12 h 10 set 2021 ano - EL CORREO José Luis Rebordinos SSIFF Director Johnny Depp feels really innocent

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FROM EL CORREO:

Translated from the original Spanish using Google Translate.

José Luis Rebordinos: "Johnny Depp feels really innocent"

The director of the San Sebastian Festival faces in his eleventh year in office a contest marked by the controversial awarding of the Donostia Award to the American actor and sanitary measures

by Oskar Belategui

In the 35 years of history of the Donostia Awards, no winner had been as controversial as Johnny Depp, who on September 22 will collect his award for an entire career. Associations of women filmmakers have regretted that the festival rewards an actor on whom the shadow of abuse weighs, even if he has not been denounced or condemned in this regard.

José Luis Rebordinos (Rentería, 1961) recalls that the presumption of innocence must take precedence over judging the lives of all of us, including artists. In his eleventh year in office, his main problem will again be the pandemic, which limits capacity, subtracts visitors and reduces income.

–The dream of a normalized festival has vanished in this second year of the virus.

-It's going to be a festival very similar to last year. The difference is that we will be calmer when the vaccination is a success, there will not be the tension of the previous edition, when we thought that at any time an outbreak could arise. The only discussion we have had with the red carpets, which we are sorry to do without an audience. The alternative was to organize them closed, with 150 or 200 people and very strong security measures. But the remedy would have been worse than the disease. They will be, like last year, only for professionals.

[Edited to relevant paragraphs only - full article available via the links below]

A Donostia for Polanski
- Tell me the truth, have you ever regretted awarding the Donostia Prize to Johnny Depp?

-Never. I was very clear. Last year he came and we couldn't make him be with his fans. Giving him the award this year came up so that people could enjoy Depp, although unfortunately he won't be able to do it. We knew perfectly what his situation was. Johnny Depp has not been arrested or charged in a court or convicted of abuse. For us he is a great actor and a very interesting producer. I don't enter anyone's personal life, I have no idea what the lives of the other winners of the Donosti are like.

-Does he know the one that has been mounted?

-Yes. He received an award at the Barcelona Festival and nothing happened. He has been to Karlovy Vary and in Deauville he will have a meeting with the public. I insist, I don't know Johnny Depp, I don't know if he's a beautiful person or not. I just know that he is a very polite man who has behaved great with us. We know your agent a little more. And Johnny Depp feels really innocent. We don't care about his personal life, nor the typical Hollywood separation, with a lot of money involved.

-Do you expect acts of protest?

–I have no idea. I don't think so, but everyone has the right to express themselves freely as long as they are respectful. We have fought for many years for that.

-It feels supported by the board of directors of the Festival, formed by the City Council of San Sebastian, Provincial Council, Basque Government and Ministry of Culture.

My position is always at your disposal, if tomorrow the council decides to change director I will thank you for these wonderful years and I will leave calmly. I am the general director of a public limited company, the one in charge is the board of directors. I still feel very supported by them and by many women who belong to organizations that disagree with the awarding of the award. I have dozens of whatsapps of women and men from the Spanish film industry showing me their solidarity. Movie headlines and crosswords on social networks often do not show reality. It sells more of a confrontation than a calm sea.

-Woody Allen, Johnny Depp... Does Zinemaldia show courage by inviting artists in the pillory?

-With the one who is falling, it is very difficult for festivals not to invite an artist with whom someone does not disagree. It has happened with Polanski, Kim ki-Duk... I don't think we are especially brave, we try to be consistent and open to debate.

–Polanski would be a good Donostia Award.

-Are you proposing it to me for next year? I haven't thought about it. Polanski is a man tried and convicted of the rape of a minor, who escaped justice. It's a more complex case, you'd have to see it. If we analyze the history of cinema, we drop many, huh? Simone de Beauvoir was accused of sleeping with minor students, Marguerite Duras was homophobic... The dark side of artists has to be paid with justice. But I'm not a judge to judge them.

[Long Article - selected paragraphs only due to space - for full article use the links below.]

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