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    • The ‘world’s smallest film festival’ is a big party – if you can go
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    The ‘world’s smallest film festival’ is a big party – if you can go

    Umito Posted on

    Michael Robinson Chavez
    | Special to the Washington Post

    ASCASO, Spain – Somewhere along this breathtaking drive through the Pyrenees, you might start to wonder if your GPS is pointing you in the right direction. The endless curves, almost vertical drops and pine forests are broken only by a few cows wandering on the road.

    Then this 17th-century village comes into view, perched atop a ridgeline between tree-lined peaks and the Ara River valley, about 1,500 feet below. Ascaso consists of stone buildings, including a church and its bell tower and seven houses. A screen hangs at the side of one of the two old stables.

    Welcome to the Muestra de Cine de Ascaso, also known as the “smallest film festival in the world”.

    In 1997, Miguel Cordero discovered Ascaso while helping a friend look for housing. His friend couldn’t live that far away; she had children and going to school would be a challenge, especially during the winter months.

    “She couldn’t buy the place, so I did,” Cordero said.

    The idea of ​​organizing an intimate festival paying tribute to cinema and allowing locals to see quality films began to take shape a few years later. Cordero’s love of cinema led him and his partner, Néstor Prades, to create a film festival where they could screen films for their friends under the stars.

    “I had been working for a while to create an online platform for independent cinema,” says Cordero, who works at the town hall in Coslada, just outside Madrid. “I met a director from Radio 3 and with him we started showing films to some friends at Ascaso’s house. But we wanted to open it.

    Cordero said major festivals began to fail during the 2008 financial crisis, so “we need to get back to a more human scale. This is our philosophy.

    Cordero and Prades have been organizing the event since 2012. Thanks to a crowdfunding campaign in 2013, they were able to begin the long process of transforming Ascaso into a place to screen films and welcome visitors.

    A former stable was converted into a bar/screening room, the feed room into a ‘mini-cinema’ and the adjacent wheat threshing floor became the main screening area. This year’s festival featured an eclectic mix of films from Italy, France, the Palestinian territories, Spain and Iran over five days.

    Don’t expect red carpets, paparazzi, glitter and spotlights. Think more punk-folk bands, impromptu dancing, a paella feast, Spanish wine tasting, and the occasional bat flying around the screening area.

    There is a small campsite for those who want to brave the unpredictable weather of the Pyrenees or hotels down the hill in the nearby town of Boltaña, including the five-star Monasterio del Boltaña Hotel & Spa, which offers rooms in buildings dating from the 17th century.

    The 2020 pandemic changed everything for the world’s smallest film festival. Since it was an outdoor event in the middle of the mountains, the show went on and people flocked to one of the few options on the cultural calendar.

    Then, in 2022, the winding road up the mountainside was paved and reliable electricity was installed. People started buying the houses and Ascaso started to feel like a real town.

    Besides the paella lunch, “comida popular”, which takes place on the closing day, the food at the top of the world consists of bocatas (sandwiches) named after famous arthouse films like “Paris, Texas” or “Delicatessen”. You can also pick fresh raspberries that grow wild. Local wines served in appropriate glasses and cans of Mahou beer were also available.

    In the valley below, you can enjoy exceptional cuisine from the region, known for its lamb dishes, such as ternasco, a roasted suckling lamb, and its mountain views at L’Abadía de Sieste, in the village nap. You’ll find grilled, down-to-earth fare (including fresh local trout) at Asador El Pajar, just down the street from the Monasterio Hotel.

    Many visitors take advantage of the plethora of outdoor summer sports that draw many people to the mountains: hiking, swimming in rivers, fishing, whitewater rafting, mountain biking, and rock climbing.

    It won’t take you long to explore the one-road village. This road, more of a path, has been transformed into an exhibition space during festivals. This year we presented a collection of photographs of daily life in Gaza from past years. It was a way of raising awareness of the war which is decimating the Palestinian enclave.

    The festival concludes on the fifth day with a full-day event. You begin with a wine tasting hosted by a local winery. The vintages of the Aragon region are bold, delicious and little known outside of Spain. Riojas and Ribera del Duero bodegas tend to dominate global markets.

    Then there is a communal lunch, open to all, where paella is prepared in massive frying pans. In true Spanish tradition, most retire to take a nap before the music begins. This year, the punk-folk sounds of Ixera, a group of musicians from the Aragon region, were featured. Pyrenees horns, bagpipes, cowhide-covered drums and several pyrotechnics filled the air as line dancing ensued. It was a memorable moment considering the beautiful setting.

    Big skies, dotted with stars at night, extend over the screening area where films are shown and interviews with filmmakers, famous critics and film producers take place. Cordero and Prades hope to be able to sort out the finances for a 14th edition. The rights to screen a film are the same whether you are at the top of the Pyrenees or on the beach in Cannes. The volunteers succeed.

    “Apart from the projectionists,” says Cordero, “no one charges us anything, it’s all volunteers who do the work.”

    Wim Wenders’ film “Perfect Days” (2023) closed the festival this year. It was very appropriate. For many attendees, the festival was just that: five perfect days spent watching great films in a spectacular and unlikely setting.

    “The festival has two goals: to revive the village and to make friends and people fall in love with cinema again,” Cordero explains. “We show films that you have to go see all the way to Zaragoza. It’s a big big family and a very beautiful moment where we share, work on the village, watch films together and the rest of the year we all work to make this happen again.

    Umito
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