00:00 The Pelicula Spanish Film Festival returns to showcase the latest and critically acclaimed
00:05 movies from Spain.
00:07 Javier Galvan, director of Instituto Cervantes de Manila, and Samantha Betia from Acciona
00:13 Philippines joins us now live in the studio.
00:18 How are you both?
00:19 Good evening.
00:20 Good evening.
00:21 Very good.
00:22 Good evening.
00:23 Good evening.
00:24 Buenas noches.
00:25 Buenas noches, señor and señorita.
00:26 So Javier, let me start off with you.
00:27 What do you hope to achieve in this year's 22nd edition of Pelicula?
00:32 Well, what we want to achieve is to maintain the interest of the Filipino audience after
00:37 22 years.
00:41 Every year we are surprised at how Filipinos love cinema and love cinema in Spanish.
00:48 And first of all, to maintain this interest.
00:50 And then we have created new sections as Pelicula en Verde.
00:55 This is the novelty for this year, and that's why we have the pleasure to have some with
01:01 us.
01:02 That's right.
01:03 We will talk about Acciona later and its initiative within Pelicula.
01:05 And how many films will be screened?
01:07 And are these films dubbed into English or just English subtitles?
01:13 English subtitles.
01:14 All of them are 27 movies.
01:17 26 are in Spanish with English subtitles.
01:21 Then also we have a Filipino short movie, Inagdal, that of course the Philippines is
01:28 our host, our friends.
01:29 We must have something from, some touch from the Filipino culture.
01:34 That's right.
01:35 And I understand a little bit of Spanish.
01:36 I haven't taken it in high school and college.
01:39 So well, I offer you a scholarship.
01:42 That's right.
01:43 I might take you up on that.
01:46 Please join us.
01:47 So Sam, headlining this year's program is the Pelicula en Verde, an environmental initiative.
01:53 Tell us more about it.
01:54 Yes.
01:55 So this Pelicula en Verde is in partnership with Instituto Cervantes and Harry Bond Foundation.
01:59 So it's a new segment.
02:00 That's why we're excited to launch it this year.
02:01 So it's a first for Pelicula.
02:04 This is a new segment which is focused on the ecological films that we have in the selection.
02:09 So we have seven green films that we will be showcasing.
02:12 So these eco films are mostly on sustainability and showcasing the beauty of nature of Spain.
02:19 And of course to encourage people to be able to support initiatives and culture and the
02:23 arts and of course sustainability.
02:26 And with ACCIONA, the company that I represent, we are a Spanish company of course.
02:31 Our South East Asian...
02:32 An infrastructure company.
02:33 Yes, we are.
02:34 And our South East Asian headquarters is actually here in the Philippines.
02:37 And of course you know how Philippines is.
02:39 It's very open to all of these arts and films and the culture that we have.
02:44 So if viewers will go to the Shangri-La Plaza and watch these seven films under the Pelicula
02:49 en Verde, what does the environment hope to gain here?
02:53 Yes, so again this is in partnership with Harry Bond Foundation.
02:56 And the reason why we're doing it is because we wanted to support Harry Bond Foundation's
03:00 Forest for Life project.
03:02 So these green films that is in tandem with their project which is propagation and tree
03:07 planting initiative in Tanay Rizal.
03:10 So this is in line with our corporate DNA which is mostly for regenerative solutions.
03:16 And again championing for sustainability, especially here in the Philippines.
03:19 And we've also seen the sustainability of Pelicula for 22 years now.
03:23 For every watcher to a movie of the Pelicula en Verde, ACCIONA will fund the planting of
03:29 a tree.
03:30 There you go.
03:31 Yes.
03:32 So going crowd, so we will have a lot of trees planted there in Tanay Rizal.
03:35 What are the basic themes of this year's films, Javier?
03:41 Well I mean it's all kind of things because one of the feature of Pelicula as you know
03:45 is the very recent movies.
03:47 Most of the movies were filmed in 2022, 2021.
03:52 So as I used to say, if you want to have an idea of what's going on in movies in Spanish,
03:58 it's better to come to the Philippines than to stay in Spain because you cannot see in
04:02 10 days an array of films like that, recent films.
04:05 And you'll also be paying tribute to one of Spain's acclaimed filmmakers, Carlos Saura.
04:11 Yes, definitely.
04:12 Carlos Saura is one of the great filmmakers in Spain, maybe the first after Buñuel that
04:18 became international.
04:20 And so he passed away only this year.
04:22 And so we want to pay tribute to him.
