Filming in Ciudad de la Luz, Julio Medem's Unfinished Task

It is often said, 'If the mountain will not come to Muhammad...'. This is precisely what happened to the acclaimed filmmaker Julio Medem. On two occasions, he was on the verge of filming at the Ciudad de la Luz studios, which he set foot in for the first time this Friday while visiting Alicante to receive the Lucentum Award at the Film Festival.

At midday, the director of iconic films such as 'Tierra', 'Lucía y el sexo', and 'La ardilla roja', as well as others like '8', donned his sunglasses to admire the glistening Alicante sea from the Ciudad de la Luz studios. The essence of the surroundings prompted him to share his thoughts.

His mind has already wandered through the complex, although it was this Friday when he was "here for the first time, physically," he joked. He expressed his desire to return to film some of his pending projects. "I was very close to producing here and would like to revisit it," he said.

One of the projects that could have been filmed at Ciudad de la Luz was a story about Pericles, "a film I wrote about his figure." However, the project "did not come to fruition," lamented the filmmaker, as "this often happens in our profession." The same fate befell another idea, "a story I delved deeply into."

This is the one he never got to film, but he wants to revive. He recalls the creation process as "very enriching for me." Thus, with the Alicante sea behind him and the potential of the studios before him, Julio Medem was clear: "I would like to." Those words are enough to cross off his unfinished task with Ciudad de Luz.

During Friday's meeting, Julio Medem noted that "in our profession, we suffer a lot," both in the bad and the good. Therefore, he ensures he is "well" at the moment of receiving a prize and always remembers the "encouragement I perceive and its intention" during the moment of its presentation, comparable to the "enjoyment of pursuing a profession that is not easy."

The filmmaker will receive the Lucentum Award during the opening gala of the Alicante Film Festival to be held this Saturday, 17th May, at the Teatro Principal. In the lead-up, he was accompanied by the festival director, Vicente Seva, and Ciudad de la Luz's director, Fermín Crespo, who paid tribute to the actor 24 hours before the award was presented.

"He has known how to explore the intimate and the universal with a narrative that has moved and provoked reflection," were Crespo's words referring to Julio Medem's work and figure during the meeting at the studios, followed by Seva's mention of the "indelible mark he has left on Spanish cinema and audiovisual culture, his culture is poetry."

This very Friday, at 6:30 p.m., Ciudad de la Luz will host the screening of '8', Julio Medem's latest feature film, which won the Audience Award in the Official Section out of competition at the Málaga Festival, followed by a public meeting with the director.