THE ALTO-ARAGONES COMPETITION CELEBRATES ITS 50th ANNIVERSARY WITH TRIBUTES TO TERRY GILLIAM, DIEGO LUNA AND THE CERVANTES INSTITUTE
THIS EDITION MARKS THE RETURN OF THE SHORT FILM MAKERS AND FILMMAKERS OF THE 73 SHORT FILMS IN COMPETITION, THAT COMPETE FOR AWARDS OF MORE THAN 24,000 EUROS AND A DANZANTE AWARDS THAT OPENS THE DOOR TO THE PRE-SELECTION PROCESS OF THE OSCAR AWARDS.
ON JUNE 10, THE OPENING GALA WILL PRESENT LA VOLUNTARIA AND OTHER OUTSATNDING WORKS SUCH AS AMATEUR, FLETA TENOR MITO Y NOSOTROS NO NOS MATAMOS CON PISTOLAS WHICH WILL PREPREMIERE IN SPAIN
EXHIBITIONS, OUTDOOR SCREENINGS, MEETINGS WITH THE PUBLIC AND DOME SESSIONS WILL BE SOME OF THE PROMINENT EVENTS THAT WILL MAKE THE CITY A BENCHMARK OF THE SEVENTH ART
The 50th edition of the Huesca International Film Festival will have a very special program with the short film as its backbone from start to finish, as defined by its head Rubén Moreno. From June 10 to 18, the Alto Aragonese capital will be the hotspot of the film industry where, in addition to the three Danzante Awards that give direct access to the pre-selection of the Oscar Awards, there will be important international tributes, premieres of outstanding Spanish productions, special open-air and fulldome format sessions, meetings with the public, presentation of new projects, proposals for children and teachers, collaborations with centers for the elderly or associations with people with disabilities and various exhibitions that will provide the city with ” an intense cinema heartbeat” explained Moreno.
A total of 73 works in competition (28 international, 30 Latin American and 15 documentary) from 25 countries can be seen in 13 free sessions at the Teatro Olimpia (at 5:00 p.m. and 7:30 p.m., except on Sunday 13 with a single session at 4:30 p.m.) with the presence of its authors and directors, a long-awaited return that will finally take place this year. The productions will try to gain a foothold in the list of winners that will receive more than 24,000 euros in prizes. A selection where the presence of new talent stands out, with more than 40% of first works and works from schools; Also it is worth highlighting that 28 works are directed by women, especially in the documentary contest (10 of the 15 selected). The online option is maintained for a large part of the official program for free and through the festival website (www.huesca-filmfestival.com), but on this occasion the Aragón TV Audience Award is limited only to the audience in the theatre.
The event will open in style on Friday the 10th with a gala where two of this edition’s honorary awards will be presented: the Pepe Escriche Award for the Cervantes Institute and the Ciudad de Huesca Carlos Saura Award for the Mexican Diego Luna. The first will be received by its director, the poet Luis García Montero, while the second will be given to the famous Ibero-American performer and director by the filmmaker himself who gives his name to the award and author of masterpieces such as Cría cuervos, Deprisa, Deprisa and La prima Angelica. The evening will culminate with the screening of the short film Goya 3 de Mayo by the Alto Aragonese genius and the premiere of La Voluntaria, the second feature film by director Nely Reguera, who will also be at the festival to present her film on the same day it premieres in commercial theaters across the country.
The third highlight of this special celebration will be the presence of Terry Gilliam; the director, screenwriter, actor and original member of Monty Python will be in Huesca on June 15 to receive the Luis Buñuel Award for his lifetime achievement. The Englishman of American origin has accumulated uncountable awards in his more than half-century career, films such as Brazil, The Fisher King, 12 Monkeys, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas have and many nominations for the Oscars, the Golden Globes, a Silver Lion in Venice, as well as recognitions in Cannes, Berlin, Locarno, Toronto or San Sebastián. As part of the festival, it will be possible to see his latest behind-the-scenes work The Man Who Killed Don Quixote (June 15; 10:00 p.m.), a film marked by more than two decades of preparation based on the brilliant work of Miguel of Cervantes.
The filmographies of Luna, Saura and Gilliam will be protagonists again on two other occasions, the first will return in person to the Olimpia Theater one day after receiving his tribute (Saturday, June 11) to present his debut in fiction to the public: Abel ( 2010), a work that went through such important competitions as Sundance, Cannes and San Sebastián (where it won the Horizontes Latinos Award) and was recognized with the Ariel Award for best original screenplay; The session will be completed with the short film Rosa Rosae, where Saura takes the song by Jose Antonio Labordeta to show his vision of the children of the Civil War. For his part, the Luis Buñuel Award cinema will be in charge of closing the edition with a free screening in the Plaza General Alsina of his classic comedy Monthy Python and the Holy Grail (10pm).
ARAGONESE TALENT, ANIMATION AND VINDICATION OF WOMEN IN THE CINEMA
The Aragonese audiovisual will have its prominent space in this edition with the premieres of Amateur by Martín Gutiérrez (Monday 13-June; 10pm) and the documentary Fleta Tenor Mito by Germán Roda (Friday 17-June; 10pm). The first is a feature film shot in Hecho that was already presented as a project in this same contest in 2020; After its lauded premiere in Thessaloniki, it finally arrives in Spain from the hands of the Alto Aragonese festival. Previously, you can also see the short El día que Volaron la Montaña by Alba Bresoli in a day where special attention will be paid to the cinema of the so-called “Empty Spain”. Within this framework, starting at noon on that Monday the 13th, the project Libros. El legado de Alantasi by José Ángel Guimera will be announced and there will be a “Vermouth with…” that will revolve around rural world cinema with the presence of Martín Gutiérrez himself, Silvia Pradas and Ignacio Lasierra.
