The controversy in San Sebastián over Josu Ternera’s documentary, the closing of the Picasso Year or the withdrawal of Serrat, protagonists of the year
On December 31, culture will say goodbye to 2023, a year in which the sector has recovered pre-pandemic figures in many fields (and has even surpassed them) and in which there have been changes in some relevant institutions, starting with the Ministry itself which, after years shared, will once again have unique responsibilities in the hands of Ernest Urtasun.
It was last November when Urtasun took over the Culture portfolio from Iceta. The new minister’s words advanced that one of his priorities in this legislature will be “freedom of expression” and he will seek to “raise the flag of culture in the face of censorship and fear.”
Precisely this end of 2023 has been burdened by complaints of cancellation of some events, films and plays by its members in Spain, such as the cancellation of the Huesca Periferias Festival or the veto of the play ‘Orlando’ by Virginia Woolf in Valdemorillo (Madrid).
In fact, one of the first cases that he has had to face has been that of “censorship” with the play ‘How difficult it is’, in Quintanar de la Orden (Toledo), to which he has already announced responses “with forcefulness” in the face of this type of action. In the legislative section, the green light has already been given to the modification of the Patronage Law and Urtasun has promised in its meetings with the sector that the new Cinema Law will be a “priority.”
This year has been the year of consolidation of the outgoing minister’s star measure, the Cultural Bonus. This initiative, which started in July 2022, has been requested by 326,579 young people who turn 18 in 2023, which represents the registration of two out of every three young people born in 2005 and almost 50,000 more young people than in the first edition, according to Culture data.
Another new face is Manuel Segade, new director of the Reina Sofía Museum, replacing Manuel Borja-Villel. The election of this position was not without controversy, since Borja-Villel was finishing his fifteen years and it was not until weeks before that he finally confirmed that he was not going to run for re-election, an option in question if he followed the good practices that govern the art gallery.
Last September, Segade revealed some of what will be its guidelines, especially highlighting its commitment to “popular culture”, through which it will open the doors of the art gallery, for example to trap, citing names such as Rosalía , C. Tangana or the Venezuelan singer Arca.
It has been precisely the museums that have improved the face of culture with visitor forecasts that are on par with the pre-pandemic figures, with the Prado Museum being the first to advance that, just four and a half days before As the year ends, it is less than 25,000 visits away from surpassing the historical record achieved in 2019, the year of the Bicentennial –3.2 million people.
To all this will be added a new museum to increase the number of visitors, with the Gallery of the Royal Collections, which opened its doors last July and in just the first month – with four free days – brought together a total of 57,842 people in its facilities.
WITHOUT SPRING SOUND IN MADRID
Music has been another of the winners of 2023, especially festivals (with nuances). Once again this year, good numbers have been recorded in some of the leading musical events in Spain, such as the Sonorama festival or the BBK Live, although there have been some blots such as the novelty of the Madrid edition of Primavera Sound.
This festival, which premiered in the capital, brought together some 90,000 attendees in two days, below the organization’s forecasts and which has meant that another edition is not planned for next year in Madrid. There have also been nods even from the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, to these events, since for example he attended the international indie music festival ‘Cala Mijas’ at the end of August.
International artists such as Bruce Springsteen, Rod Stewart, Coldplay, Harry Styles or Duki, among others, and national artists such as Pablo Alborán, Bad Gyal, Quevedo or Lola Índigo, have also been protagonists with sold-out concerts in the first year without Joan Manuel Serrat on stage and in which Joaquín Sabina has concluded his tour with questions about his future.
CINEMA IMPROVEMENTS FIGURES
It has also been a good year for cinema, which started with the Goya awards in Seville where ‘As bestas’, by Rodrigo Sorogoyen, triumphed, and surprisingly Carla Simòn’s film, ‘Alcarràs’, left empty. On the international scene, triumphs have been achieved in 2023, continuing the legacy of the previous year. ‘Pacifiction’ and ‘As bestas’ won three César Awards from the French Film Academy and the leading actress of ‘20,000 species of bees’, Sofía Otero, won the Silver Bear at the Berlin Film Festival.
Also at the German festival, ‘Samsara’, by Lois Patiño, won the jury prize in the Encounters section, which he shared with the Spanish philosopher Paul B. Preciado for his debut work, ‘Orlando’. The European Film Academy awarded the Spanish filmmaker Isabel Coixet and Pablo Berger with their ‘Robot Dreams’, the award for Best Animated Film.
The San Sebastián film festival held in September, where the film ‘O’Corno’ by director Jaoine Camborda triumphed, was another center of controversy due to the premiere of the documentary ‘Don’t call me ternera’, by Jordi Évole. The film, which was rejected by several intellectuals because it gave voice to a former ETA leader, José Antonio Urrutikoetxea, ‘Josu Ternera’, revealed the participation of the protagonist in a murder for which he was not prosecuted and which, furthermore, , was dismissed by the Amnesty Law of 1977.
In general terms, Spanish cinema will close the year 2023 with a box office of more than 76 million euros, which is a higher figure than in 2022, when just over 75 million euros were collected, according to provisional data from the Ministry of Culture, collected by Europa Press. However, these amounts still do not reach those set before the pandemic, close to or greater than 100 million euros.
Until the end of the year, the figure collected by Spanish cinema is 76,806,652 million euros, although these data are dated until December 17. This means that the box office will increase at the end of the year, thanks for example to the announcement of the films candidates for the Goya Awards, ‘The Snow Society’, ‘Un Amor’, ‘Close Your Eyes’, ‘20,000 Species of Bees’ and ‘You know that one’.
PICASSO YEAR AND DEATHS IN 2023
The year is left with pending challenges that could not be closed despite being on the political agenda, such as the reform of the INAEM. And in art, a Picasso Year has come to an end that started with controversy from the beginning, due to the relationship that the artist maintained with women during his lifetime.
The death of Concha Velasco has been one of the most relevant last in the field of culture of this year 2023 – to which names such as those of the Korean actor from ‘Parasites’ Lee Sun Kyun have been added in recent days -, which has left a long list of deceased artists such as the filmmaker Carlos Saura, the singer Tina Turner or the composer Tony Bennet, among others.