The seventh edition of the Festival de Cine Fantástico de Canarias Ciudad de La Laguna Isla Calavera, which will take place from November 10 to 19, is approaching and new announcements of guests, screenings and activities that will be part of the program are arriving. To the list of luxury presences, the name of one of the references of fantastic cinema in our country, Eduardo Noriega, who will receive the Isla Calavera Award of Honor in recognition of his career, has been added. The Santander-born actor was part of the cast of Alejandro Amenábar's debut film 'Tesis' (1996) and starred alongside Penélope Cruz in his second feature film, the psychological thriller 'Abre los ojos' (1997), which can be seen this year at Isla Calavera. For this performance he received his first Goya Award nomination for best leading actor.
Canarian Mateo Gil, co-writer of both Amenábar films, also worked with Noriega in 'Nadie conoce a nadie' (2000), his directorial debut, and in the western 'Blackthorn'. He has shot under the orders of Guillermo del Toro 'The Devil's Backbone' (2001); of Kim Ji-woon 'The Last Challenge' (2013), alongside Arnold Schwarzenegger; of Christophe Gans, 'Beauty and the Beast' (2014); and of Álex de la Iglesia, 'Perfect Strangers' (2017). His upcoming projects include the thriller 'In the fire', directed by Conor Allyn, and the Prime Video series 'Red Queen'.
Eduardo Noriega's name thus joins that of Richard Dreyfuss, who will also receive an honorary award this year, and Sam J. Jones ('Flash Gordon'), who will receive the Isla Calavera Leyenda del Fantástico Award in Tenerife.
This announcement was made within the framework of the Sitges International Fantastic Film Festival, which every year hosts the presentation of Isla Calavera with great enthusiasm from the general public and attending professionals.
Panic on the Trans-Siberian', with the presence of Silvia Tortosa
The tribute to Spanish fantasy will continue at Isla Calavera 2023 with a special event dedicated to the horror classic 'Panic on the Trans-Siberian', with the participation of actress Silvia Tortosa and filmmaker and historian Víctor Matellano in a discussion after the screening in which the director Eugenio Martín, who died last January at the age of 97, will be remembered.
On the other hand, this year the Award for the Dissemination of Fantastic will go to Gloria Fernández and Enrique Garcelán, specialists in Asian cinema, critics and disseminators, festival programmers and co-directors of CineAsia, an initiative created in 2004 with the aim of promoting knowledge of Oriental cinema. Precisely Gloria Fernández, who is part of the Sitges Film Festival's selection committee, presented the Isla Calavera event in Sitges, also attended by Mònica Garcia i Massagué, director of the Sitges Foundation, and Ángel Sala, the Festival's artistic director.
