TW
0
Staff Reporter

PALMA
AFTER its official opening a few months ago, the Balearic Islands Film Commission is attending the Cannes Film Festival to make itself known and promote the islands as a place to film.

This is its first big challenge and among its immediate objectives is to start making contacts from the stand of the Institute of Cinematography and Audiovisual Arts (ICAA), with a view to promoting filming on the islands.

To this end its director, Pablo Azorin, went to a party given by Catalan Films in La Croisette, along with the team from Yo, the first feature film from the Majorcan director, Rafa Cortes.

The party was to present the four films by Catalan producers which are participating in the Festival this year.
In addition to Yo, which was shown during Critics' Week, La Soledad, directed by Jaime Rosales, The Orphanage, by Juan Antonio Bayona, and Savage Grace by Tom Kalin were also shown.

Belen Rueda and Geraldine Chaplin, stars of The Orphanage were also there, and Guillermo del Toro, producer of the film, made a brief appearance. Del Toro couldn't stay because he had to attend the dinner given by the Cannes Festival organisers to celebrate its 60th anniversary.

Rafa Cortes, Alex Brendemuhl, star of Yo, and Aintza Serra, of Escandolo Films were those in charge of presenting the film to the almost 200 guests who attended the event.

The three said they were pleased that the film had at last been made, as it had been seven years in the making. Now it has just one more test: being on general release.

As Serra said, “we will see how it does at the box office”.
Both Cortes and Brendemuhl have been in Cannes since last Thursday, during which time they have not stopped giving interviews and promoting the film.