04:25 So there will be a number of films, some of them classical films already.
04:29 And even a film that was produced only a few years back that was the latest Carlos Saura
04:37 film that is a co-production with Mexico.
04:40 So it's another ingredient of our festival to have Latin American or Ibero-American countries,
04:46 Spanish speaking countries that are part of the festival, of course.
04:50 That's right.
04:51 That includes like Mexico, Chile and other countries.
04:54 Argentina and Colombia.
04:55 Argentina and Colombia.
04:56 Exactly.
04:57 All right.
04:58 Seven films included in this Pelicula en Verde.
05:01 So Sam, how influential is the film industry in educating and promoting sustainability
05:07 in the environment?
05:08 Definitely.
05:09 I mean, with green films such as this, it exposes people to how the culture, the arts
05:14 and sustainability like merge.
05:16 I mean, we're talking about backgrounds, not just the beauty of Spain again.
05:20 And again, it's more of like solar energy.
05:22 We have a lot of themes here that delve into that.
05:25 So you can put like romance and at the same time be able to raise awareness to people
05:29 about the ongoing climate crisis that we're all facing.
05:32 So are we seeing now more films being produced, focusing on the environment or is it still
05:38 lacking?
05:39 I still think that there should still be a push with more sustainable films, but it's
05:43 great that we have already been starting with this kind of initiative.
05:46 So there should be more.
05:48 I think we're expecting more of these filmmakers delving into this theme.
05:53 And of course, Javier, you mentioned about Spanish films and Iberico-American films.
06:00 Are we now seeing more collaboration between the Spanish and the Argentinians, the Chileans
06:05 and the Mexicans in terms of putting together epic films?
06:10 Yeah, this is very natural, we might say, because the relation between Spain and Ibero-American,
06:16 Latin American countries is very strong, is very tight.
06:20 So for instance, there are many co-productions between Spain and Argentina, for instance,
06:27 in the last decades.
06:29 And that continues because of language, because of family links.
06:32 We hope that also that happens with the Philippines.
06:35 Actually, I...
06:36 Oh yes, Philippines and Spain.
06:38 Yeah.
06:39 I watch a lot of teleseries, Spanish teleseries.
06:43 But even they told me...
06:44 Streaming services.
06:45 There was a film that was recently filmed in Spain, in Galicia, the title is Por Que,
06:53 in Spanish.
06:55 And it's a Filipino production, film in Spain.
06:59 So I hope that we will be able to foster this collaboration, co-production.
07:04 And this film festival will be from October 5 to the 15th at the Shangri-La Plaza.
07:09 And it's free of charge.
07:10 Exactly.
07:11 Free of charge.
07:12 Oh wow, that's what Filipinos love.
07:13 That's a great way to raise awareness.
07:14 Free of charge.
07:15 So before we end this chat, what would be the top three films that you will be watching
07:20 in Pelicula?
07:21 We're putting you on the spot, Javier.
07:22 Yeah, yeah.
07:23 Top three.
07:24 It's difficult to me because the other filmmakers will be angry against me.
07:27 We have to make sure the green film is number one.
07:30 Our opening night, we have Asbestos.
07:32 Yeah, okay, Asbestos.
07:33 Okay.
07:34 But I would say also, well, I don't know.
07:37 I cannot tell you.
07:38 Asbestos.
07:39 A French couple living in a Galician village.
07:43 So it's increasing tension with their neighbors due to their opposition to a wind farm project.
07:47 So there's a way to infuse that sustainability.
07:51 Come on, Javier.
07:52 What would be your top two films?
07:55 You know, I will-
07:56 You have to play favorites.
07:57 I will say something.
07:58 You can follow the program and even the synopsis of every film in Pelicula.org.
08:09 So you can see there the synopsis, all the movies.
08:14 So you choose your favorite movie.
08:16 That's it.
08:17 And they are tagged in colors.
08:18 So the ones in green are the films.
08:20 And of course, you can also view them on your smartphone because of the QR code.
08:27 Absolutely, absolutely.
08:28 Looking forward to this upcoming Spanish film festival, Pelicula.
08:33 Thank you so much.
08:34 And if you allow me to add something, it's an online section also.
08:38 So anyone out of Manila can follow some of the movies.
08:44 And also, we reach Australia and Singapore.
08:47 Javier Galvan and Samantha Betia, thank you so much.
08:51 And good luck with the Pelicula Spanish Film Festival.
08:54 Muchas gracias.
08:55 Muchas gracias, señor and señorita.
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