Pawel Pawlikowski’s Cold War earned top honours at the 31st European Film Awards (EFA), held on December 15 in Seville, Spain. The Polish filmmaker’s tragic love story, loosely based on the turbulent and rebellious life led by his parents, took home five of the top categories before a live audience of 1,600 guests and industry figures at the historic Teatro de la Maestranza.
In addition to the Best European Film award, the Polish/French/U.K. co-production secured Best Director and Best Screenwriter trophies for Pawlikowski (pictured, above), returning to the winner’s podium for the first time since 2014, when his film Ida dominated the ceremony. “I’d like to thank my parents for living a disastrous and ultimately beautiful life,” said the 61 year-old filmmaker, who also acknowledged the unified front represented by those present. “Today we celebrate our differences, we unite in our diversity. Europe is not one voice, but a choir of different voices.”
Slated as Poland’s entry in the Best Foreign Film Oscar category, the monochromatic drama also won Best Actress for Joanna Kulig, and Best Editing for Jarosław Kamiński. The EFAs add to a growing list of accolades for Cold War that include the Cannes Film Festival Best Director award and the Best Foreign Film honour from America’s National Board of Review.
The film was denied an EFA clean sweep when leading man Tomasz Kot lost to Marcello Fonte for his understated performance in Matteo Garrone’s Dogman. which also found favour in the Costume and Hair & Make-Up categories. Martin Otterbeck won Best Cinematographer for the Norwegian drama Utøya: July 22, a harrowing survival tale based upon the mass shooting at the political summer camp in 2011.
Other winners included Lukas Dhont’s Girl for European Discovery; Jane Magnusson’s Bergman- A Year in a Life for Best Documentary; Another Day Of Life from directors Damian Nenow and Raúl De La Fuente for Best Animated Feature; Andrey Ponkratov for his production design on Summer (Leto); sound designers André Bendocchi-Alves and Martin Steyer for the German film The Captain; and, visual effects veteran Peter Hjorth for his work on Ali Abbasi’s Border.
Honorary EFAs were bestowed upon beloved Spanish actress Carmen Maura, who received the Lifetime Achievement Award, and Oscar-winning Greek auteur Costa-Gavras (Z, 1969; Missing, 1982), who accepted the EFA Honorary Award. The audience-voted People’s Choice EFA went to Luca Guadagnino’s coming-of-age romance Call Me By Your Name.
The shadow cast by the United Kingdom’s ‘Brexit’ movement was addressed by two of the most respected and outspoken statesmen of Britain’s film community. Upon receiving the Best European Comedy award for The Death of Stalin, writer/director Armando Iannuci earned big laughs when he stated, “This is a European film. I’m Scottish/Italian, shot mostly in England, were financed by the French, did a lot of our post-production in Belgium. It just shows what a good idea it is if different countries in Europe come together to work with the British. Let’s call it a European community, a European union. I’m going to take the idea back to the United Kingdom this evening.”
Past Best Actor EFA winner Ralph Fiennes (Sunshine, 1999), present to accept the honorary European Achievement in World Cinema award, was harsher in his condemnation of his homeland’s current political climate. “Can I be English and European? Emphatically yes. There is a crisis in Europe and our feeling of family, of connection and of shared history, shared wounds - this feeling is threatened by a discourse of division. In England now, there is only the noise of division.”
In line with the sense of celebration central to the kudocast, Fiennes ended on a hopeful note. “But the expression in a film can be a window for us to see another person, another human experience,” he said. “We can celebrate our differences of custom and common humanity at the same time.”
The 12thAsia Pacific Screen Awards (APSA) ceremony proved a true celebration of cinema from the region, with awards being bestowed upon films from Australia, India, Indonesia, Israel, Japan, Lebanon, People’s Republic of China, Republic of Korea, Russian Federation, Singapore and Turkey. The gala ceremony, held in the main room of the The Brisbane Exhibition & Convention Centre, was hosted by New Zealand actor Cliff Curtis (Once Were Warriors; Whale Rider, The Meg) and Australian television personality Sofie Formica (pictured, below).
Kore-eda Hirokazu’s Shoplifters (Manbiki Kazoku) can now add an APSA to its list of growing international trophies after winning the Best Film honour. Having earned the Cannes Film Festival’s Palme d’Or in May and already slated as Japan’s official entry in the Best Foreign Film Oscar race, the prolific filmmaker’s family drama is proving to be one of the most warmly received films in a career filled with critical and commercial hits. The film’s producer Taguchi Hijiri accepted the award on his director’s behalf.
APSA International Jury President Alexander Rodnyansky, Russian producer of 2014 APSA Best Feature Film winner Leviathan, said, “We have had the great fortune to be presented with a unique line up of films that represent the different countries, cultures and talents of our region. I have discovered new worlds by watching them.” On the Best Film winner, he declared, “Shoplifters turns an intimate story about an unusual family into a metaphorical social analysis that is relevant not only for Japan, but everywhere.”
Rodnyansky (second from left) oversaw a jury that included (from left) Chilean actress Antonia Zegers, Indonesian director Nia Dinata, Nepalese filmmaker Deepak Rauniyar and Georgian producer Vladimer Katcharava. They awarded this year’s Grand Jury Prize to Lee Joon-dong and Lee Chang-dong for Burning (Republic of Korea), winner of the Cannes FIPRESCI Prize in 2018. The Korean filmmaking team is popular with APSA judges, having previously earned four awards. The unmistakable trophies, designed by Brisbane artist Joanna Bone, feature prominently in the apartment of star Steven Yuen in a scene from Burning.
The Cultural Diversity Award under the Patronage of UNESCO was awarded to Garin Nugroho and Ifa Isfansyah for Memories of My Body (Kucumbu Tubuh Indahku; pictured, right) from Indonesia and accepted on the night by lead actor Muhummad Khan. Nugroho will now present a screening of the film on December 15 in Paris at UNESCO Headquarters as part of the Intergovernmental Committee meeting on the 2005 Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions.
In one of the evening's most moving moments, Indian actress-turned-filmmaker Nandita Das was awarded the FIAPF Award for Achievement in Film in the Asia Pacific Region. In her acceptance speech, the passionate advocate for civil liberties and human rights cited her early work in Deepa Mehta's lesbian romance Fire, a film that changed the landscape of Indian cinema 22 years ago and which still inspires her today. Her latest work, Manto, a biographical account of writer Saadat Hasan Manto's life in 1940s India, earned her leading man Nawazuddin Siddiqi the Best Actor APSA trophy.
The Australian sector was recognized in the Best Documentary Feature Film category, where director Paul Damien Williams and producer Shannon Swan were honoured for Gurrumul, the first win for Australia in this category at APSA. Also recognised were Hildur Guðnadóttir and the late Jóhann Jóhannsson for Mary Magdalene, director Garth Davies’ UK/Australian co-production. Legendary musician and chair of the Music in Film jury, Ryuichi Sakamoto said of the winning film, “Mary Magdalene’s soundtrack is a meticulous work of art by the composers. The quality of craftsmanship and the depth of emotions are overwhelming.”
The full list of 2018 Asia Pacific Screen Award winners:
Japan and the People’s Republic of China lead the field of nominees at the 2018 Asia Pacific Screen Awards (APSA), with their respective industries securing 7 nominations each. The pack tightens behind them, with Australia, India and Kazakhstan each earning 5 nominations in key categories.
The 12th annual celebration of Asia Pacific cinema, a sector that provides half the world’s film output, features 46 films from 22 countries. Kore-Eda Hirokazu’s Palme d’Or winner Shoplifters (Japan; pictured, top) stands alone at the head of the nominee list with three nominations, including Film, Director and Screenplay nods. The film has sentimental ties to the APSAs, with star Kirin Kiki the 2015 Best Actress award winner for Naomi Kawase’s An; a beloved figure in Asian cinema, she passed away in September, aged 75.
Four other titles earned dual nominations - Lee Chang-dong’s Burning (Republic of Korea); Adilkhan Yerzhanov’s The Gentle Indifference of the World (Kazakhstan, France; pictured, right); Khavn’s Balangiga: Howling Wilderness (Philippines); and, Phuttiphong Aroonpheng’s Manta Ray (Thailand, People’s Republic of China, France).
The Australian sector’s five noms came across four categories. Paul Damien William’s Gurrumul will vie for the Best Documentary honour; amongst the Best Actress contenders is US actress Rooney Mara for Garth Davis’ Mary Magdalene; veteran Bruce Beresford earned his first APSA Best Director nomination for Ladies in Black; and, in the Best Original Score race, Harry Gregson-Williams (for Simon Baker’s Breath) and Hildur Guðnadóttir and the late Jóhann Jóhannsson (for Mary Magdalene) will compete.
The APSA nominee family expands in 2018 with the first ever contender from Uzbekistan. Best Actor nominee Karim Mirkhadiyev (pictured, left), star of Rashid Malikov’s stirring father/son drama Fortitude, will carry his nation’s hopes against a formidable field, including Nawazuddin Siddiqui (Manto; India), child actor and former Syrian refugee Zain Al Rafeea (Capharnaüm; Lebanon), Bahman Farmanara (Tale of the Sea; Islamic Republic of Iran) and Akylbek Abdykalykov (Night Accident; Kyrgyzstan).
Rooney faces a tough field of Best Actress contenders - Zhao Tao (Ash is Purest White; People’s Republic of China, France); Damla Sönmez (Sibel; Turkey, France, Germany, Luxembourg); Cannes Best Actress winner Samal Yeslyamova (Ayka; Russian Federation, Kazakhstan, People’s Republic of China, Germany, Poland); and, deaf actress Laura Koroleva (Sveta; Kazakhstan).
COMPLETE LIST OF 12th ASIA PACIFIC SCREEN AWARD NOMINATIONS
BEST FEATURE FILM Balangiga: Howling Wilderness (Philippines; Dir: Khavn) Burning (Republic of Korea; Dir: LEE Chang-dong The Gentle Indifference of the World (Laskovoe Bezrazlichie Mira) (Kazakhstan, France; Dir Adilkhan YERZHANOV) Manta Ray (Kraben Rahu) (Thailand, People’s Republic of China, France; Dir: Phuttiphong AROONPHENG) Shoplifters (Manbiki Kazoku) (Japan; Dir: KORE-EDA Hirokazu)
BEST YOUTH FEATURE FILM Ava (Islamic Republic of Iran, Qatar, Canada; Dir: Sadaf FOROUGHI) Nervous Translation (Philippines; Dir: Shireen SENO) Passage of Life(Boku no kaeru basho) (Japan, Myanmar; Dir: Akio FUJIMOTO) The Pigeon(Güvercin) (Turkey; Dir: Banu SIVACI; trailer, below) Village Rockstars (India; Dir: Rima DAS)
BEST ANIMATED FEATURE FILM Hoffmaniada (Russian Federation; Dir: Stanislav SOKOLOV) Maquia: When the Promised Flower Blooms(Sayonara no asa ni yakusoku no hana o kazarô (Japan; Dir: Mari OKADA) Mirai (Mirai no Mirai) (Japan; Dir: Mamoru HOSODA) On Happiness Road(Hsing Fu Lu Shang) (Taiwan; Dir: SUNG Hsin-Yin) Rezo(Znaesh’, mama, gde ya byl) (Russian Federation; Dir: Leo GABRIADZE)
BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE FILM Amal (Egypt, Lebanon, Qatar, France, Germany, Norway, Denmark; Dir: Mohamed SIAM) Gurrumul (Australia; Dir: Paul Damien WILLIAMS) Of Fathers and Sons (Syrian Arab Republic, Lebanon, Qatar, Germany; Dir: Talal DERKI; trailer, below) Of Love & Law (Japan, United Kingdom, France; Dir: Hikaru TODA) Up Down & Sideways (kho ki pa lü) (India; Dir: Anushka MEENAKSHI, Iswar SRIKUMAR)
ACHIEVEMENT IN DIRECTING Nadine LABAKI for Capharnaüm (Lebanon) Bruce BERESFORD for Ladies in Black (Australia) Emir BAIGAZIN for The River (Ozen; Kazakhstan, Norway, Poland) KORE-EDA Hirokazu for Shoplifters (Manbiki Kazoku; Japan) Ivan AYR for Soni (India)
ACHIEVEMENT IN CINEMATOGRAPHY Saumyananda SAHI for Balekempa (India) Hideho URATA for A Land Imagined (Singapore, France, Netherlands) Nawarophaat RUNGPHIBOONSOPHIT for Manta Ray (Kraben Rahu; Thailand, People’s Republic of China, France; trailer, below) Chaiyapruek CHALERMPORNPANIT for Malila: The Farewell Flower (Thailand) ZHANG Miaoyan, XU Zhiyong for Silent Mist (People’s Republic of China, France)
BEST SCREENPLAY Payman MAADI for Bomb, A Love Story (Bomb, Yek Asheghaneh; Islamic Republic of Iran) OH Jung-mi, LEE Chang-dong for Burning (Republic of Korea) Adilkhan YERZHANOV, Roelof Jan MINNEBOO for The Gentle Indifference of the World (Laskovoe Bezrazlichie Mira; Kazakhstan, France) KORE-EDA Hirokazu for Shoplifters (Manbiki Kazoku; Japan) Dan KLEINMAN, Sameh ZOABI for Tel Aviv on Fire (Israel, Belgium, France, Luxembourg)
CULTURAL DIVERSITY AWARD UNDER THE PATRONAGE OF UNESCO Ala Changso (People’s Republic of China; Dir: Sonthar GYAL) Balangiga: Howling Wilderness (Philippines; Dir: Khavn) The Lord Eagle (Toyon Kyyl) (Russian Federation; Dir: Eduard NOVIKOV) Memories of My Body (Kucumbu Tubuh Indahku) (Indonesia; Dir: Garin NUGROHO; trailer, below) The Taste of Rice Flower (Mi Hua Zhi Wei) (People’s Republic of China; Dir: Pengfei)
BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS ZHAO Tao for Ash is Purest White (Jiang hu er nv; People’s Republic of China, France) Samal YESLYAMOVA for Ayka (Russian Federation, Kazakhstan, People’s Republic of China, Germany, Poland) Rooney MARA for Mary Magdalene (Australia, United Kingdom) Damla SÖNMEZ for Sibel (Turkey, France, Germany, Luxembourg) Laura KOROLEVA for Sveta (Kazakhstan)
BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR Zain AL RAFEEA for Capharnaüm (Lebanon) Karim MIRKHADIYEV for Fortitude (Sabot; Uzbekistan) Nawazuddin SIDDIQUI for Manto (India) Akylbek ABDYKALYKOV for Night Accident (Tunku Kyrsyk; Kyrgyzstan) Bahman FARMANARA for Tale of the Sea (Hekayat-e Darya; Islamic Republic of Iran)
BEST ORIGINAL SCORE Eléni KARAÏNDROU for Bomb, A Love Story (Bomb, Yek Asheghaneh; Islamic Republic of Iran) Harry GREGSON-WILLIAMS for Breath (Australia) Hildur GUÐNADÓTTIR, Jóhann JÓHANNSSON for Mary Magdalene (Australia, United Kingdom) Ryan CAYABYAB for The Portrait (Ang Larawan; Philippines) Omar FADEL for Yomeddine (Egypt)
It was the embracing of the co-dependent relationship between the production and distribution/exhibition sectors that brought momentum to the early years of the Bulgarian film industry. Silent feature film production began in 1914 with the great Vasil Gendov’s The Bulgarian Is A Gentleman (aka The Bulgarian is Gallant) and led to works such as Kevork Kuyumdjian’s Baronet (1917) and Sons of The Balkans (1918) and Nikolai Larin’s Under the Old Sky (1922). In 1924 the Congress of Bulgarian Cinema Owners Union was formed, followed by the Cinemagoers Society and The Union of Friends of Film Art (a board of intellectuals who were charged with encouraging filmmaking as an art form).
(Picture, above; l-r, Zakhari Bakharov and Tania Ilieva in Zift, 2008)
Pioneers through this early period of production included Boris Grejov (Merry Bulgaria, 1928), Alexander Vazov (in the Realm of Roses, 1928), Petar Stojchev (Land, 1930), Vassil Bakardjiev (At a Dark Crossroads, 1930) and Boris Borozanov (Bulgarian Eagles, 1941; The Wedding, 1943). The support of the upper class and the funding they provided resulted in cinema becoming a major social influence, its practitioners feted as crucial to the country’s development.
The introduction of Communist rule in 1945 led to the ‘Red Cinema’ era, a period during which the means of film production were appropriated to serve the ideologies of the new leadership. Narrative boundaries were dictated, but the Soviet era also resulted in state-of-the-art facilities and a training regime, so crucial did the Russian rulers consider the impact of film. Bulgaria’s national cinema began to reflect stories of displacement from traditional rural life (Dimitar Minkov’s Bulgarian Old Times, 1945; Georgi Bogoyavlenski’s Back to Life, 1947) and adaptations of literary properties (Dako Dakovski’s Under the Yoke, 1953). In 1955, Sergei Vasilyev’s Shipka Heroes (pictured, above), an account of the heroic stand by Bulgarian rebels and Russian soldiers against the might of the Ottoman empire in 1877, won the Best Director award at the Cannes Film Festival; in 1956, Boyan Danovski’s Item One earned a Golden Palm nomination on the Croisette; in 1958, Vladimir Yanchev directed star Apostol Karamitev in the comedy Favourite No. 13, which would become a blockbuster upon release and remains one of the country’s most beloved films to this day.
