Instituto Cervantes’s Película Spanish Film Festival marks its return to Makati

El 47 is set in Barcelona in 1978 and centres on Manolo Vital (played by Eduard Fernández), a popular and respected bus driver on the Route 47. Manolo is also a long-time resident and leader in Torre Baró, a self-built, impoverished neighbourhood on the city’s outskirts largely populated by Extremaduran and Andalusian immigrants.

The neighbourhood, built up in the years following Franco’s dictatorship, had been persistently neglected by the local government, lacking basic infrastructure like running water, electricity and, most critically, public transportation. The city council repeatedly denied the community a bus line, falsely claiming that the steep, narrow streets of Torre Baró were impassable for a large vehicle.

Driven to desperation by the government’s contempt and the community’s hardship, Manolo takes a drastic, defiant action: he hijacks his own Route 47 bus and, in an act of powerful civil disobedience, drives it directly up into the heart of the Torre Baró neighbourhood. His act serves as a dramatic, undeniable proof that the bus route is feasible, rallying his community and challenging the status quo for the sake of dignity, visibility and justice. The film is a stirring tribute to grassroots movements and the power of collective action to force change and help shape modern Barcelona.

The film has achieved significant critical acclaim and box office success in Spain, securing major prizes at the country’s most prestigious film awards, including Goya Awards, Gaudi Awards and Forqué Awards.

Read more: Instituto Cervantes highlights the cultural contributions of Spanish grammarian Elio Antonio de Nebrija

Soy Nevenka is a 2024 Spanish biographical drama film directed by Icíar Bollaín and co-written with Isa Campo. The film dramatises the true events involving Nevenka Fernández (Mireia Oriol), a young municipal Finance Councillor in the local government of Ponferrada, Spain, in the year 2000.

The plot focuses on the sexual and professional harassment Nevenka Fernández faced from the city’s Mayor, Ismael Álvarez (Urko Olazabal). Nevenka decides to file a complaint against the Mayor, resulting in a court case and widespread public scrutiny in Spain. The film depicts how Nevenka faced a societal backlash, while her complaint nonetheless led to a conviction for sexual harassment against a politician in Spain. The case is cited as a turning point in Spanish workplace relations and a precursor to the #MeToo movement in the country.

It has won the Euskadi Basque Country 2030 Agenda Award from the San Sebastian International Film Festival in 2024.

Nosotros is a 2024 Spanish feature film directed by Helena Taberna. The plot focuses on the ten-year relationship between a couple named Ángela (María Vázquez) and Antonio (Pablo Molinero).

The film employs a non-linear narrative structure, beginning at the point of their separation. It then moves backwards through the ten-year timeline of their shared life, revealing the sequence of events, conflicts and everyday situations that led to the dissolution of their relationship. The narrative reconstructs the evolution of their love, starting from their meeting and falling in love, through having children and eventually the emotional distance that causes the end of their commitment. The film is a character study that examines the complexities of modern, long-term relationships.

Un hombre libre is an 88-minute Spanish documentary film released in 2024, directed and co-written by Laura Hojman.

The film explores the life and work of the Spanish writer Agustín Gómez Arcos, an author whose work as a playwright was censored in Spain during the 1950s, leading him to live in exile, mainly in France. There, he achieved considerable success as a novelist and was a six-time finalist for the prestigious French literary prize, the Prix Goncourt, yet his work remained largely unrecognised in his native Spain for decades.

The documentary aims to rescue the writer’s figure from oblivion by focusing on his challenge of the silences imposed by the Franco regime. Gómez Arcos’s works addressed themes that were ahead of their time, including democratic memory, feminism and gender and sexual identity. The film features testimonies from various Spanish cultural figures, including Pedro Almodóvar, Marisa Paredes and Bob Pop, to reflect on Gómez Arcos’s legacy and the role of culture and memory in Spain’s recent history.

In 2024, the film won the Queer Ocaña Freedom Award at the Seville European Film Festival for its portrait of revered writer Arcos, and his fight for democratic memory and the vindication of gender and sexual identity.

La guitarra flamenca de Yerai Cortés is a 2024 Spanish documentary film that marks the directorial debut of musician Antón Álvarez (known professionally as C Tangana). The film is a portrait of the flamenco guitarist Yerai Cortés, a contemporary artist in Spain’s flamenco scene.

The documentary centres on the recording process for one of Yerai Cortés’s albums. It uses this artistic journey to explore the complexities of Cortés’s family and personal history, specifically focusing on a family secret or tragedy that must be confronted. The narrative weaves together music and personal testimony to explore themes of family relationships, the traditions of gypsy culture and the capacity of flamenco music to serve as a means of healing and emotional expression.

Mariposas negras is an 83-minute Spanish-Panamanian animated documentary feature film, released in 2024, and directed by David Baute in his animation debut. The film is co-written by Baute and Yaiza Berrocal and is based on real-life testimonies and Baute’s previous investigative work on climate migration.

The documentary focuses on the impact of global warming by telling the stories of three women—Tanit, Valeria and Shaila—from different parts of the world who are forced to leave their homes and migrate due to the effects of climate change. Tanit migrates with her children from the drought-stricken Turkana region of Kenya to Nairobi. Shaila leaves the island of Ghoramara in India, which is shrinking due to rising sea levels, to find work as a housekeeper in Dubai. Valeria travels with her children to Paris after a hurricane destabilises life on the French island of Saint Martin.

The film details their forced displacement, their struggle to survive in new environments and the lack of official recognition and support for climate refugees. The animation style contrasts crisp computer graphics with soft-toned watercolours to reflect the women’s former and current lives.

