Bilbao, (EFE).- The actress Belén Rueda feels “fascinated” by fantastic and horror cinema because it is an “infinite and unlimited” genre, with “freedom to tell what you want and how you want”.
Rueda has appeared at a press conference in Bilbao on the occasion of receiving the distinction “Star of Fantastic 2023” within the framework of the 29th edition of the Bilbao Fantastic and Horror Film Festival- FANT.
Crowned by this festival as one of the most famous “queens of scream” of genre cinema in Spain, Rueda treasures an extensive television and film career.
Said career includes successful films such as “El orfanato” (2007), by Juan Antonio Bayona or the most recent “Fenómenas” (2023), by Carlos Theron.
In the middle there are already classic television series such as “Periodistas”, and the “difficult” move to the cinema with her debut in 2004 with “Mar adentro”, by Alejandro Amenabar, with which she won the Goya award for best new actress.
Other outstanding feature films of his career are “Los ojos de Julia” (2010), by Guillen Morales and produced by Guillermo del Toro; “Perfect strangers” (2017), by Alex de la Iglesia, or “The silence of the white city” (2019), by Daniel Calparsoro.
The actress, who has starred in comedy, drama and horror, has stated that the fact that an actress is “classified or labeled” in a single genre “is not bad, as long as it is limited in time”, because her work consists of play “different roles”.
He has highlighted, however, that fantastic and horror films “have a lot of weight” in his professional life.
As he has recounted, when a script of this genre comes into his hands, he reads it “just like a book” and is able to “imagine the movie” perfectly.
These scripts – “very complicated to elaborate” – allow us to tell stories that “are in people’s heads”.
“And the most wonderful thing is that you have the freedom to move what you want and how you want; it is infinite and unlimited, it fascinates me”, he said.
He has pointed out that “it is not a minor genre” and that it often includes drama or social elements.
horror movie
At this time, Belén Rueda has finished filming “La ermita”, also framed in horror films.
It is directed by Carlota Pereda, whom she has known since the series “Periodistas”, and whose first feature film “Cerdita” (2022) received six Goya Award nominations.
Regarding the directors with whom he has worked, Rueda laughingly lamented that he has not become the “muse” of any of them and that he sometimes wonders why he has not repeated with any, nor has he been called back for other films.
“There are many very good directors in Spain; the quality of cinema in the country is very powerful and varied; in fact, when you go abroad they always ask you how we managed to make those films with those budgets”, he commented.
The actress has also assured that she “loves” FANT.
This festival, as he has said, in addition to its content, is “an open door to the new generations, in a strange time like this, in which the emergence of platforms has changed the way of watching movies a bit.”
FANT winners
An updated revision of the classic of the horror genre with shark attacks on the beaches, “Shark in sight”, by the brothers Ludovic and Zoran Boukherma, has won the award for best film at the International Fantastic Film Festival and Bilbao Terror, FANT 2023.
The film, originally titled “Year of the shark” (2022) begins with the disappearance of a surfer on a French beach on the Atlantic coast, which puts the authorities on high alert due to the evidence that a shark is prowling in offshore waters. the French coast.
Maja, a coast guard about to retire early, takes the opportunity to undertake her latest mission and save the bay.
The French directors manage to transmit panic to the viewer thanks to a very dynamic soundtrack, by the composer Chabauty; sharp photography of Cailley and some compelling scenes of the shark attacks, which is barely seen on screen.
With these ingredients, the film, also awarded at the last Sitges Festival 2022, manages to exceed the expectations of the genre, the specialized critics have considered.
horror classic
The jury of the Bilbao competition has distinguished it for the “insight” of the French filmmakers when it comes to “playing with cinematographic language in their rewriting of one of the horror classics and for its delirious humor”.
The prize list of FANT 2023 is completed with the Jury Award for Best Short Film in the Official Selection, awarded to “Tigre Místico”, by Marc Martínez, and the award for Best Basque Short Film, which has been awarded to “Encajada”, by Lle Godoy.
In the Panorama Section, the Jury Award for Best Feature Film went to “La Paradox de Antares”, by Luis Tinoco, and the Best Short Film Award went to “Power Signal”, by Oscar Boyson.
The Festival audience has awarded its Best Feature Film award to “No Dogs or Italians Allowed”, by Alain Ughetto; and the one for Best Short Film, to the already awarded “Encajada”, by Lle Godoy.EFE