Political cinema for the 21st Century arrives in Ronda
As of this year, Ronda will host an international film festival. Given the overabundance of events held across Spain, the arrival of one more shouldn’t be especially noteworthy. But two factors make the Ronda International Film Festival rather special.
The first is its team of organisers, including names like José María Riba and Diego Galán, who for years were linked to the San Sebastian Film Festival, and José Garasino, director of activities at the Media Business School. The event is headed by Piluca Baquero.
The second factor is the festival’s specialisation in politics. In fact, the event’s tagline is “Political Cinema for the 21st Century”. “The idea is to bring the man on the street, especially young people, closer to politics through cinema”, Baquero explained to Cineuropa.
However, she emphasised that the programme will be made up of “films that take a critical look at real things, not sensible or boring works”. For this reason, they have chosen the economic crisis as the theme for the first edition, to be held from November 27-December 4.
The event’s Official Competition, whose top prize, the Golden Goyesca, is worth €50,000, will include about ten titles produced in the last two years. This flexibility highlights the importance of the interaction between artists and audiences beyond the logic of the film festival circuit.
Baquero commented: “More than a film festival, it’s a festival of filmmakers. What’s important to us is not showing the latest film by a particular artist, but bringing them along and reflecting together on their films”.
Moreover, the festival will host a documentary section (Open Window); another sidebar devoted to shorts (Life Is Short); a homage to a filmmaker who has stood out for their political engagement; and a series of debates coordinated by journalist Miguel Ángel Aguilar. This latter section is particularly important for the organisation, for it will provide an opportunity to “bring together politicians, filmmakers and young people and get them talking, discussing and watching films together. A three-sided forum”, concluded Riba.
(Translated from Spanish)
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