This morning the Town Council of Tabernas, organiser of the Almeria Western Film Festival, announced the fourth annual festival which will be held from the 10th to the 12th October in Tabernas, as well as in the western villages of Fort Bravo and Oasys Mini-Holywood. The festival continues the tradition of promoting western films and tourism in the province. The event was hosted by the Deputy of Culture, María Vázquez; the territorial delegate of Public Works, Housing, Tourism and Trade, Encarnación Caparros; the Mayor of Tabernas, Maria de las Nieves Jaén; and the event's Artistic Director, Margaret von Schiller.
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Fragmento de la Rueda de Prensa, Alcaldesa de Tabernas, Mari Nieves Jaén

Fragmento de la Rueda de Prensa, Directora Artística del Festival, Margaret Von Schiller

WESTERN 2014

This programme offers the audiences a range of recent movies:

• 'Gold' by Thomas Arslan, of Germany, shot in Canada, which premiered at the Berlinale in 2013 with a fantastic ensemble of actors driving an intense storyline about a search for a new life. Screened in the original German with Spanish subtitles.
• 'Sweetwater' by Logan and Noah Miller, a US production, which premiered at Sundance in 2013 with Eduardo Noriega in a story of lies and secrecy. Screened in the original English with Spanish subtitles

• 'Ambush at Dark Canyon' by Dustin Rikert, USA, which premiered in 2013 in Austin (Texas), is a classic story of lost love and revenge. Screened in the original English with Spanish subtitles

"With these films we see that the Western genre is still very much alive in the United States, more so than in Europe and especially Spain. This is a topic we will discuss in a panel of directors and producers with Western film projects adapted to current, more modern times, " stated Margaret von Schiller, the artistic director of the Festival.

With the aim of reaching the kids in the audience, the film • 'Rango' (2011), an animated film by Gore Verbinski, is about a disoriented chameleon in the desert learning to be sheriff in a rundown western village.

The great surprise in the WESTERN 2014 section is the world premiere of
'Algo mas que morir '/ 'Something More than Dying', produced entirely in the valley of Kuartango in the Basque Country. " After eight years the residents of this valley have their dream come true: their own movie. This is a Western with amateur actors, recorded in the valley itself, which deals with life, love, fidelity and sacrifice, " says the artistic director of the Festival. The directors of the film, Jose Luis Murga and Oier Martinez de Santos and their producer Pepe Jordana will attend the Festival with about 50 people from Kuartango who participated in the shoot, along with their mayor Ignacio Guillerma.

Two films we decided to add simply because they deserve special attention as commercial Western films we might have missed in the cinema:
• 'El Llanero solitario' / 'The Lone Ranger' (2013) by 'Pirates of the Caribbean' director Gore Verbinski features Johnny Depp as the Native American warrior Tonto. The film features a strong story, grand special effects, breathtaking train sequences, and incredible stunts.

It seemed important to us to have a balance between the Western and Western comedy • 'Mil maneras de morder el polvo' / 'A Million Ways to Die in the West' , the work of Seth McFarlane is a recent theatre release but we present it here to recognize the film in its genre.

And finally in the 2014 Western Film Festival programme we present: • 'Spindrift: Ghost of the West' by Burke Roberts and bandleader Kirpatrick Thomas. The group SPINDRIFT does psychedelic rock music influenced by country and western. In 2012 they toured America and in their spare time they filmed themselves playing in the abandoned western villages, historic mining sites and deserts. Kirpatrick Thomas accompanies this "musical documentary" with a solo concert.

RETROSPECTIVE

Three 'Spaghetti Western' era films shot in Almería are presented in this programme:

• 'Los locos cuatreros'/ Rustlers' Rhapsody' (1985) by Hugh Wilson, with Tom Berenger, a comedy that premieres in the church square of Tabernas and will be introduced by one of its actors: Emilio Linder.
• 'Una pistol para Ringo' / 'A Pistol for Ringo', (1965) by Duccio Tessari with Giuliano Gemma
• 'Matalos y vuelve' / 'Kill Them All and Come Back Alone' (1968) by Enzo G. Castellari, our guest of honour in this years festival

VIDEOS

The people of Tabernas have always loved their heritage of what is called 'Almería de Cine' / 'Almeria Land of Cinema'. The Almeria Western Film Festival 2014 in Tabernas celebrates this important heritage and cultural identity with a screening of the town and its surroundings in current film production with a compilation of video-clips and advertisements that were filmed in the area.

ACTIVIDADES

El Almería Western Film Festival también no solo es un festival de cine, sino un festival de cine ligado al ocio y destinado a todas las edades. En los poblados Oasys Mini Hollywood y Fort Bravo se podrá disfrutar de las actuaciones de los propios especialistas, bandas de música con western en vivo, baile, y otras actividades. "No faltarán los caballos, con sus cowboys y los indios, además de un pasacalles en el municipio de Tabernas el día 10 de octubre antes de la inauguración del Festival", añade Margaret von Schiller.

