The ‘bullets’ of Spanish cinema at the Cannes Film Festival

The premiere of Pedro Almodóvar’s “gay western”, the return of Víctor Erice after three decades, Pablo Berger’s dive into animation and the selection of Elena Martín in the Filmmakers’ Fortnight, lead the Spanish participation in the Cannes Film Festival, which will start on Tuesday 19.

The release of “Extraña forma de vida”, a short film that is Almodóvar’s second work in English after the short “People’s voice” (2020), will take place on the Croisette next Wednesday, with the presence of the director Manchego and part of the cast led by the American actor Ethan Hawke and the Chilean Pedro Pascal.

Its premiere will take place at special times outside the competition, and according to the chief delegate of the festival, Thierry Frémaux, it is about 30 “incredible” cinema minutes.

It will also be shown during special sessions “Robot Dreams”Pablo Berger’s animated debut, selected for screening intended for a young audience.

This film, which will have its first screening on the 20th, adapts the novel graphics by Sara Varon which is about two friends, Robot and Dog, who are forced to go their separate ways.

Erice’s turn with “Cerrar los Ojos” comes two days later, in the Cannes Première section, the same one that last year was the launch pad for Rodrigo Sorogoyen’s successful “As bestas”.

In his fourth solo feature film as a director and his first after a dead end of 31 years, Erice is accompanied by a cast that includes José Coronado, María León, Ana Torrent and Soledad Villamil.

Elena Martin

Within the parallel sections of the festival, due to the inclusion of the renamed Filmmakers’ Fortnight (previously Directors’ Fortnight), Elena Martín Gimeno’s second feature film, “Creatura”, will premiere on May 20 in the official selection.

The film, shot in Catalan with a script signed by Martín and Clara Roquet (director of “Libertada”), is about the sexual awakening of a woman, and the cast is led by the director herself, together with Cláudio Dalmau and Mila Borràs, who embody the main role, Mila, with different years.

Filmmakers’ Fortnight will also have another Spanish component with “Bên trong đên kén vàng” (“Inside the shell of a yellow cocoon”), the feature debut of Vietnamese director Pham Thien An, co-produced by Barcelona-based production company Fasten Films. starts in.

For the Golden Palm

Spanish cinema is not competing for golden palm feature films, but will do so in the short film category with “Aunque es de noche”, by Guillermo García López, about the slum of Cañada Real (Madrid).

Among the competitors will be “None of these,” Spanish-Argentine short film directed by Patricia Martínez and Francisco Cantona.

There will also be a Week of Criticism Spanish shorts in search of recognition: “The Accountant” by Irati Gorostidi Agirretxe and the Spanish-Croatian co-production “The True Truth of the Story of Shora” by Andrea Slavicek.

This edition of Cannes Film Festival He didn’t want to miss the opportunity to pay a small tribute to Carlos Saura, who passed away last February, by screening the remastered “Carmen” at his theater on the beach on May 22.

As the icing on the cake, the festival’s Marché du Film, a commercial platform that brings people together Cannes industry professionals, will have Spain as the guest of honor, the second country to have the privilege after India in 2022.

76th edition Cannes Film Festival will take place in between May 16 and 27 with new movies Wes Anderson, Nanni Moretti, Wim Wenders, Ken Loach and Brazilian Karim Aïnouz, among others, in the battle for the Palme d’Or.

A new movie will also be released Martin Scorsese and the next part of the Indiana Jones saga.