Eighth year for Cinema a la Fresca

Once again Cinema a la Fresca is upon us in Formentera, returning this year – its eighth – to welcoming crowds of local residents and tourists alike. Held every Tuesday and Thursday in Sant Francesc and Sant Ferran respectively, the projections of classic and contemporary selections in both national and international film have become an unmissable element of the summer months in Formentera and are

Over the course of three months, from the beginning of July through to the end of September, the Office of Culture of the Formentera Island Council, under the artistic direction of Veronique Landy, organises a diverse lineup of films that has become a standard feature on Formentera's summer cultural programme, attracting on average 200 audience members to each film.

Starting off the film series 2 July in El Jardí de ses Eres is the Spanish production 'Blancanieves' ('Snow White'), directed last year by Pablo Berger and at the receiving-end of some 34 international awards. Notable among these was the Jury's Special Award of the San Sebastián International Film Festival and the Silver Shell award for Best Actress for the role played by Macarena Garcia. It was also highly-lauded by many different award categories at the XXVII Goya Awards, receiving the Goyas for best picture, best photography, and best original screenplay among others.

Key to this summer's film series are a number of French films in an homage to director Chris Marker, who died in July 2012 and who is recognised as having invented the genre of the subjective documentary. He received international recognition with the short-film 'El Muelle' (la Jetée, 1962), which told the story of scientific experiments in time travel set against the backdrop of a post-apocalyptic world. 'El Muelle' will be shown in Sant Francesc on 10 September. The other Marker film to be projected as part of the series is 'Sin sol' (Sans soleil, 1983), where his interest for digital technology is on full display.

Another highlight will be the projection of Martin Scorsese's 2011 production, 'Hugo' ('La invención de Hugo' in Spanish), an homage to film director Georges Méliès, one of the first film makers to use multiple exposure, time-lapse photography, image dissolution and hand-painted stills. Preceding Scorsese's 'Hugo' will be one of Méliès' most appreciated films, the short, Jules Verne-inspired 'A Trip to the Moon' ('El viaje a la luna'), narrating a voyage that is at once strange, surreal and fantastic.

The projections – composed largely of independently-made films – will be in each picture's original language. Countries of production run the gamut: from Chile, the United Kingdom and Portugal to Italy, Germany, U.S.A. and Taiwan. The oldest entry was filmed at the turn of the XX century while the most recent are contemporary productions. Among these is the debut effort by Spanish director Pedro Almodovar 'Pepi, Luci, Bom y otras chicas del montón', which, filmed in 1980 and imbibed with a sense of confidence and liberty – continues to be received as a breath of fresh air by audiences today. And what better to accompany such a classic of Spanish cinema than an offering from the Brothers Python. 'Monty Python and the Holy Grail' by Terry Gillian and Terry Jones recounts the adventures of King Arthur and his knights of the round table in their incessant search. The American film, 'I'm Not There' (2007, Todd Haynes), is a portrait of the legendary musician Bob Dylan composed of various stories representing different moments occurring throughout the private and professional life of the North American known for revolutionising popular music in the Sixties and Seventies.

The open, natural backdrop of both sites (Jardí de ses Eres and Plaça de Sant Ferran) injects the atmosphere with a sense of tranquility vital to the film series experience, whose primary objective is the promotion of international cinema amongst tourists and local residents. The Sant Ferran cinema session, along with the Artistic and Artisan Markets, have both played a hand in reactivating the town and turning it into a artistic and cultural focal point.

VIII Annual Cinema a la Fresca
Every Tuesday in El Jardí de ses Eres at 10 pm.
Starting 2 July.
Every Thursday in La Plaça de Sant Ferran at 10 pm.
Starting 4 July.