This was also the boom period of the national cinema’s animation sector, peopled by visionary filmmakers such as Vassil Bakardjiev, who began crafting animated advertising shorts as far back as the 1920s. Early innovator Dimiter Todorov Jarava engineered an early version of what would become known as the ‘nicolodeon’ machine in the mid 30s; in 1945, the shorts ‘Sick’ and ‘The Little Thief’ were produced. The formation of the government-funded Animation Film Production Department in 1948 led to ambitious feature-length projects, notably Dimo Lingorski’s The Fearful Bomb (1951) and Master Manol (1952); Ognian Danailov’s Event in the Kindergarten (1952); puppeteer Stefan Topaldjikov’s Orders of the Pike (1953) and Invisible Mirko (1958); and the remarkable works of ‘The Father of Bulgarian Animation’, Todor Dinov, including Marko the Hero (1955), Tale of The Pine Twig (1960), Duet (1961; co-directed with Donyo Donev) and The Daisy (1965). By the 1970s, Bulgarian animation was known around the world, thanks in part to Donev’s beloved series ‘The Three Fools’ (featured, above) and the emergence of talents such as Anri Kulev, Slav Bakalov and Nikolaj Todorov.
Meanwhile, Bulgaria’s live-action sector continued to grow, maintaining a steady production line of works that resonated with domestic and increasingly international festival audiences. Two decades of Bulgarian cinema would be defined by such works as Stefan Surchadzhiev’s populist comedy Sly Peter (1960); Petar B. Vasilev’s provocative social satire Jack of All Trades (1962); Zako Heskija’s Cannes-nominated Torrid Moon (1966); Mende Brown’s US/Bulgarian co-production, The Clown and The Kids (1967); Dimitar Petrov’s children’s film Porcupines Are Born Without Bristles (1971); Metodi Antonov’s acclaimed masterpiece The Goat Horn (1972; featured, below);The Boy Turns Man (1972), Lyudmil Kirkov adored coming-of-age tale; and, the films of Christo Christov, including his heartfelt parable The Last Summer (1974), surrealist romance The Barrier (1979; pictured, above) and Berlinale competition title, The Truck (1980).
As the grip of Communism began to loosen in the 1980s, Bulgarian cinema began to slyly embrace even more challenging thematic material. This was the decade of Nikola Rudarov’s thriller The Racket (1982); Eduard Zahariev’s Elegy (1982) and My Darling My Darling (1986); Veselin Branev’s drama Central Hotel (1983); Plamen Maslarov’s The Judge (1986); Ludmil Staikov’s historical epic Time of Violence (1988); and, Ivan Nitchev’s Aleksandra (1989).
If the fall of Communism in 1990 was socially and politically liberating, it left the development of the film sector in the hands of private investment – and it proved disastrous. Filmmakers who did get films made focussed on scathing indictments of the old regime and very few, regardless of quality, were seen internationally. Nikolai Volev’s teen-rebel drama Margarit & Margarita (1990; pictured, right), Docho Bodzhakov’s The Well (1991) and Evgeni Mihailov’s The Canary Season (1993) were the only films to be submitted for Foreign Film Oscar consideration in that decade. Independent sector works began to emerge, such as Sergei Komitski’s Bullets in Paradise (1992), Ralitsa Dimitrova´s The College (1992), Hristain Notchev’s The Frontier (1994) and Georgi Dyulgerov’s Chernata Lyastovitsa (1997), but distribution and exhibition proved difficult and critics were vocal.
The new millennium welcomed a fresh optimism, with Bulgarian filmmakers exploring a wider range of film genres. The sole production centre for many years, Bovana Films came to understand the need for diversification and welcomed independent producers and competitive studios. Iglika Triffonova’s coming-home saga Letters To America (2000), Kostadin Bonev’s doco Warming Up Yesterdays Lunch (2002), Andrey Paounov’s The Mosquito Problem And Other Stories (2006) and Zornitsa Sophia’s multi-award winning hit Mila From Mars (2004) were indie productions financed outside the National Film Centre (NFC) funding body. Most heartening were the new talents impacting the scene – Alexa Petrov, director of the controversy-shrouded Baklava (2007); Milena Andonova (Monkeys In Winter, 2006); actresses Aleksandra Sarchadjieva, Elena Koleva and Violeta Markovska, from Seamstresses (2007); and Javor Gardev, director of the noir thriller, Zift (2008).