The second major Aragonese premiere will be the documentary Fleta Tenor Mito. Roda, author of other acclaimed works such as Marcelino the best clown in the world and Vilas y sus Dobles, takes a journey through the life and origins of this famous singer from Albalate de Cinca on the 125th anniversary of his birth, a collaboration with RTVE and the “Essentials” program.
The region’s talent will also have the “Online Aragonese Window” section and a surprise that will be revealed over the week.
Sunday June 12 will be dedicated to animation. The day will feature Valentina, the Goya-winning feature film that reaches the big screen of the Teatro Olimpia thanks to the collaboration of CADIS Huesca (session -6:30pm- presented by its own director, Chelo Loureiro); Starting at 9:00 p.m. and again in the representative building, home of the festival, you can enjoy a double session: The Monkey, the Goya-winning short film this past edition; and Flee, one of the most acclaimed animated documentaries of the past year with a total of three Oscar nominations.
Cinema made by women will have a special importance thanks to the collaboration with the Aragonese Institute for Women (IAM). In addition to the aforementioned opening film, on Thursday, June 16, there will be a “purple” day with the national preview of Nosotros no nos Matamos con Pistolas by María Ripoll and the presentation of Insumisa y Divina. Raquel Meller by Vicky Calavia, a work that recovers the figure of this turiasonense songwriter. Calavia herself, together with the well-known film journalist María Guerra, will be the protagonists of that day’s “Vermouth with…” which will take place in Plaza López Allué (1:00 p.m.).
The festival will also pay tribute to Emma Cohen, an outstanding filmmaker who died in 2016 and was left in the shadow of her former husband Fernando Fernán Gómez. On Tuesday 14 (10 p.m.) two of her short films will be seen along with the feature film Viaje a Alguna Parte by Helena de Llanos. The director, researcher and granddaughter of Fernán Gómez himself will also be that day’s protagonist of the vermouth, some meetings with the public that have already become a must and with guests such as Terry Gilliam himself (Wednesday June 15) and Eugenio Monesma (Friday June 17), Simón de Honor Award.
AN OUTSTANDING JURY
The short films in competition will be viewed by three juries made up of three members each, important names within the audiovisual industry. The Ibero-American contest will feature Colombian actor Édgar Vittorino, who became famous in Spain for his roles in series such as Vivir Sin Permiso and Locked up, and has also worked with directors such as Isabel Coixet, Daniel Calparsoro and Salvador Calvo. Along with the Latin American actor, will be the renowned journalist and president of the Association of Cinematographic Reporters of Spain, María Guerra; and the Aragonese director, creator and screenwriter Álex Rodrigo, known for his work on Money Heist, El Embarcadero, Veneno and El Último Show.
The international jury, for its part, is made up of the Mexican director and producer Pablo Baksht, a member of the organizing committee of the Morelia International Film Festival; Krzysztof Gierat, director of the Krakow Film Festival and Goya-winning actress Ruth Gabriel from Cádiz.
Finally, the documentary jury will include the aforementioned Helena de Llanos and Germán Roda, together with the Greek Simos Kyparissopoulos, interpreter and cultural manager who directs one of the most important short film festivals in his country: Micro μ; and is a member of the Hellenic Association of Actors.
The presence of Simos Kyparissopoulos, Krzysztof Gierat and Pablo Baksht is possible thanks to the support of Acción Cultural Española (AC/E) through its Program for the Internationalization of Spanish Culture (PICE) in the Visitors category.
HUESCA IS CINEMA
The organization of the festival always takes special care of the programming to reach all corners of the city. In this area, exhibitions play a fundamental role and for this reason there will be various spaces such as the Manuel Benito Moliner Cultural Center (50 years, 50 posters and Gramas by Urso Vettón), the Huesca Museum (Buñuel in Viridiana by Ramón Masats and Chomón. El Cinematógrafo de la Fantasía) and La Carbonería (Alcordanza de Alba Lorente).There will also be the traditional shop window contest organized by the Huesca Trade and Commerce Association and Diario del Altoaragón.
A novelty for this 2022 is the Planetarium of Aragon, this pedagogical and scientific outreach reference becomes an ally of the festival with two parallel sections: one dedicated to space and the sci-fi genre (Thursday 16; 6:30 p.m.) and a second in “fulldome” format (Friday 17th; 6:30 p.m.) with local filmmakers; It will be the first time that works are seen on this type of screen within the framework of the festival.
Another space where the festival will be present and with which the bonds of union have been consolidated year after year will be the CDAN. The museum will host the session entitled “Tener en perspectiva, La nueva Bauhaus europea” and also the work of Ricardo Calero in his Camera Oscura.
La Catalítica with its “cortolitics” will also be back with two evenings with Zinentente (Tuesday 14; 11:30 p.m.) and San Jorge University (Thursday 16; 11:30 p.m.) as protagonists.
The parties are also back and they will do so to celebrate half a century of existence, in addition to the opening and the trade and shops party that will be held in collaboration with the Association of Trade and Commerce of Huesca, the closing of the festival will bring Coolnenas Djs to General Alsina square; Dani, Mariagrep and Kimberley Tell will make the attendees dance to put the final icing on this edition to remember.
Guided tours, screenings in a center for the elderly, a performance by the Capicúa circus with the show Khronos Circus (Saturday 18; 6:00 p.m.) and two workshops with prior registration in collaboration with the Catalonia Film and Audiovisual School (one for secondary school teachers and another for primary school children) complete this extensive program.
