London, Shanghai, Paris and Montpellier present the best of the Catalan film industry
Special events and festivals pay tribute to Catalan cinema02/05/2011
Festivals
From 13 May to the end of July, the Tate Modern in London will be offering an extensive retrospective of the work by filmmaker Pere Portabella, who has moreover selected the feature film Aita / Father by José Mª de Orbe (Eddie Saeta) for inclusion in the series. Screenings of other Catalan productions will be offered in June at the fourth celebration of the Différent! Festival in Paris and at the Shanghai International Film Festival (11 to 19 June), a Class A event that for its part has decided to create a special section that includes productions from the rest of Spain.
Though the Asian festival has yet to unveil its final line-up, it has confirmed the participation of titles such as La porte de non retour / The Door of no Return by Goya winner Santiago A. Zannou (Dokia Films and Shankara Films), Mami Blue by Miguel Ágel Calvo Buttoni (Life & Pictures, Jaleo Films, Recycled Films, Salto de Eje PC), Bruc by Daniel Benmayor (Ikiru Films and Televisió de Catalunya), and Lo más importante de la vida es no haber muerto / The Most Important thing in Life is not Being Dead, directed by Olivier Pictet, Pablo Martín and Marc Recuenco (OLPAMAdiversion Films and Saskiavischer Productions).
The hearty presentation of Catalan cinema in Shanghai will be preceding the special tribute that the Montpellier International Film Festival (Cinemed) is preparing for the month of October. The festival's president, Henri Talvat, has announced that the upcoming celebration will feature a focus on Catalonia's finest recent productions, as well as a retrospective on the work of Ventura Pons.
Tribute to the films of Ventura Pons
The tribute to filmmaker Ventura Pons in Montpellier will be the third retrospective after Belgrade and New Delhi . With the upcoming shoot of his latest film Any de Gràcia about to begin, the director has received confirmation of the world premiere of Mil cretins / A Thousand Fools at the Seattle International Film Festival (19 May to 12 June) and participation in the competition in Italy's Taormina Film Festival (11 to 18 June).