Festival organisers opened up international events to the new Bulgarian cinema; in 2014, co-directors Kristina Grozeva and Peter Valchanov had their film The Lesson reach the finalist stage of the prestigious European Parliament LUX Film Prize. And the commercial instincts of Bulgaria’s contemporary producers had re-energised; Asen Blatechki directed the action hit Benzin, described as the region’s answer to Hollywood’s hit ‘Fast and Furious’ franchise, complete with LA ring-in, Michael Madsen. (Pictured, right; l-r, Liliana Stanailova, Assen Blatechki and Snejana Makaveeva in Benzin)
In June 2018, the NFC bestowed upon the local sector a fresh round of funding approvals that sent a signal to local producers and directors that the sector was strengthening its talent base for the future. €1.8million was distributed across nine features; at the high end of the production slate are Ivailo Penchev’s Uncle Christmas and Martin Makariev’s Into the Heart of the Machine, which will split a €1million purse, while low-budgeters The Platform and Farewell, Johnny and three short films are to take the remainder of the endowment. It is a declaration of intent from the NFC that Bulgarian film is set to continue its pattern of growth, both domestically and globally.
Key Events: Sofia International Film Festival – Sofia, Bulgaria; March. ( http://siff.bg/en/ ) From the official website: “Sofia International Film Festival is the leading film festival in Bulgaria. It began in 1997 and attracts more than 70 000 spectators annually. The festival aims to promote important and innovative works of modern world cinema to local audiences and regional Bulgarian and Balkan cinema to international audiences, as well as to encourage cooperation between local and international filmmakers.”
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The diversity of Spanish society – the centuries-old traditions that define the romanticism and passion of the land versus the role the urban centres play at the forefront of European modernisation – has infused the cinematic output since the first projected image stunned audiences in Madrid in 1896. Over the last century, the nation has been shaped by civil war, dictatorial politics and continental economic integration – all factors that have become evident in the artistry and unique interpretations Spanish filmmakers have produced.
(Penelope Cruz in Pedro Almodovar's Volver, 2006)
A few months prior to the Lumiere Brother’s tour of Spain, Eduardo Jimeno’s Salida de misa de doce del Pilar de Zaragoza (People Coming Out of the Noontime Mass at the Cathedral of the Virgin of Pilar in Zaragoza) screened in Madrid. Though essentially a collage of random images depicting the essence of Spanish rural life, the film displayed many of the traits that would define Spanish cinema for much of the first half of the century – quaint longings for and loving homages to the sweet exoticism of a country appreciative of the simple joys of life.
Spain’s silent cinema industry had little influence or impact outside of its homeland, but a fledgling industry did exist on the back of some innovative, entrepreneurial directors. Fructuós Gelabert (pictured, right) directed Spain’s first fictional silent short Riña en un café (Café Brawl) in 1896; he would remake the film just prior to his death in 1955 and soon became one of Spain’s most prolific and influential silent filmmakers, amassing over 100 writing and directing credits. His documentary, industrial and travelogue shorts are now considered invaluable records of a developing nation.
One of Spain’s greatest cinema technicians came from this period - Segundo de Chomón. His early use of special effects and image manipulation is best seen in the extraordinary El Hotel eléctrico (The Electric Hotel, 1908), a fantasy film about a fully-automated hotel that many historians consider to be technically on par with Georges Méliès' Le Voyages dans la luna (A Trip to the Moon, 1902).
As international silent film production increased and American and European films filled cinemas in Madrid and Barcelona, Spanish cinema continued to explore themes and narratives froma traditional perspective. Adaptations of popular Spanish historical stories flourished (Ricardo Baños's 1905 film version of the popular play Don Juan Tenorio, for example). The entrepreneur Benito Perojo was the driving force behind the establishment of the film industry in Madrid, launching his own production company in 1915 and producing and directing works of a nationalistic slant. Filmmakers such as Florian Rey (La hermana San Sulpicio / Sister San Sulpicio, 1927, pictured, right; Agustina de Aragón / Augustina of Aragon, 1929) and Juan de Orduña (Una aventura de cine, 1928) became leading forces in the silent film era and then into the conversion to sound. Epics were especially popular, if limited in their international distribution by an overt Spanish fervour, depicting Spanish bravery and resilience – Gerard Bourgeois’ La vida de Cristóbal Colón y su descubrimiento de América (The Life of Christopher Columbus and his Discovery of America, 1916) and Rey’s La aldea maldita (Cursed Village, 1929) are two of the more memorable examples.
As the sound era dawned (Spain’s first talkie was Francisco Elías's El misterio de la Puerta del Sol / The Mystery in the Puerta del Sol, 1929), an expatriate Spaniard, living in France, began to experiment with film. The films of Luis Bunuel (pictured, left), notably Un chien andalou (An Andalusian Dog, 1929) and L'Â ge d'or (The Golden Age, 1930) would change the course of film language forever. Creating the movement that would become known as Surrealism, Bunuel, with fellow Spaniard Salvador Dali, became the toast of bohemian Europe, his films shocking and disorienting to audiences used to linear narratives and traditional stories. To this day, Un chien andalou is considered a masterpiece and features one of the most iconic cinema images of all time – the slicing of a woman’s eye with a straight razor, shot in extreme close-up (faked, of course, but unforgettable nevertheless). Returning to Spain to make the socialist documentary Las Hurdes (Land Without Bread, 1933), Bunuel ran afoul of the Republican government, who banned the film for its confronting images of lower-class suffering in Salamanca.
Luis Bunuel would establish himself as Spain’s greatest filmmaker, ensuring a truly unique legacy for Spanish film culture. His major works include Quién me quiere a mí? (Who Loves Me?, 1936), Los olvidados (The Forgotten Ones, 1950), Una mujer sin amore (A Woman Without Love, 1952), El bruto (The Brute, 1953), Nazarin (1959), Viridiana (1961, a Cannes Golden Palm winner that was denounced by the Vatican), Le journal d'une femme de chambre (Diary of a Chambermaid, 1964), Belle du jour (1967, winner of Venice’s Golden Lion), El discreto encanto de la burguesía (The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeousie, 1972, winner of the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film) and Ese oscuro objeto del deseo (That Obscure Object of Desire, 1977).
The early 1930’s were a boom period for Spanish cinema – from 1930 to 1936, Madrid’s two major studios, Ricardo Urgoiti’s Filmófono (home to executive producer Luis Bunuel) and Vicente Casanova’s Compañía Industrial Española SA (CIFESA), produced over 60 movies. But on July 18 1936, the eruption of the General Franco-led revolution and the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War all but shut down film production for three years.
Under Franco, censorship was rife. Films were the tool of the governing body – Franco himself wrote the script for José Luis Sáenz de Heredia's Raza (Race, 1942, pictured, right), the rousing tale of a faithful soldier who rises to lead a great revolution. Productions were primarily simple, melodramatic rural stories espousing the joys of simply being Spanish or embellished stories about saints and sinners - Manuel Augusto García Víñola's Inés de Castro (1944), José López Rubio's Eugenia de Montijo (1944), Rafael Gil's Reina santa (Saintly Queen, 1947), and Juan de Orduña's Misión blanca (The White Mission, 1946) are classic examples of this period.
The 1950’s brought a sly sub-genre of social comedy that commented on Franco’s rule with a incision. Despite the establishment a film office in the Ministry of Information and Tourism charged with ensuring film output was nationalistic and celebratory, films such as Esa pareja feliz (That Happy Pair, 1953), the enormously popular Bienvenido, Mister Marshall (Welcome, Mister Marshall, 1953), Los Jueves, milagro (Miracles of Thursday, 1957), Plácido (1961) and El verdugo (The Executioner, 1963) took subtle but effective shots at Franco’s social policies. These films were all the work of Luis García Berlanga (pictured,left), now regarded as one the period’s great satirists. This light neorealism took a decidedly darker turn with Carlos Saura’s Los golfos (The Delinquents, 1962), in which Madrid’s disenfranchised youth’s turn to crime to survive. The ‘new wave’ of audacity in Spanish film was fanning the flames of social unrest and dissatisfaction with Franco’s reign.
A refreshing liberalism came to the Ministry of Information and Tourism with the appointment of the free-thinking Manuel Fraga Iribarne in the early 1960’s. He ushered in an era of young filmmakers who were eager to tell new Spanish stories to both the national population and world audiences. From this blossoming of Spanish talent came such respected filmmakers as Saura (La caza/The Hunt, 1965; El jardín de las delicias/The Garden of Delights, 1970; La prima Angélica/Cousin Angelica, 1974; Cría cuervos/Raise Ravens, 1976), Basilio Martín Patino (Canciones para después de una Guerra/Songs for After a War, 1971), Miguel Picazo, Mario Camus, Manuel Summers and Victor Erice (El espíritu de la colmena/The Spirit of the Beehive, 1973, pictured, above).
