Paying homage to cineastes from here and there

The festival has constantly tried to extend its range of cultural and cinematographic offers. In this regard a practice was initiated in 1980 to organize special tributes to foreign directors who are largely unknown in Spain. Over the years the works of the Italian brothers Taviani, of the great French comedian Jacques Tati and of the Chilenean cineaste Raúl Ruiz were presented.

In all these cases the tributes were accompanied by a special edition of books focused on the life and work of the directors. Some of them, like Paolo Taviani or Raúl Ruiz, were even present during the festival.

In the beginning of the 1980`s the festival has started a series of tributes to professionals and collectives of the Spanish cinema as well as tributes to foreign cineastes who are renowned but relatively unknown by the general public. Since then the tributes have emphasized the importance of the works of Spanish cineastes as interesting as the producer Emiliano Piedra, the stage designer Enrique Alarcón, the composer Carmelo Bernaola, the multi-faceted cineastes Iván Zulueta and Gonzalo Suárez and, not to forget, the fundamental parts of the film crew like the directors of photography, the script writers and producers. In the 2001 edition the artistic directors were the protagonists of Alcine. Their mayor works were presented in a special exhibition.

Aim of the initiative was to heighten the awareness for the work of those that usually remain in the background. In 1983 it was the producer Emiliano Piedra who became the centre of interest. In 1984 it was the stage designer Enrique Alarcón and 1986 was the year of the composer Carmelo Bernaola and the creation of music for the Spanish cinema. In the last edition it was Antonio Drove's turn. The tribute to this very personal director was accompanied by retrospective screenings of his legendary works like "La verdad sobre el caso Savolta" or "El Túnel".

While the multi-faceted Iván Zulueta and Gonzalo Suárez were the protagonists of the 1989 and the 1991 edition, the year 1994 was dedicated to Spanish directors of photography. The 25th edition paid tribute to the town Alcalá de Henares - a town whose relation to cinema is most apparent in its frequent utilization as a natural scenery for countless film shootings.

In all these cases, the festival has published a corresponding book with interesting bibliographic articles - intended to enrich the cinematographic literature in our country. In its 25th and 26th edition the festival celebrated cinema's centenary with very special screenings. While in the 1995 edition the festival commemorated cinema's centenary as well as its own 25th anniversary with the screening of 100 short films of the greatest masters of cinema of all time, in the 1996 edition the 100th anniversary of the Spanish cinema was the centre of interest.

To honour this important event, a book was published that represented a first approach to the history of the short film in our country. The book included contributions by some of our most prestigious cinema historians like Román Gubern, Esteve Riambau, Julio Pérez Perucha and Joaquín Cánovas.

The 27th edition paid tribute to the new directors of Spanish cinema of the 1990's. Beside special screenings, a book by the historian and cinematographic critic Carlos F. Heredero with the title 'Espejo de miradas' was published. To honour the 450th anniversary of the most famous 'Alcalaíno' Miguel de Cervantes, a book about Cervantes on screen ('Cervantes en el cine') was published to accompany the 28th edition. While the publication of the 29th festival focussed its attention on the work of Spanish screen writers, the 30th festival featured a review of Spanish short films of the 1990's - coinciding with the end of the decade. The publication of the 31st edition, on the other hand, provided an analysis of the works of the most important art directors of the Spanish cinema under the title 'La arquitectura de los sueños'. In 2002 the book 'Antonio Drove. La razón del sueño' profoundly analysed the director's filmography.