A peck on the cheek at Canary Islands

Fourteen films, therefore, of the past decade, formed the section ‘Contemporary Indian Cinema — a Retrospective’. Films ranging from the blockbusters Devdas, Lagaan and Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, to the more contemporary Everybody Says I’m Fine, English August and Dil Chahta Hai, to women’s’ films such as Astitva and Mitr My Friend, to the socio-political such as Zakhm, A Peck on the Cheek, Satya, Sarfarosh and Making of the Mahatma.

Not only was Aparna Sen’s Mr & Mrs Iyer competing for the substantial cash award with 12 others from across the world, but it carried away the prize for best film. By a happy coincidence, Kabir Bedi had been invited to present the Best Film award and, to his delight, it was the film from India which won. His presence caused a near riot, so famous is he in Spain for Sandokan, the Italian television series which catapulted him into international stardom.

It was a tense time in Spain, even in Las Palmas with demonstrations against the war at every street corner. At the closing ceremony, the delegates themselves arrived wearing badges. The Indian community was proudly out in full force. To the delight of the festival’s organisers, the audiences were one third PIO (People of Indian origin), and two-thirds Spanish. They had heard of the Indian song and dance melodramas and Lagaan had even been released in Spain, but here were films that showed an India they didn’t know about.

The jury were shocked by Everybody Says I’m Fine. With Rahul Bose present there was a lively discussion with the audience after the film. The Director of the Majorca Film Festival immediately asked for it for his own festival later in the year — along, inevitably, with Devdas which seems to have cut across all tastes. The Indian community were very happy with the wide range of films because, they felt, the films helped dispel cliches prevalent about India.

The awards ceremony was conducted by a Canarian actor and actress and it turned out that the very Spanish-looking actor had an Indian mother and Spanish father. Mixed marriages are fairly common, only some first generation Indian parents still come to India looking for brides for their sons. At a fancy Indian club in the centre of town they celebrate festivals and marriages, complete with mehndi and wedding songs — and meeting Kabir Bedi.

With the beach and the volcanic mountain a half-hour drive from each other, with streets lined with flowers in every shape and colour, it is a good life. And an ideal setting for an international film festival. This year the great French actress Catherine Deneuve was honoured at the opening ceremony; at the closing ceremony it was the gracious Leslie Caron — and Tippi Hedren whose Spanish connection comes from her son-in-law Antonio Banderas.

The opening and closing films were both American, the rest from all over the world. The success of the Indian package (‘‘the best retrospective we have had up to now,’’ the organisers said), accompanied by a panel discussion and the release of a publication on Indian cinema by me and Alberto Elena — the Spanish critic who has written a great deal on Indian cinema — has made them determined to continue showing Indian films each year. And with the much smaller festival in Majorca also wanting an Indian package at their next event, it seems Indian cinema is getting under the skin of the Spanish and winning its long-overdue recognition.

(Aruna Vasudev was the president of the international jury at the Las Palmas festival. She is the editor of Cinemaya, the Delhi-based quarterly magazine on Asian cinema)