INSTITUTO Cervantes and the Embassy of Colombia present “Cine Colombiano,” a festival of recent Colombian films, on all Saturdays of September, at Instituto Cervantes, the cultural arm of the Embassy of Spain, on Kalaw Street, Ermita, Manila.
The cycle will kick off on Sept. 5 with two screenings: the feature film “Del Amor y Otros Demonios” (Of Love and Other Demons), at 2 p.m.; and the documentary “Gabo: La magia de lo Real” (Gabo: The Creation of Gabriel Garcia Marquez), 4 p.m.
“Del Amor y Otros Demonios” is the film adaptation of Gabriel García Márquez’s novel, the unsettling story of 13-year-old Sierva María and the dog bite that changes her life forever.
Abandoned, displaced, in the midst of a sexual awakening, and, finally, exorcised, Sierva María finds an unlikely ally in a young priest. Together they discover passion. The 2009 movie is directed by Hilda Hidalgo.
“Gabo: La magia de lo Real” (Gabo: The Creation of Gabriel García Márquez), 2015, directed by Justin Webster is a gripping documentary about the 1982 Nobel Prize for Literature winner. How did a boy from a backward town on the Caribbean coast become a writer who won the hearts of millions, and whose works changed our perception of reality?
García Márquez was the author of the critically acclaimed masterpiece “100 Years of Solitude.” He grew up amid the poverty of northern Colombia, and, propelled by a love of life and a sensual, magical sensibility, followed a path that took him not only into becoming a pioneer of life-affirming literature, but also to the forefront of the political struggles of the ’70s and ’80s through his militant journalism and friendships with political leaders such as Fidel Castro and Bill Clinton.
On Sept. 12, “Sofía y el Terco” (Sofia and the Stubborn Man), 2012, directed by Andrés Burgos, will be shown. An old couple living in the Colombian countryside has been planning a trip to the sea for years to break the monotony of their life. He just wants to leave the routine; she wants to see the world and cannot keep waiting. The film won the Audience Award at the Biarritz International Festival of Latin American Cinema.
On Sept. 19, to be shown is “Cazando luciérnagas” (Chasing Fireflies), 2013, directed by Roberto Flores Prieto, about how affection can improve reality. Manrique is the man in charge of watching an abandoned salt mine in the Colombian Caribbean. In his work he has found the perfect excuse to isolate himself from a world that doesn’t appeal to him anymore.
The appearance of a dog that likes to chase fireflies in the dark and the unexpected arrival of Valeria, a 13-year-old daughter whose existence he has ignored, will create for this solitary man an opportunity to recover the joy of being alive.
“Cazando luciérnagas” won the Best Cinematography award at the Huelva Latin American Film Festival.
Directed by Óscar Ruiz Navia in 2013, the critically acclaimed “Los Hongos” will conclude the film cycle on Sept. 26 at 2 p.m. The movie tells the story of two young men from Cali who want to become graffiti artists.
“Los Hongos” received the Special Jury Prize in the Locarno International Film Festival; and the Dioraphte Award in the Rotterdam International Film Festival.
All films will be shown in their original version in Spanish with English subtitles. The screenings will be in Salón de Actos of Instituto Cervantes, 855 T.M. Kalaw St., Ermita, Manila.
Entrance is free on a first-come, first-served basis. For further information, log on to www.manila.cervantes.es or www.facebook.com/InstitutoCervantesManila, or call 5261482.