Asimismo, se promocionarán los bares y restaurantes de Tabernas a través de un concurso de Tapas Western que se desarrollará del día 1 al 13 de octubre en la práctica totalidad de los establecimientos hosteleros del municipio.

SHORT FILMS

The festival presents 9 short films of great variety and adaptation to the Western genre in one programme. From classic to animation to silent to loud, these shorts display how the next generation's imaginations are still captivated by the timeless genre of the Western.

Parallel activities

The Almeria Western Film Festival is not just a film festival, but also a film festival linked to leisure and intended for all ages. "In the Western villages Oasys Mini Hollywood and Fort Bravo you can enjoy performances by the specialists themselves, with western bands performing original sound tracks, dancing lessons, and other activities like a LIP DUB dressed as cowboys and indians, with free entry from 16:00 o'clock onwards. "there will be no shortage of horses with a Western parade in the town of Tabernas on the 10th of October at 11:00 before the opening of the Festival," adds Margaret von Schiller.

Also, the bars and restaurants of Tabernas will be promoted through a Western Tapas competition to be held from 1st to 13th October in almost all catering establishments in the municipality.

Homage

In this year's festival, we will honour Giuliano Gemma, who died on October 1, in 2013 at age 75 in a traffic accident. He is one of the actors who spent most of his career in Almería throughout the era of the Spaghetti Western.

"We are also preparing a tribute to the actor, screenwriter and great film director, our guest of honour, Enzo G. Castellari . He made his film debut as director in 1967 with the film 'Voy... lo mato y vuelvo'/ 'Go Kill and Come Back', a Spaghetti western shot in Almeria and continued the looks that had paved the film "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly" by Sergio Leone. by Sergio Leone. A year later, with the repeat formula he directed 'Matalos y vuelve' / 'Kill Them All and Come Back Alone', the second in a trilogy. Within this sub-genre, he earned fame with the film 'Keoma' (1976), one of the best films of the genre, and is currently working on a new Western, " says the artistic director of the Festival. .

THE JURY WESTERN 2014

Iñaki Mercero , director and producer. He began his career directing series like 'El comisario' and 'Hospital Central'. He is known for more than 18 television series in which he participated as a director and producer. He is currently involved in the series 'El Príncipe', 'El tiempo entre costuras', and 'La Familia'.

Rafael de España, is a Medical Doctor and Historian. For many years he has combined his teaching activities at the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Barcelona with cinematic research in Film History and published a serious of books, including 'The Spanish Cinema', 'A Historical Approach' (1987), 'Breve historia del western mediterráneo' (2002) y 'Balcázar Producciones Cinematográficas: Más allá de Esplugas City' (2005).

Javier Elorrieta director, autor, compositor. Comienza su carrera artística como músico tocando en diferentes grupos, 'Fuego y Vid'a y más tarde 'Museum' pertenecientes al movimiento del Rock Progresivo de Madrid, en los años 70. Hasta que descubre su vocación por el cine. Empieza colaborando en la creación de guiones y en la producción de películas con su padre, el director y Productor José María Elorrieta. En 1975 forma su propia productora Origen, con la que realiza multitud de campañas publicitarias, series y largometrajes. Desde 1979 ha dirigido 9 largometrajes con un reparto internacional y para algunas compone la banda sonora. En enero de 2014 sale a la venta su cuarto trabajo discográfico 'Temps D'Aimer', donde vuelve a fusionar el jazz y la inmortal canción francesa. Tiene en proyecto el western 'El Último huracán'.

María José Vilaplana has a record of 20 years of working in the social medias, and being one of the youngest TV presenters in Spain, awarded best talk show host in MIDIA 1996. Appointed director at Channel 28 TV, she was in charge as editor, journalist and TV presenter, also responsible as TDT media agent until 2012. She is currently working as an editor on Noticias España Miami and Videoperíodico Digital 28 TV. As CEO of Viluber Global Consulting, she signs as an expert in audio-visual communication and global communication 2.0. Vilaplana was one of the Spanish journalists who took part in the pursuit of the law 10/2005 TDT and defended his approval before Parliament, held offices at Atlas, Antena 3 and the agency Korpa and collaborates with autonomous channels belonging to FORTA (Federation of Organizations or Institutions of Autonomous Radio and Television). She originates from Tabernas.

Emilio Linder is an actor and musician born in Argentina and living in Spain since the 70s, with extensive experience in all disciplines. Known for 'Goya's Ghosts' by Milos Forman, 'Wings of Fame "with Peter O'Toole,' Bethune 'with Donald Sutherland,' La mano negra 'by Fernando Colomo,' and 'La voz dormida' Benito Zambrano, among many other film productions and television series. He works in theatre and as a musician formed part of several groups. He is also known as a presenter in various shows such as `La cesta de la compra, `De película' y 'Ole tus vídeos'.  Emilio Linder will introduce the screening of the film 'Los locos cuatreros'/ Rustlers' Rhapsody' by Hugh Wilson, in which he had a role in 1985.

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