THE INTERNATIONAL FANTASTIC FILM SITGES FESTIVAL OF CATALONIA

It is the first festival about fantastic cinema of the world and one of the most famous in Catalunya. This month, the festival celebrated his 46 edition. The festival rewards the participants with more than 30 prizes depending on the section which the participant has presented the film to. This edition, the film Borgman, a French production, received the most important prize, the best film on the official section of Sitges 2013. The film Big Bad Wolves received the prize of the best direction. 

BIG BAD WOLVES

BORGMAN

We have to stand out the participation of young students; they have been awarded with the SGAE Nova Autoria prizes for: the best script, the best direction, the best original music and two second prizes. The awarded youngsters are from the school Bande à Part, Escola Superior de Cinema i Audiovisuals de Catalunya and the Pompeu Fabra university.

The total participation in the festival has been very high and the majority of the awarded films are foreign. The director of the festival has closed the festival with a speech praising the importance of Catalan cinema and culture. 

OLIVE, A FILM MADE BY A MOBILE PHONE

Hello! I am going to present you the first film made by a mobile phone. Hooman Khalili is the director of this american film called “Olive”. He had done the film only by a high-resolutioin camera integred in his smartphone Nokia N8. She adapt a lent of 35 mm to achieve a shallow depth of field.

The main character is the actress Gena Rowlands. She stars a girl with ten years old who change the lifes from three people wihtout speaking. The people are: an old and embittered woman, an obese man and a foreigner who don’t get used to America.

The film had been premiered on December, 2011 in Los Angles. You can see the trailer and some photografies about the shooting on the “Olive’s” official web site: http://olivethemovie.com/ 

 

CINEMA AND TEENAGERS

Hi! I have done five interviews in teenergers between 14 and 17 years old. I have request three questions about cinema. Look the answers!

PA NEGRE (Black Bread)

Hi! Today I will present you one of the most famous Catalan films. Nowadays, the importance of the Catalan cinema is increasing. People around the world are getting more interested in catalan cinema and there are some catalan films that have been translated to other languages like spanish or english. For example "Pa Negre".

Pa Negre is the best catalan film for excellence. It is a drama film that turns around the post-war period (1939). Everithing starts when an innocent boy discovers two human corpses in the forest. From this accident the boy enters in a complicated world, full of liars, secrets, hunger and repression. The film had recieved a lot of awards, these are the most important:

• 9 Goya awards

• 13 Gaudí awards

• San Sebastián International Film Festival

• 2011 Spanish National Film Award

Original trailer:

INTERVIEW FROM NÚRIA SOLER

Hello! This is an interview from Núria Soler. She is an actress, she have done some films and now she is rehearsing a very interesting play.

Which resources do you use to get into the character?

I imagine that the script is played by my favorite actors and actress. Then, I try to copy what I have imagined. If it is a character with a special situation, I will inform about his or her situation. Sometimes, the best way is to contact with someone who is living the situation or have passed it. I do this to have a 1r person perspective. .

When the script asks you to cry, do you get it quickly?

If the script is well written, it isn't very difficult to cry. To see true tears, it has to be appropiate with the reality where the character belongs to. If it isn't in that way, you will know that it is false and it is more difficult to get into the character and cry.

What do you prefer to play: theatre or cinema?

I am very fan of both things but I prefer theatre because it isn't very much exploded . In a stage you can act better because you can gesticulate and you can move more than in a set or surrounded of a lot of cameras.

What do you do when you are waiting to play or film your sequence?

In the stage, the nerves don't overcome but before enter on the stage it is a dilemma! I try to take things with calm. If the rest of the colleagues are with me, everything will be easier. 

What do you prefer? Comedy, action or tragedy?

They are three very different genres. But I prefer Comedy because making people laugh seems easy but actually it isn't. If you have got a good script and you know how to bring the message to the audience, you will be rewarded with their reaction. It is a way to know that you do the job well and you are pushed to move forward.