16.07.2014 - 09:58
The 26th edition of the Girona Film Festival, which runs from the 15th to the 19th of July, will screen 175 films, made up of both full-length and short features originating from 35 different countries. Its director, Lluís Valentí, states that the festival seeks to include all varieties of film, and does not specialize in any particular genre or format, unlike other such film festivals. Instead, the event seeks to promote all the films which it screens.
The first feature that will open the festival will be Los Culpables, which was entirely shot in Girona in 1962 by the Catalan film-maker, Josep Maria Forn. It has been restored especially for this festival by Catalan producer Isidor Llorca, originally from Lloret de Mar, a nearby town on the Costa Brava. The film tells the tale of a businessman on the verge of bankruptcy who decides to fake his own death along with the help of his wife and her lover. According to the Director of the festival, the screening of Los Culpables will present the unique opportunity to discover how Girona has changed in the last 50 years.
The festival is made up of 14 different sections devoted to various genres including; independent films, short films made by directors from Girona, web series, animation, gay and lesbian cinema, Jewish cinema and children´s films, among others. Furthermore, this year the Girona Tourism Board has included a new section entitled ´Made in Costa Brava Girona´, which unites old and new films shot in the area.
A commitment to film promotion
Of the 14 sections, the film festival will present awards in six of them. The Director of the festival maintains that he has never wanted these awards to be cash prizes as he wants to save the “low budget” of the event for the promotion of all of the films which are included in the programme. The judging panel for these awards will consist of designer and co-director of the Spanish animated hit, Chico and Rita, Javier Mariscal; film critic for Barcelona-based daily, La Vanguardia, Lluís Bonet; writer and journalist of cultural affairs, Miguel-Fernando Ruiz de Villalobos, director of Barcelona´s Cuban Film Festival, Judit Ruiz del Castillo; art critic, Pilar Parcerisas; and, journalist and expert in TV series, Toni de la Torre. Prizes will be awarded on the last day of the festival, Saturday, July 19th, at Girona´s Municipal Theatre. This year’s winners will receive an award designed by Mister Karton, a Barcelona-based company which produces environmentally-friendly furniture made from sustainable designs which use cardboard and wood as their base.
A variety of venues
The film festival´s venues will include: Girona´s Municipal Theatre, the Casa de Cultura, the Valvi Foundation, the Albèniz Cinemas and the Bonastruc de Porta Center. In addition, screenings of the animated section of the festival will be held at the Toy Museum in Figueres, which is north of Girona, near the Costa Brava and the French border.
Wide ranging support
The festival program was presented at the Girona’s City Council last Thursday, who agreed to collaborate with the Province Council of Girona in its support for the event. The Councilor for Business and Employment, Marta Madrenas, and the Representative for Cultural Cooperation from the Province Council, Antoni Solà, have also backed the festival and have stated their commitment to ensuring the influence of the event as it continues to grow.
