01/03/24.- The 27th edition of the Málaga Festival kicked off on Friday, the 1st of March with an opening gala held at Teatro Cervantes, with the actress Marta Etura and actors La Dani and Omar Banana as masters of the ceremony.
 
The gala started with a moving version of the song Alegría de vivir, by the singer and composer from Cádiz, Antoñito Molina. In the first minutes, the three hosts emphasized the importance of the Málaga Festival in Spain and in the world. ‘Málaga is one of the best cities to experience the cinema, this is one of the cultural events with more projection in Spain. Only during the last edition, 90,000 spectators were reached in 10 days’, said Etura at the beginning of the event.
 
The actress, who is presenting a short film as director in the Official Section, also wanted to highlight how the Festival has become the biggest promoter of new women filmmakers: Carla Simón, Pilar Palomero, Alauda Ruiz de Azúa or Estíbaliz Urresola have had great success in Málaga with their debut films. ‘This year, films directed by women represent 38% of the programme, four points more than in the last edition’, concluded Etura.
 
This was followed by the second performance of the evening: the singer-songwriter from Canary Island, Valeria Castro, performed a version of Porque te vas, by Jeanette.
 
After these first moments, a review of all the Festival's sections was made: from Affirming Women's Rights which highlights the inequities that women continue suffering around the world; and then ZonaZine, which presents the most daring and avant-garde films of the current film scene; and, of course, the feature films of the Official Section.
 
In the tribute section of this 27th edition, the Festival reinforces its usual trend of rewarding the trades of the audiovisual industry, recognizing this year the set and costume designer, Ana Alvargonzález. The rest of the tributes of this edition will be the director and screenwriter Pilar Palomero, who will receive the Malaga Talent Award; the Retrospective Award for the Argentine filmmaker Marcelo Piñeyro; and the Malaga Sur Award, which this year is granted to the renowned actor Javier Cámara.
 
After a musical performance by Nil Moliner, the Biznaga Ciudad del Paraíso Award, set aside each year for the essential of Spanish film, has been awarded to the actress Lola Herrera from Valladolid. After a moving musical performance by her friend, Carmen Linares, she took the stage with a warm applause from the audience. A video was screened in which friends and colleagues, such as Mónica Cruz, Raphael and Carmen Maura, had affectionate words for the honoured. When it seemed that the surprises were over, the actor and great friend of Herrera, Héctor Alterio, appeared on the stage of Teatro Cervantes.
 
‘What a great joy! When the Festival told me they were going to give me this award, I was very surprised because I have made very few films in my life. My passion has always been the theatre. But I feel very excited because I have lived many things here. I have worked in Teatro Cervantes since 1957. Thank you very much to the Festival, to Carmen, to Héctor and to all of you’, said a touched Lola Herrera to applause.
 
After a performance by the band Miss Cafeína, the gala ended and all the attendees enjoyed the screening of the animated film ‘Dragonkeeper’, the film that started the 27th Malaga Festival and that was directed by Salvador Simó and Li Jianping.