The situation of Spanish cinema, under debate at the Academy

In the II call for the conference 'Current situation of Spanish cinema. How it affects us today' Puy Oria, José Antonio Félez, Enrique Urbizu, Emilio Martínez-Lázaro and Eduardo Noriega participate, moderated by Yousaf Bokhari.

The Film Academy reopened its doors on May 24 to almost a hundred academics, for the second time in a month, becoming a forum for debate and discussion about the current situation in Spanish cinema. Within the framework of the conference 'Current situation of Spanish cinema. How it affects us today', the institution organized a round table moderated by Yousaf Bokhari, secretary of the Board of Directors, in which the producers José Antonio Félez and Puy Oria, the directors Enrique Urbizu and Emilio Martínez-Lázaro, and the actor Eduardo Noriega participated as speakers. In order to contextualize the debate, a video summary of the first session in which Susana de la Sierra, general director of the ICAA, and Pedro Pérez, president of FAPAE, participated was shown.

José Antonio Félez opened the session and, with the same purpose of placing the issue in the general context, stated that "any business activity is difficult today in Spain. In the case of cinema it is almost impossible for various reasons, among them that the time period to recover the investment is very long. Films are not made because they cannot be made: TVE, so far this year, has been inoperative, and we know that it will suffer a cut in its income... If these are reduced, investment in cinema will also be reduced. and if public aid is reduced, there will be practically no chance of recovery.”

Enrique Urbizu, winner of the latest edition of the Goya Awards with There will be no peace for the wicked, assured that for many years "we have been missing the conviction of our political class that it is essential to protect, help and value the cultural product as a national political asset. As long as this will does not exist and they consider that a society has a future if it has cultural assets as a key strategic fact, if they do not make a state pact, we will have the cinema that we deserve as a society or as a country." Emilio Martínez-Lázaro also spoke on this topic. “Great political will is needed and that is what we can contribute from here, a constructive dialogue with the Administration.”

Solutions for everyone

"Study the situation to look for solutions and adapt the model" was the proposal of Eduardo Noriega, who highlighted that he spoke "from the viewer's point of view", and lamented that "filmmakers also turn their backs on cinema. People who make films do not go to the cinema, we must engage in self-criticism." It was not his only demand, since in his opinion "the public does not have the possibility of seeing Spanish cinema in the provinces. We need the Internet and I think that the windows have to coexist."

Félez stressed that "what cinema needs is to recover spectators. In 2001, 151 million tickets were sold, while last year it did not reach 97 million. We have lost two generations of spectators, who watch cinema on the computer for free." The words of the producer of El Bola were seconded by Martínez-Lázaro, for whom the public has stopped thinking that “cinema is something you have to pay for.” For the director of I love your rich bed, the main problem that the sector has is piracy.

A roadmap

Puy Oria spoke about the role of producers, highlighting that "we are destined to be managers, to work for television or for studios. There are few left like Emiliano Piedra or Elías Querejeta, creative producers, that is also a point to reflect on." He raised the possibility of academics developing “a kind of roadmap with the different lines to follow on issues such as promotion, education, internationalization and disagreement with the Spanish public.” Urbizu also reflected on the future, highlighting that "there is a climate of defeat that encompasses everything. We are starving, I don't know what the hell we are going to leave to this plantation of filmmakers. It is paradoxical, but perhaps we have to make better thought out, more sensible films...".

The debate, which lasted four hours, was intense and active. The academics participated lively in the meeting in which the cuts, the situation of TVE, the tax relief for patronage, the Internet, the screen quota, the position of the scriptwriters, the panorama of technical companies, the possibility of a reduction in the price of admission to theaters and Latin America where, in the words of Félez, "Spanish cinema does not have it easy either."