The short film "Volver contigo", by Iván Umpiérrez, won this Sunday the first prize of the Roberto Pérez Toledo express short film contest, of the Lanzarote International Film Festival, endowed with a prize of 1000 euros and a trophy designed by Tino Alemán.
The theme of the contest this year was "diversity and inclusion", a theme that Pérez Toledo dealt with throughout his prolific film career. The story of a girl who manages to verbalize to her girlfriend the reasons why she rejects her in public seduced the jury, composed of journalist Borja Terán, producer Rafael Álvarez and actor and partner of Roberto Pérez Toledo, Edgar Córcoles. All of them part of the inner circle of the Lanzarote director who gives his name to the contest and whose memory was very present throughout the awards ceremony.
The Culture Councilor of the Cabildo de Lanzarote, Alberto Aguiar, was in charge of presenting the second prize of the night, endowed with 600 euros, which also went to Umpiérrez, for the short film "Mi casa". The film tells the story of the prejudice-free friendship that arises between a girl and an immigrant man in an irregular situation. The double winner announced that he would like to allocate the amount to make a feature film.
For her part, the Education Councilor of the island institution, Myriam Barros, was in charge of presenting the trophy in the Under 20 category to the short film "Todas las cosas", by Fiorella Alfei.
The attendees at the awards ceremony in the hall awarded the audience award to the short film "La pieza que falta", by Jastper Richardson, who received an accrediting diploma.
As an anecdotal note, all the winners received a gift from the jury: a bowl of popcorn, in memory of Roberto Pérez Toledo, who used to keep one of these containers from all the festivals he visited around the world. Roberto's friends thanked the FICL organization and the entire island for naming this Festival activity after him. The express short film contest is one of the most popular activities of the FICL. On this occasion, a total of 18 entries have been received.
Retrospective of Pérez Toledo
As part of the tribute to Pérez Toledo, the members of the short film contest jury also participated this Saturday, together with Oriola, Roberto's sister, in a meeting at the CIC El Almacén in which a retrospective of his short films was screened. Subsequently, a round table was held in which the figure of the director was illustrated, through the experiences shared by his friends.
Actor Carlos Soroa was grateful. “Roberto has opened doors to the deaf community in the field of cinema”, he pointed out, and said that the director took special care in the filming or rehearsals of the play to eliminate any type of barrier: “Everything was adapted”. An attitude of empathy and commitment that reached the heart of Carlos, a deaf actor.
Producer Rafael Álvarez highlighted some of Roberto's qualities, such as his ability to simplify the taboos that exist in society with disability and diversities in general: “His cinema speaks of people, without further ado. We all have problems. He couldn't stand condescension”. He also explained that the Lanzarote director said that his special effects were, the interpretation, without further ado: “That is why his work only needed a camera and a couple of actors”.
Edgar Córcoles, Roberto's partner, explained that he compulsively shot short films “because all he wanted was to tell stories in any format”.
Finally, Oriola Pérez Toledo made those present smile by telling childhood anecdotes about her brother, who practically dragged her to see movies like Jaws. “That summer I barely went into the tide”, she said.
First screening of ‘Places We've Never Been’
The Festival has also hosted the first screening in the Canary Islands of the director's latest film, "Places We've Never Been", last Friday, at the Multicines Atlántida. The short film "Before the Eruption", filmed on the island, could also be seen.
In the presentation of the film, one of the filmmaker's friends, the journalist Borja Terán, explained that he had heard Roberto speak many times about the theater-hall because “it was here where he discovered cinema”. There was also time to remember childhood anecdotes of the filmmaker.
“Roberto forced his parents to take him to see the billboard of the premieres because it is not that he wanted to see cinema, it is that he wanted to understand it”, said Terán, who expressly thanked his parents for having educated a person “so cultured and free, who leaves all of society his legacy that breaks physical and mental barriers”.