The film earned Best Animated Film awards at Goya and Gaudi this 2025.

Robotia is a Spanish-Argentinean-Costa Rican animated feature film released in 2024, co-directed by Diego Cagide and Diego Lucero, with a screenplay by Mariano Rojo and Beatriz Iso.

The film is set in a world inhabited entirely by androids who are all interconnected, having been built from recycled parts. The central characters are two robots, Alex and Bibi. Bibi, despite being raised in a strict environment where her parents have planned her career and future, secretly dreams of playing football (soccer). Alex, who has an obvious manufacturing defect, is part of a group of friends who share her love for the game.

When Bibi’s parents discover her secret passion, they forbid her from playing. Alex and his friends hatch a scheme: Alex disguises himself as the new gym teacher at Bibi’s school. He discovers that Bibi and all the other girls in her class are passionate about football. Together, they form a girls’ team to enter a city-wide competition that was previously exclusive to boys, challenging societal expectations about gender and capability.

Por tu bien is a 2024 Argentine drama/thriller film, based on a true story, and the fiction feature debut of director Axel Monsú. It was co-written by Monsú and Sergio Acosta, and stars Sabrina Melgarejo as the protagonist, Zulma. It was filmed in Misiones, Argentina, near the border with Brazil.

The plot centres on Zulma, a teenager growing up in an isolated rural village within a strict, closed religious community. Her life is governed by oppressive traditions and mandates imposed by her family, which uphold “ancient draconian norms.” Zulma is forced into an arranged marriage and compelled to abandon her schooling to work and take on the role of a married woman within the community, where women are strictly limited to domestic duties. When domestic life becomes intolerable, certain events force Zulma to take drastic decisions, leading her to struggle for her own freedom and the safety of her loved ones. The film is described as a coming-of-age story narrated as a psychological thriller.

Até que a música pare is a 2023 drama feature film, co-produced by Brazil, Germany, and Italy, and directed and co-written by Cristiane Oliveira. The film is set in the Serra Gaúcha region in the south of Brazil and features a significant portion of its dialogue in Talian, an Italian-Brazilian dialect.

The plot centres on Chiara (Cibele Tedesco), the matriarch of a family of Italian descent, and her husband, Alfredo (Hugo Lorensatti). After their youngest son leaves home, Chiara, experiencing loneliness and still haunted by the memory of a deceased eldest son, decides to accompany Alfredo on his trips as a salesman to local bars.

During these travels, the couple’s more than 50-year relationship is severely tested when Chiara discovers that Alfredo is hiding secrets about his life on the road. Simultaneously, Alfredo realises that Chiara is concealing a secret of her own, which is often linked to the pain of her deceased son. The widening rift and breakdown of trust between them is symbolically represented by a tortoise and decks of playing cards, which become obstacles the couple must overcome. The film also subtly addresses themes of political polarisation and the ethics governing deep relationships.

Becho o la Extraordinaria Aparición de la Cumparsita is a 2024 Argentine animated family film directed by José Infantozzi.

The plot centres on a boy named Becho, who possesses the ability to perceive intense passion as a luminous, golden energy emanating from certain people and circumstances. This power is amplified when overwhelming energy from a group of musicians transports Becho to a dreamworld inhabited by ‘La Cumparsita’ (a reference to the famous tango tune).

Upon returning, Becho gains the ability to emit this golden energy. However, when he attempts to multiply a fortune through the sale of ‘La Cumparsita’ and bets on his horse companion, Skat, in a race, Becho loses everything, including his newfound energy and gift. The narrative then follows Becho’s journey as destiny intervenes, taking his story in an unexpected direction despite his apparent misfortune.

Reinas is a 2024 Swiss-Peruvian-Spanish coming-of-age drama feature film directed by Klaudia Reynicke, who co-wrote the screenplay with Diego Vega. The film is set in Lima, Peru, during the political and economic turmoil of 1992, a period characterised by hyperinflation, nightly curfews, and political violence involving groups like the Shining Path.

The story follows a family on the brink of emigration. Elena (Jimena Lindo), a mother, has secured a job and visas for herself and her two daughters, teenage Aurora (Luana Vega) and younger Lucia (Abril Gjurinovic), to move to the United States (Minnesota) for a safer life.

The final obstacle is obtaining the notarised signature of the girls’ estranged, absent father, Carlos (Gonzalo Molina), whom he affectionately calls his “Reinas” (Queens). Carlos re-enters their lives and attempts to reconnect with his daughters in the three weeks before their scheduled departure. While Carlos—a charismatic but unreliable man—delays signing the necessary paperwork, the sisters navigate their conflicting feelings about leaving their home, their friends, and their father, all against the backdrop of a country in crisis.

Special sections and activities

Besides the screening of its opening film El 47 at the Ayala Triangle Gardens on October 10, Película will treat audiences to a film screening extravaganza called Cine Maratón at the same venue. For the whole duration of October 11, enjoy films such as Dalia y el libro rojo (David Bisbano, 2024), Tasio (Montxo Armendáriz, 1984), Solos en la noche (Guillermo Rojas, 2024) and Reinas (Klaudia Reynicke, 2024), from 11.45am to 11pm.

Meanwhile, Película will also have parallel activities throughout its duration. On October 11, Instituto Cervantes will offer an activity related to films for children, where young participants are invited to enjoy crafts and games that will spark their imagination and curiosity.

On the following day, October 12, before the 2pm screening of Robotia at Power Plant Cinema 6, children will have the chance to win several footballs and official Real Madrid jersey signed by football legend Emilio Butragueño. These prizes are generously provided by Real Madrid CF, through the Manila-based Peña Madridista Emilio Butragueño.

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