The 27th Malaga Festival’s opening gala, held on the 1st of March, will be the perfect start for a new film edition full of the best Spanish productions and to which many audiovisual stars will attend, both Spanish and Ibero-American.
 
In this ceremony, the actress from Valladolid, Lola Herrera, will receive the Biznaga Ciudad del Paraíso Award, granted by the event to the essential of our cinema, for their extensive and successful film, television and, above all, theatrical career. The actress, who participates in films such as La graduada, Función de noche or El amor perjudica seriamente la salud, and in theatrical productions such as El baúl de los disfraces, Fortunata y Jacinta or Cinco horas con Mario, has been awarded with many awards, such as Gold Medal of Merit in the Fine Arts, Medal of Merit in Labour or Ercilla Award for Theatre.
 
The Biznaga Award will be awarded at the Teatro Cervantes in Malaga after the traditional red carpet opening ceremony, which will be attended by a multitude of stars and which can be followed live from 5:30 pm on the Malaga Festival's webTV and its social media. The opening gala can also be followed live on Canal Sur and Canal Málaga from 8 pm.
 
The actress Marta Etura (winner of a Goya Award for best supporting actress for Celda 211 and main character of AzulOscuroCasiNegro, Mientras Duermes or El Guardián Invisible), the singer and actor La Dani (winner of the Feroz Award for best supporting actor and Goya nominee for Te estoy amando locamente) and the actor Omar Banana (Goya nominee for best new actor for Te estoy amando locamente) will be the hosts of the ceremony. It will have a look at all the productions that can be watched in the different sections of the Festival. In addition, attendees will be able to enjoy performances by Antoñito Molina, Valeria Castro, Nil Moliner and Miss Cafeína.
 
The singer and songwriter, Antoñito Molina, will perform a version of Alegría de vivir, by Ray Heredia. It will be followed by the singer-songwriter from the Canary Island, Valeria Castro, who will perform a version of Porque te vas, by Jeanette. Meanwhile, the singer Nil Moliner will perform his hit Vuela alto. The night’s performances will finish with Miss Cafeína, who will play their song Bla, bla, bla.
 
After the gala, all the attendants will enjoy the animated film Dragonkeeper, which will give the go-ahead to the 27th Malaga Festival.  The Spanish-Chinese co-production, which tells a fantasy story of dragons in imperial China, has been directed by Salvador Simó and Li Jianping, and will participate in the Official Section of the Competition.