Instituto Cervantes presents ‘La Comedia Española’
MANILA, Philippines - Instituto Cervantes, the Embassy of Spain and the Film Development Council of the Philippines (FDCP), in cooperation with the Film Archives of the Spanish Agency for International Development & Cooperation (AECID), present “Those Funny Spaniards: La Comedia Española,” a series of Spanish comedies to be shown during the months of August and September at the FDCP cinematheques in Iloilo, Baguio, Zamboanga and Davao.
Since its beginnings, Spanish cinema showed a knack for comedy. Today, in addition to the contribution of the veteran maestros of the genre, new directors are forging the Golden Age of Spanish comedy. Instituto Cervantes’ selection is an invitation to Filipino movie-goers beyond Manila to discover some of their best works.
The film cycle will kick off in Iloilo on Aug. 29, at 5:30 p. m., with a classic of the genre and one of the masterpieces of Spanish cinema, the movie Bienvenido, Mr. Marshall, directed by Luis García Berlanga in 1952. It tells the story of a poor Spanish village in La Mancha, which hears of the visit of American diplomats and begins preparations to dress up as a colorful Andalusian town to impress the American visitors, in the hopes of benefitting under the Marshall Plan. The movie was presented at the 1953 Cannes Film Festival where it bagged an award for Best Comedy Film and Special Mention for the screenplay. However it missed out on a bigger Cannes prize because jury member Edward G Robinson complained of its anti-Americanism.
Along with that classic masterpiece, the lineup of “Those Funny Spaniards: La Comedia Española” features two modern comedies tackling some of the issues of contemporary Spanish society, like family values, love or marriage.
Nacidas Para Sufrir, directed by Miguel Albaladejo in 2009, is a black comedy about a group of women (a sweet old lady, her religious niece, her servant and the latter’s disabled mother), all so generous and selfless that they almost compete with one another to see who can make the greatest sacrifice for the others’ wellbeing. The outcome? As the well-known saying goes: “The road to hell is paved with good intentions.”
Directed by Daniel Sánchez Arévalo in 2011, the well-acted and crafted Primos will close the film cycle’s lineup. The movie focuses on three cousins who, on the occasion of the wedding of one of them, meet again at the village where they would spend summer vacations as kids.
The film cycle will kick off on Aug. 29 at the Cinematheque of Iloilo. The cycle will travel to the cinematheques of Baguio (Sept. 5 to 7), Zamboanga (Sept. 12 to 14) and Davao (Sept. 19 to 21).
Entrance is free on a first-come, first-served basis. For information contact FDCP (www.fdcp.ph) or visit www.manila.cervantes.es or the Instituto Cervantes Facebook page: www.facebook.com/InstitutoCervantesManila.
