First held in Hue, the Spanish Film Festival began with the movie "Flamenco". This is the film that has left many imprints in the history of Spanish musical films with the content about the songs, dances and music of the great Flamenco art.
Along with the guitar, bullfights, tomato throwing festivals and the "windmill" associated with the peculiar Don Quichotte in the famous novel “Don Quichotte” written by Cervantes, Flamenco is a cultural symbol of Spain.
With its root in Andalusia region, southern Spain, Flamenco has been recognized by UNESCO as one of the intangible cultural heritage of the world. Flamenco dance is vibrant, and it is famous for energetic and typical style.
When the skilled guitars sound, the beautiful Spanish girls in gypsy dresses will take the first steps for a very passionate and fiery dance, which brings a characteristic sense of intimacy of friendly and loving Spaniards.
Spain was known in Hue and Vietnam very early, at the same time as in France, by the name Y Pha Nho. However, history shows that while French culture in Hue left many special imprints, Y Pha Nho was lackluster.
The guitar is extremely familiar, but only a few people in the Huong Ngu region understand and think of its Spanish roots. As for the bullfighting, with Hue people, it just stops on the screens or books.
In Hue, there was an artist whose name is Tran Van Phu. He was valedictorian for Guitar Department of Hue National School of Music and was one of the pioneer generations to bring Flamenco guitar music to Vietnam. Since 2000, street music with two genres of Flamenco and Pop has begun to appear in Hue in each festival. Then, many spontaneous groups of students with similar interests appeared.
At Hue Festival 2018, Hue audiences attended the first and only performance of Daniel Casares from Spain. The Hue Festival's stage seemed to be filled with sunshine and full of life of the Mediterranean land through the magical and enchanting Spanish flamenco tunes.
Back to the Spanish Film Festival, along with Flamenco, this time there are also 4 films including Requirements to be a normal person, One day I saw 10,000 elephants, Happiness 140, Maria (and the people around).
These are new Spanish cinematographic works - the 4th country in Europe and 8th one in the world in the number of works in the film industry. All have compelling and varied contents, and they are both entertaining and thought-provoking.
No longer the old space of Hue cinemas at international film festivals a few years ago, the Spanish Film Festival was held in modern and lively Cinestar, which is a favorable condition for reception and cultural exchange between Hue and the outsiders.
Ambassador of Spain in Vietnam, Maria Jesus Giga Lopez Palop said: “The film festival is an opportunity for people and tourists in Hue to enjoy cinematographic works which are full of creativity and to have a better understanding of culture and people from Spain."
By Dan Duy