The Generalitat plans to dedicate a space to Berlanga that could host his legacy

In addition, according to the sources consulted, the Generalitat could offer this new space -whose location has not yet been decided-, to house and display the Berlanga legacy that is currently in the hands of the director’s family. Even so, the intention of the Consell is that the future “Berlanga space” becomes operational, whether or not it has the files and objects left by the filmmaker at its disposal.

Last Monday Fernando García-Berlanga, son of the author of ‘El verdugo’ and ‘Plácido’, showed during the Levante-EMV Awards ceremony the desire of his family that the director’s legacy be exhibited in a public space in Valencia.

«It has been said that the Berlanga Year will end with the celebration of the Goya Awards in Valencia, on February 12, 2022. But the best climax that this tribute can have is that my father’s legacy has a physical place where it can be exhibited. We would like it to be in Valencia, of course, “assured Fernando García-Berlanga when he received the Levante-EMV Award in the Audiovisual Production category.

This newspaper has learned that a few months ago the filmmaker’s heirs began negotiations with the Ministry of Culture in order to transmit Berlanga’s legacy to the State. According to the sources consulted, after a first meeting between the children of the director and the then Minister of Culture, José Manuel Martínez Uribes, there have been several meetings in which the cost of the acquisition and what space could house the documentary archive have been discussed. and Berlanga staff.

As Fernando García-Berlanga pointed out on Monday, the “legacy is made up of an enormous amount of writings, unpublished scripts, synopses of plots that did not end up on the big screen, letters, photos, poetry from his youth …”. “My father kept everything,” he added.

The sources consulted have not specified whether the negotiations between the Berlanga family and the ministry continue or at what point they are. They did state that, in the event of reaching an agreement, the Spanish Film Library would be in charge of managing the director’s legacy, although it could transfer it – in part or in full – to the Generalitat through some type of collaboration agreement. .

The Valencian government sources consulted yesterday by Levante-EMV indicated that, at the moment, the location of the space dedicated to Berlanga’s work and legacy has not been determined. As this newspaper published yesterday, the Goerlich Foundation proposed after the statements made on Monday by the director’s son that the old Metropol cinema should be the site of a future Luis García Berlanga Museum.

On the other hand, the director Rafael Maluenda premiered yesterday at the 66 Valladolid International Film Week (Seminci) the documentary «Berlanga !!», which reviews the figure of the filmmaker on the centenary of his birth and his ability to reflect, through of satire and comedy, the reality of Spanish society.

“I have the impression that the films about our current situation were already made by Berlanga,” Maluenda pointed out in an interview, in which he congratulated himself on this fact given his doubts about the possibility of making films like this today. «We are losing the capacity of something that is the only thing that saves us. Are these movies possible today? Fortunately there are these, and I hope they can be seen constantly and forever, “he stressed.