Costa del Sol town shines during German film week in Malaga

Torrox took centre stage at the inauguration of the IV German Film Week at the Albéniz cinema in Malaga city on Tuesday 21 November. With some 2,000 registered Germans out of a census of 20,000 residents, and another four thousand unregistered residents, the eastern Costa del Sol town has been attracting German nationals for more than five decades due to its mild climate and its beaches. The town is one of the principal drivers for the week-long film event, organised by the Goethe Institute, Friends of the Goethe-Institute Spain, the consulate of the Federal Republic of Germany in Malaga, and our sister newspaper SUR deutsche Ausgabe

Mayor of Torrox, Óscar Medina, accompanied by various members of the local authority, which sponsors the film week with various other bodies, attended the opening of the event where the movie Roter Himmel (Afire), was screened. Also present was the deputy mayor, Paula Moreno, and the Torrox councillors Sandra Extremera and Vanessa López among others. Medina addressed the audience, in both German and Spanish, as did several other speakers. Among them was the German consul in Malaga, Franko Martin; the coordinator of the cultural programme of the Goethe Institute in Madrid, Ana Pérez; and the director of the film festival and editor of SUR deutsche Ausgabe, Uwe Scheel.

The film Afire won the Grand Jury Prize at the last Berlinale, and was directed by Christian Petzold (who addressed the audience in a recorded video), and was produced by Anton Kaiser, who was present at the Albéniz.

This year's film festival screened original version movies, subtitled in Spanish, at the Albéniz and it will draw to a close on Saturday 25 November.