Pelicula Spanish Film Festival 2017: 1898.Los Ultimos De Filipinas
Last weekend, I participated in a contest by Instituto Cervantes de Manila where I won two tickets for the Pelicula Opening Night Screening. Pelicula is a Spanish film festival held every year in Manila.
Since the event takes place on a weekday evening, I don't think a lot of people participated in the contest which is probably why I won. 😀 I had a hard time looking for someone to come with me though as everyone else had a job and couldn't come on a weeknight. Luckily, a former workmate of mine had her rest day on the same day and she agreed to come (I had to beg her 😛).
The event began with the director of Instituto Cervantes and the Spanish ambassador addressing the audience. And yes, there were a lot of air-kissing diplomats and socialites in the audience (I felt right at home 😝). The Spanish ambassador also made mention of the world premiere of a nonfiction film titled Ta Acorda Ba Tu El Filipinas by Spanish filmmaker Sally Gutierrez. The ambassador was like sorry for my Chabacano and I was like oh Mr. Ambassador, I know perfectly well how to say that! 😂
The film that we watched that night was 1898.Los Ultimos De Filipinas. I always know when the place I am watching on the screen is in the Philippines or not and I was right! The film was not shot in Baler or anywhere in the Philippines, it was shot in Equatorial Guinea!
What I loved most about the film was the cinematography which was super amazing! Everything looked super vibrant and alive. 😀
One of the curious things in the film was the presence of oranges which most Filipinos (including me) think can't grow in this country. But I did some googling about it and it does look like oranges can grow in the Philippines. I was also surprised to learn a few months ago from a friend that she was growing lemons in her backyard! I guess Jose Rizal knew what he was saying when he said that "an hour's work under that burning sun, in the midst of pernicious influences springing from nature in activity, is equal to a day's work in a temperate climate; it is, then, just that the earth yield
a hundred fold!" (source: The Indolence of the Filipino)
The character that really left an impression on me was that of Teresa who according to a Spanish soldier was a whore. I felt like the character of Teresa was a symbolism representing the Philippines. In some nationalistic poems and songs, I think the country is depicted as a woman and foreign invaders as men fighting over her (although I can't name any right off the top of my head so I may be wrong about this). But this thought was with me all throughout the movie so it was somehow implanted into my subconscious by some event in the past or I have probably been drawing information from our universal mind. 😜
Last night was the first time (after quitting my job in March) that I dreamed in Spanish again. In the dream, a doctor (or a guy who seemed to have been a doctor) was telling me something, and I was feeling stubborn and told him es problema tuya. And yes, I self-corrected even in my dream. Freaky, right? 😆
The Pelicula Spanish Film Festival runs from October 5 to October 15, 2017 at Greenbelt Cinemas. Here is the Pelicula Spanish Film Festival schedule for 2017.
Since the event takes place on a weekday evening, I don't think a lot of people participated in the contest which is probably why I won. 😀 I had a hard time looking for someone to come with me though as everyone else had a job and couldn't come on a weeknight. Luckily, a former workmate of mine had her rest day on the same day and she agreed to come (I had to beg her 😛).
The event began with the director of Instituto Cervantes and the Spanish ambassador addressing the audience. And yes, there were a lot of air-kissing diplomats and socialites in the audience (I felt right at home 😝). The Spanish ambassador also made mention of the world premiere of a nonfiction film titled Ta Acorda Ba Tu El Filipinas by Spanish filmmaker Sally Gutierrez. The ambassador was like sorry for my Chabacano and I was like oh Mr. Ambassador, I know perfectly well how to say that! 😂
The film that we watched that night was 1898.Los Ultimos De Filipinas. I always know when the place I am watching on the screen is in the Philippines or not and I was right! The film was not shot in Baler or anywhere in the Philippines, it was shot in Equatorial Guinea!
What I loved most about the film was the cinematography which was super amazing! Everything looked super vibrant and alive. 😀
a hundred fold!" (source: The Indolence of the Filipino)
Last night was the first time (after quitting my job in March) that I dreamed in Spanish again. In the dream, a doctor (or a guy who seemed to have been a doctor) was telling me something, and I was feeling stubborn and told him es problema tuya. And yes, I self-corrected even in my dream. Freaky, right? 😆
The Pelicula Spanish Film Festival runs from October 5 to October 15, 2017 at Greenbelt Cinemas. Here is the Pelicula Spanish Film Festival schedule for 2017.
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