If the BCN Film Fest were not held at the Verdi cinema, in the heart of the heart of Barcelona, it would not be the same: a narrow street, curious neighbors, dazzling spotlights and a neighborhood cinema that is an institution more than a screening room . But the day will surely come when a larger space is necessary, since it does not stop growing, like its name itself. Today is the Barcelona-Sant Jordi International Film Festival.
Marién Piniés, head of the communication department, makes this reflection: “The good reception of the event shows that the public is eager for cinema and Barcelona needed a festival. The best thing is that distributors, producers, and artists also trust the festival. “It’s a perfect storm.” Richard Gere opened the festival in its first year and in subsequent editions Jeremy Irons, Mike Newell, Johnny Depp, Susan Sarandon and this year, Meg Ryan, Richard Linklater and Vincent Perez, among others, joined. They explain from the press that Antoni Llorens, from Lauren Films, tried to start a similar festival in the mid-90s but did not achieve the success he deserved. Now it has been achieved even though the BCN Film Fest is held in one of the busiest weeks of the Barcelona agenda: Bridal Week, the Conde de Godó Trophy, the 080 catwalk and Sant Jordi's day.
The opening gala, which will be screened by Casa en flames (Dani de la Orden), begins with a performance by the Malacara Blues Band and Cristina Brondo as master of ceremonies. After eight editions there are no nerves but more excitement than the first day, verifying that it is a completely established festival: “It is growing more and more, it is more and more international and Conchita Casanova, its director, is doing everything to make it the best festival in Catalonia and hope it doesn't come from Spain soon!”
Eduard Fernández, one of the best performers that Spanish cinema has ever produced, is playing at home today. Literally, because he is a member of the jury and a resident of the Gràcia neighborhood. His daughter, Greta, has also moved here. We saw her shine with her own light in El fred que crema and then, in Unicornios, Teresa and her international leap with Cuckoo. Proud father, his advice was this: Let him enjoy it and let him do it, let him play roles, let him do good supporting roles, because you learn a lot.”
Eduard celebrates the good reception of the series Iron Hand, about the clans and mafia practices of the port of Barcelona: “Well, one doesn't find out much about those things, you have to trust Netflix, but what I notice on the street "They greet me a lot, that everyone talks about the series and what is going to happen in the second season when [SPOILER]." His other recent great success is the second season of 30 Coins (HBO Max), an absolute madness in which his character, Father Vergara, literally returns from hell. Fernández is about to release two films: El 47, by Marcel Barrena, and Marco, la Verdad inventado, by Jon Garaño and Aitor Arregi.
Minutes before the premiere, Javier Ruiz Caldera chats animatedly with Javier Pereira in the upper part of the Salambó, a venue attached to the Verdi cinema. “We are the new Javis. Well, actually, the old ones,” Pereira jokes to get mysterious with the project that is about to begin. Ruiz Caldera, director of Spanish Movie, Three Weddings Too Many, Anacleto and Malnazidos, among others, five weeks away from starting filming his first film in Catalan: “I'm very excited. It is based on the novel Wolfgang (extraordinari), by Laia Aguilar, and the protagonist will be Miki Esparbé.”
Leticia Dolera chats with Liliana Torres, who releases Mamiera next week. She is production director on Pubertat, a series that Dolera has written, directed and stars in and is about to premiere: “It is a series that talks about taboos that travel in families, from generation to generation and one of them is sexuality: It seems that we talk a lot about her, that she has already been revealed, but if we do it in terms of vulnerability, self-knowledge or a more sensitive intimacy, it is still taboo.”
Dolera emphasizes the pernicious effect of pornography accessible to minors through any smartphone connected to the Internet: “80% of the videos on the Internet show violence against women and children are exposed to something very brutal that also passes through them. Marina Morroquí, an activist who has suffered gender violence and gives talks at institutes, says that a boy has approached her to tell her that if he is not violent with his girlfriend, he will not stand up and he is afraid of looking like a softie. “They are young people who have grown up watching porn.”
This problem can only be solved by legislation and education, warns Leticia Dolera. “That the feminism that is talked about in the media cannot remain something pop to print on t-shirts; It must be specified in laws. There is no sexual education in high schools and there should be, emotional sex. I correct myself because saying affectionate sex is not a question of morality, nor conservatism, nor that you have to be in love but of communication, of intimacy and of seeing the other when you are having a sexual exchange, because there the mind is also playing. ”.
On April 26, Marcela premieres, her first play as a director, inaugurating the Cervantina Society theater: Celia Freijeiro performs, the text is by María Folguera and Milena Suárez and Paula and Pina are in the production. “The core is a text from Don Quixote, the monologue of the shepherdess Marcela, which represents the first time in Spanish literature in which a woman comes out to speak for herself and defend herself against it. A very modern version.”
There is no better way to celebrate the 20th anniversary of your film Tapas than to premiere a series with Atresplayer and receive the news that it will be broadcast on Sexta: A new dawn, with José Corbacho and Yolanda Ramos, free to air. On Monday the 22nd, Corbacho presents Mala Persona at the BCN Film Fest, his first role as a priest, in a crazy comedy with Arturo Valls, Malena Alterio and Julián Villagrán. Actor, director, comedian, presenter... “I am all this because I like everything. Let's say Corbacho and that's it."
