Malaga opens the cinematographic spring

Starting tomorrow, April 17, and until the 24th, Malaga welcomes spring with the best Spanish cinema represented in the 13th edition of its Festival. One of its protagonists will be Julio Medem, to whom this year the Festival dedicates its retrospective, by premiering his latest film, 'Room in Rome' out of competition, at the closing of the contest.

From tomorrow until the 24th, the capital of the Costa del Sol will once again become the best showcase for Spanish cinema. In this edition four debut works will compete. One of them will be Planes for Tomorrow, by the Goya-winning short film director Juana Macías. They will also debut the editor David Pinillos (Enjoy your food), David Serrano (One more hour in the Canary Islands), Nacho García Melilla (Let the ugly die), Laura Mañá (life begins today), Pau Freixas (Heroes), Xavier Ribera (Circuit) or Vicente Molina Foix (The wooden god). And as the first course this year, Carlos Saura and his long-awaited I, Don Giovanni.

On the other hand, an established director like Julio Medem will be the protagonist twice as the festival dedicates a retrospective to all of his work and has also granted him the honor of closing the 2010 edition with the screening of his latest work. Room in Rome (out of competition)

The most risky productions will be screened in the Zonazine section, in whose programming this year appears the works of, among others, the Alenda brothers, Leticia Dolera, Elías León Siminiani and Marta Aledo. There will also be room for documentaries, with special attention to what is being produced in this genre in Catalonia.

The jury of the Official Feature Film Section will be composed on this occasion by Ángela Molina, María Ripoll, Lucía Jimenez, Fernando Lara, Juan Bonilla, Imanol Uribe and Josean Fernández. Eduardo Herrero, Blanca Machuca and Pepo Pérez will make up the video creation section, while Alejandro Alvarado Jódar, Alicia Gómez Montano and Carla Subirana will make up the documentary film section. The ZonaZine jury will be made up of Emiliano Allende, Nausicaa Bonnín and Roser Aguilar.

Awards

This year the festival will recognize the career of actress Rosa María Sardà by awarding her the Málaga Sur Award, at a Gala to be held on Sunday, April 18. The Ricardo Franco Prize, in collaboration with the Academy of Cinematographic Arts and Sciences of Spain, will be awarded to costume designer Javier Artiñano at a gala that will take place on Tuesday, April 20, while the Eloy de la Iglesia Prize has been awarded to the young filmmaker Gonzalo López-Gallego (awarded on April 21).

It should be noted, on the other hand, that the “Golden Film” Gala, which will be dedicated to Malvaloca (1926) by Benito Perojo, and whose projection will be musically illustrated by the Malaga Philharmonic Orchestra, based on musical arrangements made by Ángel San Bartolomé, will be held on Thursday, April 22.

Director Julio Medem will be the star of the Málaga Hoy retrospective, with the screening of his entire filmography, and a tribute whose gala will be held on Friday, April 23.

Training

The mornings of the Festival will be dedicated to training through the CineForum and MasterClass cycles. The Masterclasses, which will take place in the Picasso Auditorium, aim for professionals from the world of cinema to tell their experience to young university students who are interested in the seventh art or want to dedicate themselves to it. These master classes will take place between 1 and 2 in the afternoon and will be led by Elena García Bou, head of Marketing and Licensing at Ilion Animation Studios, the film's production company. Planet 51, and Ignacio Cajigas, International Communication Manager of the production company, the costume designer Javier Artiñano, Ricardo Franco Award winner of this edition, the director Gonzalo López-Gallego and the winners of an Oscar for the best special effects for the film Pan's Labyrinth, Montse Ribé and David Martí.

On the other hand, and for the second consecutive year, the Malaga Festival will have the Film Schools activity, with the aim of bringing the Festival closer to young students of
different schools. This year the reception by young people has been greater than the previous edition: last year 150 applications were received and on this occasion there were 220 students interested in approaching the Festival. Finally, and after a selection process, 130 students from public, private, national and international centers have obtained their accreditation.

Albéniz Rehabilitation

The mayor of Malaga, Francisco de la Torre, will inaugurate today, April 16, the new Albéniz cinema in the capital of Malaga. The property, which was acquired by the City Council in 2008, aims to become a reference for cinematographic culture for the city of Malaga, recovering a first-class dissemination and leisure center for citizen use.

The Malaga City Council has granted its management and programming to the Malaga Festival with the intention of contributing to developing cinematographic culture in the city.

The launch of this new cultural space for the city has represented an outlay of close to 9 million euros. The City Council acquired the property for seven million euros, to which 1.8 was added for the architectural rehabilitation and the investments made for the new equipment.

The rehabilitation of the Albéniz Cinema has consisted of the adaptation of the facilities as well as the purchase of new projection and sound equipment.

I, Don Giovanni

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