Torrevieja film preservation

Torrevieja film preservation
THE DIRECTOR of Valencia-Culturarts, Manuel Thomas and the director of the Instituto Valenciano del Audiovisual y la Cinematografía (Valencian Institute of Cinematography and Audiovisual), Nuria Cidoncha met this week with the mayor of Torrevieja, Eduardo Dolon, who presented them with a 35mm copy of the film ‘Torrevieja, blanca de sal y morena de soles’ a long lost promotional film about Torrevieja, that was made in 1968 by Pascual Muñoz. The film reel will not be deposited in the Film Archive of the Film Institute of IVAC as part of a unique piece of history about the region.

‘Torrevieja, blanca de sal y morena de soles’ is a an informative short documentary, directed by Pascual López Muñoz through his production Leuka Films, which promotes the city of Torrevieja as a tourist destination, showing the fishing industry, the salt production, highlighting the crowing of the Salt Queen and the world famous Habaneras Competition, that has taken place in Torrevieja for more than 50 years.
The documentary came about as the result of a commission to the film director himself in 1968 by the former Mayor of Torrevieja, the late Vicente Garcia, through the Comisión Oficial de Fiestas, which was formed to promote tourism in Torrevieja nationwide, playing on cinema screens around Spain before the main feature.

According to research by the filmmaker Lidiana Rodriguez, the film was released in 1968 during the celebrations in honor of the Immaculate Conception of Torrevieja, in the Cine Teatro Nuevo Cinema, and was distributed between 1968 and 1973 throughout Spain and abroad. This was at a time in Torrevieja’s history when the City had less than 10,000 residents and was primarily a town based upon fishing and salt.
Following several years in oblivion, a can with 35 mm film was rediscovered in 1980 by the director of the Centre for Tourism Initiatives, José Andreu, in the premises of the Department of Tourism. It sat on a shelf for another 30 years until November 2012, when José Andreu gave the reel to the Rotary Club of Torrevieja who decided to return it to the City Council.

The film has been recognized as part of the audiovisual heritage of Valencia and will be preserved and studied at the Film Archive of the IVAC This 35mm film is the only film that has been discovered of the filmmaker Pascual Muñoz López (1936-1971). He was a war correspondent in Algeria who also worked as a filmmaker and documentaries for TVE NO-DO, directed short films but unfortunately died in a car crash at the age of 34, while working on the production for his first feature film. The 12 minute film can be viewed on YouTube in its raw form. The preservation process will return some of the vivid colours of the original.