Penelope Cruz, Antonio Banderas starrer, one of the films in Instituto Cervantes' Pelicula Spanish Film Festival

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"Official Competition " is a comedy starring Penelope Cruz, Antonio Banderas and Oscar Martinez and directed by Mariano Cohn and Gastón Duprat and is one of the films to be screened in this year's Pelicula Spanish Film Festival from October 5 to 16 at the Shangrila Plaza cinemas. 

The movie is a satire on filmmaking and the ever-conflicting creative process of putting together a worthy film along with the laundry list of issues that go with it. 'A movie about making a movie” where Lola Cuevas (Penelope Cruz), a Cannes Palme d’Or-winning director gets entangled with her actors, the self-absorbed celebrity Félix Rivero (Antonio Banderas) and Iván Torres (Oscar Martínez), a thespian who is only devoted to the craft above all else. As the characters unfold, each turn takes a jab at each other, which displays a lot of conflated egos and silly turns, the classic trope of actor￾centric production rather than being an assembly line of contributing creatives. In sum, it pokes fun at the moviemaking business but also shows such a great deal of passion for the cinematic craft. 

Official Competition had its world premiere at the 78th Venice International Film Festival on 4 September 2021. It also had been screened at the Toronto International Film Festival in mid September 2021. In Spain, the film was on February 2022 in Spain by Buena Vista International while Protagonist Pictures handled the international distribution rights. 

Pelicula Spanish Film Festival returns to the theaters after two years of online screenings due to the Covid pandemic. Now in its 21st edition, the PELÍCULA Spanish Film Festival is one of the most successful film festivals of Instituto Cervantes globally showcasing a variety of acclaimed Spanish films while fostering better communication between cultures through the art of filmmaking, cinema, and cultural exchange. Its goal is to connect both Spanish and Filipino cultures and audiences through this choice selection of award-winning films. 

PELíCULA 2022 is an initiative of Instituto Cervantes in Manila, Sydney and Kuala Lumpur, the Embassies of Spain in the Philippines and Australia, and the AECID, in collaboration with the Film Development Council of the Philippines, ICAA, the Embassy of Colombia in the Philippines, the Embassy of Panama in the Philippines, the UP Film Institute, the University of the Philippines and Intramuros Administration, Acciona, Vibal Foundation, Philippine Transmarine Carriers, and Rustan’s. 

All the movies are in Spanish (or their original language) with English subtitles. For updates on the Festival, please visit the website of the Festival (https://pelikula.org) or the Facebook page of Instituto Cervantes de Manila: www.facebook.com/InstitutoCervantesManila. 

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