Seville, small cradle of cinema
Although Seville does not have the track record of a city like Madrid, which can boast of having seen Almodóvar grow up or of having hosted the most important filming locations of La Casa de Papel, its cinematographic history is not to be outdone. The first Sevillian cinema screening took place in the Salón Suizo, on September 17, 1896. It was a small room located in Calle Sierpes
. It showed views of different filmmakers, including the second film of a little known French filmmaker, Georges Méliès. The following year, the arrival of the Lumière cinematograph boosted local production and public interest, this time showing images of the city and documenting the floods it suffered at the end of the century. In the 1910s, numerous short-lived cinemas, theaters and screening rooms were built, and in 1925 the Cine Pathé was inaugurated, the first complex dedicated to the seventh art, which is still in operation today on Calle Cuna. Seville remained a place of cinema during the second half of the twentieth century, hosting national film shoots while remaining attached to an image of tradition, sometimes to the detriment of the city. It is worth noting the arrival of the filmmaker Luis Buñuel, who filmed This Obscure Object of Desire (1977), in the barrio of Santa Cruz. The character of Conchita, played in turn by Carole Bouquet and Angela Molina, is from the same neighborhood. At the time, the filmmaker Alberto Rodriguez was only six years old, but this Sevillian of birth and heart was already immersed in cinema. After studying image and sound at the Faculty of Information Sciences in Seville, he turned to a career as a screenwriter. His first short film Banco (1997), made with his friend Santi Amodeo, won numerous awards and launched a national career punctuated by critical and popular success. A regular at the Goyas, the Spanish Cesar Awards, he presented Group 7 in 2012, a crime film that was nominated in sixteen categories. Two years later, he triumphed with La Isla Minima , winning no less than ten Goyas, including Best Film and Best Director. He has since dedicated a series to the city where he was born, The Plague (2018), a historical drama tracing the tribulations of the population of Seville in the sixteenth century. A challenge taken up with flying colors by this child of the country, which has never really left it.The Real Alcázar movie star
As we mentioned earlier, many productions have stopped at the foot of Seville's monuments. Among them, David Lean's masterpiece Lawrence of Arabia, shot in the early 1960s. The city and its Moorish architecture take on the features of Cairo or Damascus, and many places and buildings can be recognized, such as the Alfonso XIII Hotel, the María Luisa Park or the Casa de Pilatos, as well as the Royal Alcazares, the undisputed stars of Seville on the screen. The latter, with their unique architecture, have attracted stars and great projects in search of sunny palaces. George Lucas, for example, placed part of the sets of Naboo, Padmé Amidala's planet in Attack of the Clones (2002). The Plaza de España also appears in place of the planet Theed, in the same film. In 2015, the palace gained international notoriety thanks to the Anglo-American series Game of Thrones, which chose this idyllic setting to represent the country of Dorne, where Oberyn Martell (played by Pedro Pascal) is from. Other filming locations are scattered in and around Seville, allowing you to book a Game of Thrones Tour, to meet these power-hungry heroes and heroines ready to do battle. If your stomach and your sensitivity do not allow you to support this series without taboos, go instead to the comedy Knight and Day (2010) with Tom Cruise and Cameron Diaz. You can walk with them through the streets of Seville, before heading to the Plaza de Toros de la Real Maestranza, also featured in the film. Fans of the American actor will be disappointed to learn that for the filming of Mission Impossible II, the city of Seville was replaced by American and Australian sets in order to reduce costs. But the real fans of the city will not be fooled.
Places and moments of cinema in Seville
If Ciné Pathé is the oldest cinema in the city still in operation, many other cinemas have since invaded the streets and shopping centers of Seville. The multiplexes dominate the urban landscape, while a few art house cinemas still exist, so that the connoisseur as well as the blockbuster lover will be able to find what they need. Among these addresses, the largest is without a doubt the Nervion Plaza, with its twenty screens. However, you will need to master the language of Cervantes to enjoy these theaters, as the original version is not necessarily widespread in these complexes. To make sure you can enjoy your screenings, go to the most likely place in the city to show the original version, Avenida 5 Cines. However, if locking yourself in a movie theater during your vacation is not for you, you can enjoy free outdoor screenings during the Veranillos del Alamillo festival, held every summer at the Cortijo del Alamillo, on the island of La Cartuja. Many other neighborhoods also hold summer screenings after dark. Keep an eye out for such events around the Cueva del Agua in the east of the city, or in the Rosario Valpuesta Park in the south. Finally, the cinematographic panorama of Seville would not be complete without mentioning the Cine Sevilla Festival, the great mass of European cinema that brings together film lovers from all walks of life every fall in the Andalusian capital. An event that takes place in three of Seville's most important cultural venues, the aforementioned Nervion Plaza, the Teatro Alameda and the Teatro Lope De Vega. The perfect opportunity for a little winter return trip under the sun, provided that the city has delighted your heart as a tourist as well as a movie lover.
