Jorge Perugorría Receives the 'La Niña de Benalmádena' Award

November 8, 2021

The International Festival of Short Films and Alternative Cinema of Benalmádena (Ficcab) once again surprised and moved audiences at its opening gala. It is difficult to explain the feeling that emanates from an atmosphere in which one breathes a deep admiration for the seventh art and which, moreover, manages to unite so many people in the same place. The Casa de la Cultura does not roll out a red carpet, although during the three days the Festival lasts, the most well-known and distinguished faces of the big screen pass through it.

In its auditorium, short films from different parts of the globe are screened for the public, as well as films that, for many, are unknown, and that shine in Benalmádena where there is a demanding audience, seasoned for almost half a century by the legacy left by the International Week of Author's Cinema of Benalmádena (Sicab), which went beyond the merely cinematographic to place Benalmádena on the map of culture and the most restless cinephilia in the international panorama.

Cuban actor and director Jorge Perugorría was honored in this edition for his professional career with the International Award Ciudad de Benalmádena, an honor previously received by illustrious personalities such as Guillermo del Toro and Ken Loach. Known for such notable roles as Bambola, Things I Left in Havana, the recently premiered series Doctor Portuondo, and Strawberry and Chocolate, a film that launched him to fame and which was screened at the end of the gala, and in allusion to which, the award recipient reflected that "seeing the events and hate speech experienced in society, it is a pity that 30 years after the film we are further from that final embrace that Diego and David give each other, which is a symbol of reconciliation. I believe the only path there is is that: respecting differences."

Perugorría dedicated La Niña de Benalmádena to his wife, Elsa María Lafuente, to whom he dedicated words full of affection and whom he highlighted for the years they have been together, as they met through their shared love of the performing arts when they were just children. Thus, the actor emphasized "that we studied together, and together we began to do theater and since then, we have remained united. Thanks to you, and to your company, I am here because you are fundamental in my life and in my profession."

The Cuban actor also highlighted the importance of Ficcab, and that "there is political will to support culture." He insisted that cinema is a collective art, "and, therefore, all those with whom I worked from a young age, today are also part of this recognition that Benalmádena gives me for my professional career," he added.

Perugorría recalled that in 1995 he was in Colombia filming the movie Edipo Alcade –written by García Márquez– with Paco Rabal, and "during filming we were with a battalion of men protecting us because the guerrilla and paramilitaries were around there… we were on a mountain and Paco was with an oxygen tank, because he was already ill, and he told me: Jorge, in our profession, it never ends. And I think that is so and I hope this recognition of my career trajectory is so I can continue working in what I love: cinema."

The actor revealed that they are preparing for next year a second part of The Four Seasons in Havana, a television detective fiction miniseries set in Havana in the nineties. It is an adaptation of four detective novels by writer Leonardo Padura, who is also the author of the screenplay together with his wife, writer and screenwriter Lucía López Coll.

He also informed that, among his most immediate plans, is the filming of a movie in the Dominican Republic and next year, after two years of suspension due to the pandemic, he will resume the International Film Festival of Gibara, which is known as Poor Cinema.

Although he confessed that he thinks "these awards come to me because I'm getting old," he did not hesitate to affirm that he "loves cinema as much as when I was a child." In fact, the Cuban emphasized that "cinema is commitment, it allows us to reflect on our realities and others different from ours, and it also allows us to dream." And he ended with a rousing: "Long live cinema!, Long live Ficcab!"