- This competitive section will start with the screenings of Historia de pastores and On the Go this Sunday, April 21
- Four short films and five feature films comprise this section’s program, which will award 5,000 euros to the winning film
- The catalog and schedule of this 23rd edition of the Festival are available at lpafilmfestival.com
Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Saturday, April 20, 2024. The 23rd edition of the Las Palmas de Gran Canaria International Film Festival will show nine works in its competitive section “Panorama Spain”, which premieres in the Archipelago the most daring work of Spanish cinema, usually made on the margins and screened, mostly, within the festival circuit. It will start tomorrow Sunday, April 20, with the screenings of Historia de pastores (Tale of Shepherds) (Jaime Puertas Castillo, Spain, 2024, 80 min.), at 6:15 p.m., and On the Go (María Gisèle Royo, Julia de Castro, Spain, 2023, 72 min.), at 8:30 p.m. at Cine Yelmo Las Arenas. Both films will be presented by their filmmakers.
In Jaime Puertas’ bewitching debut feature Historia de pastores, the young director “defies established codes and embraces the rural from a fantastical perspective,” said the programmer of the section. In this story of shepherds, Mari works on developing a digital archive to compile all the farmhouses in the highlands of Granada, which began a process of abandonment in the 80s. Among their ruins, she comes across José, a shepherd with a strange wound on his arm. In addition to this meeting, José’s mother invites Jonás. He, who was once a shepherd, preserves an ancient tale that connects all these disappearances and searches. Its first screening will take place on Sunday, April 21, at 6:15 p.m.
On the Go is María Gisèle Royo and Julia de Castro’s first feature, a “free-spirited film shot on a shoestring” by its two co-directors. In it, Milagros pursues her desire to be a mother and Jonathan his desire to escape from loneliness. “A gloriously queer and deliriously funny road movie that stands out for its brilliant use of 16mm,” claimed the Festival’s program.
In this “journey full of discoveries through a unique and constantly evolving cinematography” offered by “Panorama Spain”, the Festival’s competitive section will screen what will probably be “one of the best films of the year”, according to the section’s programmer, Elodie Mellado. The film is Nina (Spain, 2024, 105 min.). With this work, filmmaker Andrea Jaurrieta “will unleash her fury.” It is “a film that comes at a key moment for Spanish cinema” and that won the Critics’ Prize at the Malaga Film Festival. With an enviable vision and rich in references to classic cinema, the director “reappropriates the rape-revenge genre like few have done in Spanish Cinema,” said Mellado. In the film, Nina returns to the town where she grew up with a hidden shotgun and the goal of taking revenge on Pedro, now a famous writer to whom tribute is paid. This reunion with her past will make her reconsider whether revenge is her only way out. Its first screening will take place on Monday, April 22, at 5:45 p.m.
In this journey through the big screen proposed by the selection committee, a third debut film will be screened; Los restos del pasar (The Trail Left by Time) (Alfredo Picazo, Luis Soto Muñoz, Spain. 2023, 83 min.). Andalusian filmmakers Alfredo Picazo and Luis Soto Muñoz return to the island with their first production after having participated in last year’s MECAS, with “a work in stark black and white and with a prodigious gaze that is, above all, a tribute to and farewell to Andalusian artist Paco Ariza, who passed away last October.” Los restos del pasar tells the story of Antonio’s childhood in an Andalusian village during Easter Week. He is an active and lonely boy who meets Paco, an elderly painter to whom he conveys his doubts about death or religion. He teaches Antonio the secrets of painting, but also to observe and understand the world. Its first screening will take place on Tuesday, April 23, at 8:00 p.m.
“Seeing is believing.” So is Mamántula (Ion de Sosa, Germany, Spain, 2023, 48 min.), the last feature film included in this competitive section. Ion de Sosa’s premise for this fantasy genre film is a cosmic spider that takes on human form to land on Earth and seduce gay men until sucking them to death. Two quirky detectives will be responsible for stopping her. This idea could have come from the mind of Ion de Sosa, “one of our most unique auteurs,” said programmer Elodie Mellado. Its first screening will take place on Tuesday, April 23, at 6:30 p.m.
On the other hand, Panorama Spain’s short film selection focuses on female talent. Els Buits (Gaps) (Sofia Esteve, Isa Luengo, Marina Freixa Roca, Spain, 2024, 19 min.), a documentary dealing with lesbian historical memory and Franco’s repression; Cura Sana (Lucia G. Romero, Spain, 2024, 18 min. ), latest winner of the Crystal Bear at the Berlinale; Trenc d’Alba (Crack of Dawn) (Anna Llargués, Spain, 2023, 28 min.) and Contadores (Counters) (Irati Gorostidi Agirretxe, Spain, 2023, 19 min.), selected at the Cannes and San Sebastian Film Festivals. All of them trace an essential life journey that puts the spotlight on female filmmakers “we will be seeing more of shortly,” noted the FICLPGC’s catalog. Its first screening will take place on Monday, April 22, at 8:15 p.m.
The Las Palmas de Gran Canaria International Film Festival, organized by the Culture area of the Gran-Canarian capital’s City Council through Promoción de la Ciudad de Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, has received public assistance by the ICAA [Institute of Cinematography and Audiovisual Arts], the program for the internationalization of Spanish culture, PICE Visitantes, of Acción Cultural Española (AC/E), from the Consejería de Universidades, Ciencia e Innovación y Cultura del Gobierno de Canarias, as well as public support from Promotur Turismo Islas Canarias.
Among the Festival’s collaborators we may find Fundación Auditorio Teatro, Cines Yelmo, Las Arenas Shopping Center and Hotel Cristina by Tigotan, places which also function as venues or hold activities of the film event; as well as other institutions and companies such as Sagulpa, Hospitales San Roque, Jameson, Ikigai, Cientouno Group, el Centro de Cultura Audiovisual de Gran Canaria, Audiovisuales Canarias, Music Library &SFX, Blackout Films and International Bach Festival. Likewise, its market, MECAS, has been possible thanks to the sponsorship of the Gran Canaria Film Commission-Sociedad de Promoción Económica de Gran Canaria and the support of Canary Islands Film and Proexca.
The University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, the Mid Atlantic University, the CIFP Felo Monzón Grau-Bassas, the Canary Islands Film Institute, the Escuela Oficial de Idiomas, Digital 104, the Audiovisual Cluster of the Canary Islands, CIMA Asociación de Mujeres Cineastas y de Medios Audiovisuales, the Cartagena International Film Festival, the Gijón International Film Festival, the Barcelona Independent Film Festival, Toyota Canarias and Very Good Script are also collaborators.
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