By the mid-1970’s, the idiosyncrasies of a young underground filmmaker were being talked about in the cafes and campuses of modern Spain. Pedro Almodovar was creating bold experimental films of striking originality and they were being noticed. As Franco’s constraints disappeared and creativity and vibrancy was restored to mainstream thinking, Almodovar embraced it with both hands, premiering his first film, the bawdy comedy Pepi, Luci, Bom y otras chicas del montón (Pepi, Luci, Bom) in 1980. By the time his second feature was released (Laberinto de pasiones/Labyrinth of Passions, 1982, featuring the film debut of a young actor named Antonio Banderas), Almodovar was the darling of the Spanish film scene, each of his subsequent films becoming a media and cultural event - Entre tinieblas (Dark Habits, 1983); Qué he hecho yo para merecer esto!! (What Have I Done to Deserve This?, 1984); Matador (1986); La Ley del deseo (Law of Desire, 1987); Mujeres al borde de un ataque de nervios (Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown, 1988); Tacones lejanos (High Heels, 1991); Kika (1993); Todo sobre mi madre (All About My Mother, 1999, winner of the Best Foreign Film Oscar); Hable con ella (Talk to Her, 2002, winner of Best Original Screenplay Oscar); La mala educación (Bad Education, 2004); Volver (2006). His mix of melodrama and sexuality and his effortless transition from light to dark in his themes, scenes and imagery has seen him assume the mantle of national treasure in his home land and reverence as one of the great modern international filmmakers.
Spanish filmmakers of note are impacting international commercial cinema in greater numbers than ever before – Fernandi Trueba (the Oscar-winning Belle Epoque, 1992; Calle 54, 2000; Chico & Rita, 2010); Isabel Coixet (Cosas que nunca te dije/Things I Never Told You, 1996; My Life Without Me, 2003; The Bookshop, 2017); José Juan Bigas Luna (Jamón, Jamón, 1992, the film that introduced international audiences to the charms of future Oscar winners Penélope Cruz and Javier Bardem); Julio Medem (Los amantes del círculo polar/The Lovers of the Arctic Circle, 1999; Ma Ma, 2015); Alejandro Amenabar (Abre los ojos/Open Your Eyes, 1997, pictured, right; The Others, 2001; The Sea Inside, 2004); Juan Antonio Bayonas (El Orfanato/The Orphanage, 2008; The Impossible, 2012; Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, 2018); Juan Carlos Fresnadillo (Intacto, 2001; 28 Weeks Later, 2008).
In 2000, the film Amores Perros introduced the world to Alejandro González Iñárritu, a master of visceral and emotional cinema who would dominate the global film scene with films such as 21 Grams (2003), Babel (2006) and Biutiful (2010), before winning two Best Director Oscars for Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance (2014) and The Revenant (2015). The door was now open for the unique visionaries of Spanish cinema, festival and arthouse audiences seeking out such names as Paula Ortiz (The Bride, 2015); Álex de la Iglesia (Witching and Bitching, 2013); Pablo Berger (Blancanieves, 2012); Jaume Balagueró ([Rec], 2007; Sleep Tight, 2011; Muse, 2017); Cesc Gay (A Gun in Each hand, 2012; Truman, 2015); Fernando León de Aranoa (Princesas, 2005; A Perfect Day, 2015); Cala Simon (Summer of 1993, 2017); and, Rodrigo Cortés (Buried, 2010).
Having survived the hardships of an oppressive regime determined to silence free thinking, the Spanish film scene emerged stronger for the experience. The confidence and passion of the nation and its people is on the screen for all to see.
Key Events: San Sebastian International Film Festival – Donostia, San Sebastian, Spain; September. Launched on September 21, 1953, Spain’s premier film event was conceived as a non-competitive ‘International Film Week’ for the purpose of screening and marketing films; within two years it was recognised as a competitive festival of global standing. This marked the emergence of the "Concha", or shell – the now-iconic award handed to those films and filmmakers whose work is deemed to honour the ideals of the festival – the ongoing liberalisation of cinema and to serve as a showcase for each year's most innovative films. www.sansebastianfestival.com
Contact: Escuela de Cinematografia y de la Audiovisual de la Communidad de Madrid (ECAM) C / Juan de Orduña, 3 City of the Image 28223 Pozuelo de Alarcón, Madrid Tel: (+34) 915 121 060 Eml: comunicacion@ecam.es Web: www.ecam.es
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Tuesday, December 18, 2018 at 7:27AM 
Slated as Poland’s entry in the Best Foreign Film Oscar category, the monochromatic drama also won Best Actress for Joanna Kulig, and Best Editing for Jarosław Kamiński. The EFAs add to a growing list of accolades for Cold War that include the Cannes Film Festival Best Director award and the Best Foreign Film honour from America’s National Board of Review. 
Past Best Actor EFA winner Ralph Fiennes (Sunshine, 1999), present to accept the honorary European Achievement in World Cinema award, was harsher in his condemnation of his homeland’s current political climate. “Can I be English and European? Emphatically yes. There is a crisis in Europe and our feeling of family, of connection and of shared history, shared wounds - this feeling is threatened by a discourse of division. In England now, there is only the noise of division.”
