Why Spain filmfest picked tarsier ‘Gwapo’ as mascot

Poster boy of Asian Summer Film Festival in Spain

By Daniel Infante Tuaño

SPAIN – The tarsier from Boho was chosen as the mascot for this year’s Asian Summer Film Festival which will be held from July 15 to July 20 in the Catalan city of Vic.

The cute and tiny primate, aptly named “Gwapo”, will be gracing the event’s posters to represent the focus country of this year’s Festival–the Philippines.

According to the Festival website cinemaoriental.com, the mascot was conceived in honor of the country and named “Gwapo” to demonstrate the Spanish legacy in the Southeast nation–Filipino word “gwapo” came from the Spanish word “guapo” which both mean handsome.

One of the organizers of the Festival, Eva Clota, said that they always look for a typical animal or a symbol from the focus country to be the mascot. The mascot was drawn by Estudi Xevidom and designed by Valdrada.

“The consul (of the Philippines) from Barcelona proposed the tarsier because of his popularity in the Philippines and because they’re endangered. We thought they are really cute; also they have night habits, as (we have) our nights of dinner and cinema. And because of his big eyes, (which will help us not to) miss anything from the festival,” Clota added.

Philippine Honorary Consul to Barcelona Jordi Puig Roches said that they had had to choose among three animals: the butanding (whale shark), the Philippine eagle and the tarsier.

“Tarsier’s big eyes are good to observe Philippine filmography. The mascot also represents well the Philippine cinema–it might be small but it has big potential and great quality,” Puig said in Spanish.

Remember Weng Weng?

One of the Filipino movies to be shown is a documentary about Weng Weng dubbed as midget James Bond of the Philippines.

“The Search for Weng Weng” is written and directed by Australian Andrew Leavold who went to Manila to find out what have happened to the “For Y’ur Height Only” star.

In the course of his research and interviews about the 80’s blockbuster action star, Leavold discovered and unraveled the history of Pinoy B-movies, which he will be presenting in the Festival.

Also in the Festival is the action movie “Kabisera” directed by Alfonso “Borgy” Torre III and the country’s entry in the Official Section competing against 15 other films from India, Japan, China, Taiwan, Hong Kong and South Korea. The winner will be voted by moviegoers attending the screenings.

“Currently, the Philippines has a great reputation in international film festivals due to its auteur, risky, experimental and profoundly artistic works that have won important awards. Directors like Raya Martin, Brillante Mendoza, Lav Diaz and Pepe Diokno have exported their personal stamp all over the world,” Clota said.

Likewise, the Philippines has produced movies which are more accessible to the public, and these are what the Festival is for.

The Festival, locally known as Festival Nits de Cinema Oriental de Vic, caters to mainstream and blockbuster movies from Asia and also line up activities that showcase Asia’s popular culture and traditional cuisine.

The star of Filipino fiestas ‘lechon’ will be served along with other Filipino dishes in the benefit dinner and inauguration night of the Festival. The dinner is organized in coordination with the Philippines Club de Catalunya and the Consulate General of the Philippines. Proceeds will be donated to the survivors of supertyphoon Haiyan.

Filipino residents in Vic are happy about the Philippines being the featured country of the 11th edition of the Festival.

“Excited kaming mga taga Vic! Magde-day off ako para dyan!” said Severina Galang who has been living and working with her family for may years in Vic.

“Syempre super proud tayong mga Pilipino lalo na kaming mga taga Vic. Mapi-feature ang Pilipinas. Kilala ang mga Pilipino bilang masisipag at magagalang na trabahador dito at sa pamamagitan naman ng proyektong ito ay makikilala rin ang bansa natin,” added Vic resident Nida Dimaano Lasig Octot. ABS-CBNnews.com

 Watch the related TV report in Filipino on Balitang Global:

 

New Filipino-Catalan organization launched in Spain

BARCELONA – The party sounds very Filipino but the event was also open to Catalans and other nationalities who wished to partake in the launching of a new Filipino-Catalan association, and have a taste of pancit, chopsuey, leche flan and all the best things Filipinos can offer.

The newly formed association ‘Philippines Club de Catalunya’ dares to take the challenge of uniting Filipinos and Catalans in Barcelona.

Philippine Honorary Consul in Barcelona Jordi Puig Roches

In a jam-packed crowd at Philippines Club, Philippine Honorary Consul Jordi Puig and coordinators of the association presented the projects which aim to strengthen the relations between the Catalonian region and the Philippines and intensify the promotion of the country in Barcelona.

“I hope this club can help many people. We hope that many people join, especially, Filipinos and Catalans,” Puig said.

The Club plans to put up a weekly market for Filipino products in Barcelona, hold cooking classes which showcases Filipino cuisine and introduce Tagalog in its language classes.

Seminars on labor, immigration and health related issues will also be organized. It will also provide assistance to Filipino professionals to have their college degrees recognized in Spain so they can have better chances of accessing the job market.

“What we want is to open their mind and to feel that they belong here, that they can actually be part of Catalunya, and integrate and participate in all our activities, that’s our main goal in Philippines Club of Catalunya to make them active in the society and so they feel that they are part of us with the same rights and with the same responsibilities,” Catalan businessman and Club’s manager Gerard Lorente said.

Aside from services to Barcelona-based Filipinos, the Club will come up with projects that aim to address the needs of the less privileged in the Philippines. The Club, through its ‘Ayuda en Balikbayan’ program, will send balikbayan boxes of school supplies and toys to the Philippines.

It will also help in campaigning for Philippine tourism by putting up a permanent information booth and participating in tourism congresses.

Catalan Arcadi Sala finds these projects very interesting, “It’s a way that people can be together.”

Filipina Dolores Espinosa, aware of Spain’s economic crisis and unemployment problems, find these projects very helpful.

“Napakaganda ang proyekto nito para sa mga Pilipino. Itong mga organisasyon na ito ay maganda para magtulung-tulungan at nang sa ganon ay yung iba pa ay matulungan, katulad rin ng mga walang trabaho.”

Barcelona, the capital of Spain’s Catalonian region is home to more than 25,000 Filipinos who are mostly employed in domestic work and hospitality industry. The euro crisis has hit Filipino immigrants due to closure of many businesses especially restaurants and the devaluation of Euro. ABS-CBNnews.com