Oscar Awards, the Swiss programmer Cristiana Giaccardi, the Spanish film journalist José Fernández and the producer and soundman who won three Goya Awards, Ricardo Steinberg. Along with them, an international representation of relevant festivals, and cultural entities, such as the Mexican Adriana Castillo, the Italian Luigi La Monica and the French Juliette Muracciole, will attend the festival thanks to the support of Acción Cultural Española (AC / E) through its Program of Internationalization of the Spanish Culture (PICE) as Visitors.
ACTIVITIES BEFORE THE OFFICIAL PROGRAM
The planning of activities during a few days before the start of the Festival will serve as a prologue for the nine official days of the contest. A total of three exhibitions related to cinema will be offered two spaces. The CDAN contemporary museum will host two of them, Zidane: un retrato del siglo XXI and Berlín-Barcelona. Both can be visited from May 15 to October 13 and have football as a backdrop. The third can be seen in La Carbonería; Hineini: Aquí Estoy by Elián Stolarsky is an installation based on lithographs, methacrylate and animations.
The first important appointments this year will take place on Saturday June 1st. It is an extensive program that will run from late afternoon to midnight with various proposals, all free. The first one consists of two sessions (6pm and 8pm) in the Diputación (provincial Council), of a short and a feature film in which the most outstanding works of Aragon in recent months are shown. The day will close at 10pm with the traditional route around Huesca called “Huesca in Short”, using the most emblematic buildings of the city as cinema screens.
Finally, the program of the “off festival” will close on June 6 with la Velada Violeta with the Itziar Miranda; This Aragonese actress is famous for the series Amar es para siempre where she has been playing the character of Manolita for fourteen years.
THREE PROJECTS AND A PROFESSIONAL ROUND TABLES
The contest has a professional area that has been consolidated and reinforced in the latest editions. In 2019 three projects will use the event as a showcase; the animated feature D’Artacan y los tres mosqueperros based on the legendary series of the 80s, will present details of its production on Tuesday 11th And on Thursday 13th, the other projects that will be promoted are two Aragonese feature films: Planeta 5000 by the Aragonese Carlos Val and Armugán by Jo Sol. The first will present an advance of his footage in exclusivity, while the second will announce details about his shooting that will take place in the Pyrenees.
Another relevant activity will be the professional breakfast that will take place on Sunday 9 under the name “The distribution of the short film”, an opportunity to raise and share opinions on the current panorama, analyze the different platforms, companies, festivals and other tools, as well as the strategies in relation to the costs, benefits, innovation, usefulness and efficiency of the distribution channels.
All events are free, except for the evening sessions of the Olimpia Theatre and “Gastrocine”. For the first time, tickets and full passes can be purchased online at: www.huesca-filmfestival.com from today. The ticket offices of the Olimpia Theatre will be opened from 12 am to 1 pm and from 6 pm to 7 pm until June 6th. Finally, as from June 3rd, the Festival information booth will be opened at Plaza Navarra (from 10 am to 2pm and from 5 pm to 9 pm).
The Huesca International Film Festival is sponsored by the Ministry of Education, Culture and Sports, the Government of Aragon, Huesca Provincial Council (Diputación), Huesca City Council and the Anselmo Pié Foundation, with the collaboration of TUHUESCA and Obra Social “la Caixa”.
