Charo López receives the Spike of Honor and calls on the sector to fight on in these hard times.

• The Salamanca-born  actress has performed in 61 films, 40 television series and nearly 20 plays.
• She feels lucky to have worked with some of the best filmmakers in the country and is confident that “culture won’t be tainted by the virus like people’s health”.

10/26/2020.- An emotional Charo López received the Spike of Honor this Monday evening at the 65th edition of Seminci during the gala scheduled to celebrate the  Castile and León Film and Audiovisual Day.

“When they announced that I was going to receive this distinction, I felt like now, full of uncertainty, and while the situation in the country kept me in a state of sadness,  this Spike of Honour connected me with the sweetest and the  most rewarding side of  our profession,” she explained on the stage of Teatro Zorrilla.

For the Salamanca-born actress, receiving this award is a privilege that “is not available to everyone, since sometimes in this profession not everything depends on talent and perseverance, but you also need luck”, she pointed out. She considers herself lucky because she claims to have had the great fortune of working with great directors and playing well-scripted roles, although she also admitted to making a few mistakes in her career.

Now, in the midst of the pandemic that has hit the culture sector so hard, López encouraged her colleagues not to give up and to continue fighting with determination and hope.”I am just an actress who has worked very hard in order to be  able to choose sometimes, but now, in the midst of this pandemic and this terrible  crisis, the  only choice I aspire to is for all of us to continue working and for  cinemas and theaters to receive the support of the public authorities; for culture not to be tainted by the virus like people’s health has sadly been, “she said visibly moved,” because when our health fails, the only thing we have is dreams, and that’s what we dedicate ourselves to in this profession: to fulfill dreams and to show life and stand up for what is fair and just “.

The 76-year-old actress, who has performed in  61 films, 40 television series and almost 20 stage productions, was warmly saluted by fellow actor  José Sacristán and filmmaker Gonzalo Suárez, one of the directors with whom she has worked the most.

She was also accompanied at this Castile and León Film and Audiovisual Day gala by Juanma Bajo Ulloa, the latest director she has collaborated with. “Since I started making films,  I have wanted to work with you. There were actresses who had almost as much personality as you, almost your own cachet… but there has never ever been such an extraordinary presence as that of Charo,“said the Basque director before asking the audience for a great round of  applause.

Like Charo López, other great filmmakers in the region have received the Festival’ss Honorary Spike  in previous editions of this gala, such as Antonio Jiménez Rico, Francisco Regueiro, José Luis García Sánchez and Antonio Hernández.

Seminci Community Program

Another of the guests in this gala was the regional Minister of Culture and Tourism  Javier Ortega Álvarez, who presented a new initiative that the regional Government is planning to launch in order to promote the Valladolid Festival beyond the Film Week’s dates and venues.

Not only has Castile and Leon’s Government  increased its funding for this year’s edition, but “our support will also be expanded with the launch this year of the “Seminci Community program,” announced  Ortega Álvarez.

The scheme contemplates setting up a film screening  circuit showing titles awarded or programmed at Seminci. It will run “after this 65th edition and before the next one” with the collaboration of Castile and León’s Film Archive, explained the regional Minister.

In turn,  the Councilor for Culture and Tourism of the Valladolid City Council, Ana Redondo, claimed that it is precisely in these difficult times when the administrations must become  “a driving force, so that those dreams that Charo referred to in her acceptance speech and the  audiovisual projects that were coming down the pipeline  can be maintained.”

Redondo likewise  announced  the City Council’s support  for the short films Frugal, by Valladolid es Arte, and La Junta de Valladolid, by Juan Domingo Rodríguez.

Anatomy of a Dandy

Thes 65th edition of the Castile and León Film and Audiovisual Day gala was brought to a close with the screening of the documentary feature Anatomy of a Dandy, by Charlie Arnaiz and Alberto Ortega:  a portrait of the journalist and writer Francisco Umbral.

“Summing up the trajectory of such an outstanding figure as Umbral in 90 minutes is a very great responsibility. I’ve read Umbral  since I was a child, so making this film became a dream come true,” said Arnaiz on the stage of Teatro Zorrilla before thanking the writer’s widow, María España, for all her help and  support .