The call time for the presscon of the 23rd Spanish Film Festival at the Red Carpet Cinema of the Shangri-La Plaza was at 10 AM in time for the opening of the mall.
A leeway was given, anyway.
The program, I was advised by Instituto Cervantes de Manila publicist Eunice Helera, would start at 10:30 AM.
I left Villa Castillo in Pacita 2, San Pedro City at about 9 AM thinking that a bus ride from Elvinda to Mantrade would take only thirty minutes or so.
I would arrive in Magallanes at around 9:45 AM and a railway ride to Shaw Boulevard would only take, at least, twenty minutes or less.
I was thinking I could reach Shangri-La Plaza before 10:30 AM in time for the mediacon.
A One Ayala bus was rare to come by until a Saint Rose Transit appeared a little past 9.
I was confident it would negotiate the road quickly until heavy traffic met us at the foot of the San Pedro bridge.
I became uneasy as I could see practically all the vehicles northbound weren't moving for nearly one hour.
It was snail-paced if not bumper to bumper and the culprit--a power line work was being done at the Muntinlupa-San Pedro boundary.
The southbound traffic was also horrendous.
To make the long story short, I got to the 23rd Spanish Film Festival at 11 AM past.
I had the tail-end of the presscon and the screening of the film "7 mesas de billar frances" directed by Gracia Querejeta.
Even if the film was released in 2007, it resonated as well in present-day Philippine society.
"7 mesas de billar frances" tackles a loss in the family and how to revive the billiards business of a patriarch.
The story is woven among three women who are entangled in their problematic family life--a separated married woman, a middle-aged lady (lover of the dead old man who owned the debt-laden billiards shop) being chased by a suitor she initially doesn't like, and a young aide who takes a lover boy.
The treatment of the movie is very popular that it reflects the Filipino quotidian.
The Pelicula-Pelikula Spanish Film Festival is a show window of the unique narratives of Spanish culture that resonate with Philippine social realities.
Catch interesting films in the fest that kicks off on October 5 to 13, 2024 at the Red Carpet Theater.
My collaboration with Pelicula-Pelikula is my writing and connecting Spanish cinema with Filipino movies and their makers.
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