Page 147 - Results 2015: AC/E Programme for the Internationalization of Spanish Culture

cInEMAArtiClE147/cinema in our country to be valued abroad. As part of its work in promoting just that, the Programme for the Internationalisation of Spanish Culture has been instrumental in ensuring the attendance at the festivalof Giona A. Nazzaro from the Venice International Film Critics’ Week to sit on the jury presided over by Asumpta Serna.“It is both an honour and a tremendous pleasure for me to be at such a prestigious event as the Gijon festival,” says Nazzaro, who has acted as judge in a good number of festivals worldwide, such as India, Taiwan, Iran, Armenia, Germany, France and Italy to name just some. All those previous events, however, were festivals dedicated to documentary lms and this is the rst time Nazzaro will scrutinise lms of ction. “It’s an adventure for me,” he says.Nazzaro will not be able to take any of the Gijon lms back with him to Venice, as the Italian festival only admits world premiers. But he will not go back empty handed: “I’d like to come across great Spanish pictures in Gijon made by directors currently nishing new projects and so who might be up for Venice,” he says, referring to the Venice International Film Critics’ Week. What Nazzaro is looking for is lms that arouse curiosity, that stick their neck out, that innovate and that beat with the pulse of the world today.“I love Spanish cinema because it is now and does not indulge in nostalgia or dwell on the past,” says Nazzaro, who has a profound knowledge of our cinema: “Evenwhen they are not outstanding, Spanish lms still exude a characteristic energy that sets them apart. Also, its cinema does not live under the aura of old masters but rather looks to the future.”Another aspect this Italian lm connoisseur highlights is the good sense Spanish institutions have in promotingthe internationalisation of our cinema. Initiatives such as Spain’s Public Agency for Cultural Action are essential,” says Nazzaro. “With everything that is going on in the world right now it’s vital to bring together di erent realities and people in special encounters. In the lm festivals, people truly relate with one another and can engage and thrash out ideas to change the world a little bit. Such integration is essential and I think it’s great that public institutions should promote it.”