Since 2002, the Instituto Cervantes in Manila has brought the PELÍCULA-PELIKULA film festival to Filipino audiences, becoming one of the strongest showcases of Spanish cinema in Southeast Asia. Now in its 24th edition, the festival is set to take over various cinemas across the capital, offering a week-long screening of 16 films from Spain and Latin America.
Highlights of the festival lineup include the Spanish biopic El 47, the true story of a bus driver who helped shape modern Barcelona during the city’s boom in the 1970s. Other Spanish full-length features include the documentary Un Hombre Libre, which traces the life of exiled Andalusian writer Agustín Gómez Arcos, and the animated feature Robotia, in which an android dreams of playing football.
The festival will also feature Latin American films, including the Argentine rural thriller Por tu bien, the Brazilian family drama Até que a Música Pare, and the Peruvian coming-of-age story Reinas. PELÍCULA-PELIKULA will also feature a program titled “En Corto: Short Films from the Philippines, Latin America, and Spain.”
Festivalgoers will also have the chance to vote on the Audience Choice Award. The winning film will be announced on the last day of the festival and will be screened again during the festival’s closing ceremony.
PELÍCULA-PELIKULA runs from October 10 to 16 at the Ayala Triangle Gardens and Powerplant Cinemas in Makati. All screenings are free of charge and will be shown with English subtitles.
