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:

 

Pinoys in Spain find creative ways to help Yolanda survivors

By Daniel Infante Tuaño

SPAIN – From roasted pig to ambush photo shoots, the Filipino community in Barcelona are finding ingenious ways to raise funds and show their solidarity with their fellow kababayans affected by super typhoon “Yolanda.”

More than 100 people attended a benefit dinner where pancit, barbecue, puto and kutsinta and macaroons were served.

But what really caught the attention of Filipino guests and foreigners was the lechon, introduced as something bigger than Spain’s cochinillo from Segovia.

Aside from enjoying the Filipino cuisine, Barcelona-based Irish Andrew Jennings found the event a wonderful experience as it was for a special cause – to raise awareness and funds for the victims of the disaster.

“Obviously, we can only give our hearts, and our minds, and our thoughts to what happened there, but we can also take our hands, put it in our pockets and also contribute to helping them. So that’s why I’m here. That’s why I think we are all here too, to do what we can,” Jennings said.

 

The dinner, organized by the Philippines Club de Catalunya, was able to raise around 1,500 euros from the entrance tickets.

“It’s very successful, kontento lahat. Everybody was so happy, nagsobra pa yung in-expect namin na binigay nila as donation, it was like around 1,500 para lang matulungan ang mga biktima ng Yolanda,” Philippines Club coordinator Christina Elloso said.

Works of Barcelona-based photographer Albert Ian were also auctioned during the dinner. All cash donations will be sent to Philippine Red Cross.

Ambush photo shoots

Albert Ian, also a president of Pinoy photo association Barcelona Exposure Club, launched a donation campaign with Barcelona-based videographer Rodel Juacalla.

Together with other members of the club, they converged at the entrance of the Philippines Club with portable photo printers, DSL cameras and donation cans.

They offered instant photos to passersby and tourists who flocked Plaza Real in exchange for donations to ‘Yolanda’ victims.

“Very positive ang response. Marami ang nagpa-picture at marami rin ang nag-donate,” said Albert Ian.

One of the donors was Philippine Honorary Consul Jordi Puig Roches who had his photo taken while holding a sign “I-DONATE”.

Another group of photographers, the Barcelona Photo Project, has scheduled a fund-raising project entitled “Photography for the Philippines: A Charity Night.”

The event which will be held on November 23 at Centro Cultural Valentina, Plaza Regomir 2, Barcelona, lined up activities such as picsharing and photo workshops.

Señoras to donate

Some Filipinas employed in domestic work conveyed the willingness of their señoras to contribute.

To respond to this, a federation of Filipino associations in Barcelona Kapulungan ng mga Lider Pinoy sa Barcelona (KALIPI) opened a bank account to facilitate the reception of donations. Approximately 1200 euros have already been received by KALIPI.

The donations to KALIPI will be sent to Catholic Church’s National Secretariat for Social Action in the Philippines. ABS-CBNnews.com

 

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

 

Book on legendary Filipino footballer launched

Half-Ilonggo, half-Spanish Paulino Alcantara was one of greatest players of Futbol Club Barcelona

By Daniel Infante Tuaño

BARCELONA — Considered as the best Asian player of all time, holds the record for the most number of goals a FC Barcelona player has ever scored, and dubbed as “El Rompe Redes” for breaking nets with the power of his goals.

Despite these football milestones and after more than 100 years, half-Ilonggo, half Spanish Paulino Alcantara seemed to have sunk into oblivion.

Recently, a biography entitled “Paulino: El primer crac de la història del Barça” was launched to remember Alcantara and pay tribute to his legacy in Barcelona’s premier team Fútbol Club Barcelona or locally known as Barça.

Alcantara is the highest goal scorer in Barça’s history with 369 goals in 357 games, beating the goal record of modern-day football superstar Lionel Messi.

The book, published by Edicions Saldonar and Fútbol Club Barcelona, was written by David Valero Carreras and Angel Iturriaga Barco.

“Our main sources of information were two biographies of Alcantara, one was published in 1924 by Alcantara (himself) and the other was made for the centennial of the club…By luck, we can speak with the family here in Spain, the two grandchildren of Paulino. And she told us many things about the footballer of the family,” Valero said.

One of their interesting discoveries, according to Iturriaga, is that Alcantara was related to Hollywood actor Juan de Garchitorena and that he played for the Club while pursuing a career in medicine.

Ana Maria Gutierrez Puigbert, the granddaughter of Alcantara, recounted her memories of her mother’s uncle: “I remember him. I know his son that died when he was a doctor…Paulino, we used to see him, when he used to play, and everything, but he died, I think 1970.”

Also present in the well-attended book launch in Camp Nou was Philippine Honorary Consul Jordi Puig, who stressed the importance of knowing his life story. “He’s one of the important players of the team of Barcelona and he’s from the Philippines,” he said.

What also caught the attention of the crowd during the book launch was the 10-year-old Pinoy football player Sandro Reyes, who also attended the event with his family.

Reyes, who is being primed to follow the footsteps of his compatriot Alcantara, was admitted to the prestigious football academy for kids FCB Escola last year.

The biography is published in Catalan, one of the official languages of Catalonia, but the authors plan to have it translated into Spanish, English and even in Filipino in the future.

The authors are also slated to present the book again this time to the Filipino community in Barcelona on December 9 at the Philippines Club de Catalunya. ABS-CBNnews.com

Authors Angel Iturriaga Barco and David Valero Carreras signing autographs during the Dia Sant Jordi in Barcelona, Spain. Photo courtesy of David Valero Carreras

 

Watch this related TV report in Filipino language aired on Balitang Europe, The Filipino Channel, ABS-CBN: