‘Pa Negre’ and Isabel Coixet’s documentary ‘Escuchando al juez Garzón’ lead the Catalan films at the Berlinale 2011
Three Catalan movies compete in various categories at the Berlinale film festival. In addition, during the 10 days of festival, 13 Catalan movies are screened to the public in the German capital.
Berlin (ACN) .- One of the most talked about movies at the 61st edition of the international film festival Berlinale this year is the outstanding production by the Catalan director Isabel Coixet ‘Eschuchando al juez Garzón’, which in English translates to ‘Listening to Judge Garzón’. ‘Pa Negre’ by Augustí Villaronga, which translates to ‘Black Bread’, in English is another Catalan production on show this week at Berlinale festival in the German capital. This year, the Isabel Coixet movie, ‘Eschuchando el Juez Garzón’ will compete in the ‘Special’ category. The ‘Panorama’ section that includes new works from well-known directors has two Catalan productions this year: ‘Amador’, by the Madrid director Fernando León de Aranoa and produced by the audiovisual companies Reposado and Mediapro, and 'Medianeras' (‘Sidewalls’) by Gustavo Taretto.
‘Eschuchando al juez Garzón’ is a documentary film about the persucation that the Spanish Judie Baltasar Garzçon is suffering from Spanish judiciary Powers due to his investigations about the Franco dictatorship and political corruption. Garzón became world famous as he requested the extradition of the Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet from the United Kingdom to be judged for his crimes. Garzón also investigated the Argentinean dictatorship crimes and he is one of the pioneers of the ‘universal justice’ concept.
Coixet's film is the recording of a conversation between Judge Baltasar Garzón and the writer Manuel Rivas where they “relate to and analyse the situation” about what exactly is happening to the judge. The director wanted to show the situation of a judge who “does with job with passion, enthusiasm and conviction”, says Coixet.
The presence of Isabel Coixet is now almost a tradition at the Berlinale International Film Festival. In 2003, her film ‘My life without me’ was one of the festival’s favourites and in 2008 her two movies ‘Elegy’ and ‘The secret life of words’ competed in main category in the festival. In 2009, Coixet was part of the festival's international jury. Last year, in the 60th edition the Catalan director participated in a conference at the 'Talent on Campus', a section of the festival dedicated to young beginners in the world of cinema.
Another Catalan production is 'Amador' directed by Fernando León de Aranoa and produced by Reposado and Mediapro, a Catalan audiovisual company that produced the latest Woody Allen films. The film is about a young immigrant, Magaly Solier, with economic problems that takes care of an old Spanish man called Amador. The actress Magaly Solier was also the protagonist of the film ‘La Teta Asustada’(‘The Milk of Sorrow’), a film awarded the Golden Bear award at the Berlinale 2009 and directed by Peruvian director based in Barcelona, Claudia Llosa. Amador is played by Celso Bugallo, who has also appeared in many films such as ‘Salvador Puig Antich’.
The movie 'Medianeras' by Gustavo Taretto is also in the ‘Panorama’ section. The film that stars Pilar López de Ayala as the protagonist, tells the story of two youngsters “who are united but at the same time separated in the city of Buenos Aires”.
Films for the public
Another notable film at the Berlinale is the Catalan movie 'Pa Negre' (‘Black Bread’). It had a great success at the San Sebastián Film Festival and at the latest edition of the Gaudí Awards in Barcelona. It has also been nominated for 14 Goya Awards this year. The movie pictures a dark crime story at the Catalan mountains just after the Spanish Civil War, where food scarcity made people only get black bread.
The Augustí Villaronga movie is not competing in the Berlinale festival this year, but it will be screened to the public with twelve other Catalan movies. Among others, 'Didi Hollywood' by Bigas Luna; 'Mil Cretins' (‘Thousand Bastards’) by Ventura Pons, 'Atrocius' by Fernando Barreda Luna, 'Barcelona, socialite' by Mireia Ros, ‘De gran vull ser soldat’ (‘When I’ll grow up, I want to be a soldier’) by Christian Molina, and ‘Blog’ by Elena Trapé.
Collet-Serra presents 'Unknown'
The established Catalan movie director in Hollywood Jaume Collet-Serra will present the movie 'Unknown' on the last day of the festival. The 'thriller' movie that is actually in the competition has a leading cast with renowned actors like Liam Neeson, Frank Langelia, Diane Kruger, January Jones, Aidan Quinn and Bruno Ganz.