The documentary El lápiz, la nieve y la hierba received the Best Film award at the Biosegura Film Festival. This festival showcases films about the environment and rural life and is held each year in Beas de Segura (Jaén). Arturo Méndiz, a lecturer at the Faculty of Communication Sciences who is the film’s director and producer, collected the prize last Saturday.
El lápiz, la nieve y la hierba is the second documentary that Méndiz has directed, after Tras la pista de Otal and La voz y el silencio, the latter films is about the opera singer Pilar Lorengar. In fact, Méndiz has long experience as a producer in the world of short films, as eleven of his projects have obtained more than 250 prizes at festivals around the world, including three Goya awards, a Palm d’Or from Cannes, and his film Timecode was recently nominated for an Oscar at the last edition of the awards.
A former student from the Faculty of Communication Sciences, Ignacio Guerrero, also worked on making this documentary, as director of photography and co-producer, via a company called BtCom, which he founded along with another former student.
El lápiz, la nieve y la hierba is a film about daily life in rural schools belonging to the CRA (Rural School Group) Cinca Cinqueta. The documentary, which is around seventy minutes in length, shows the reality in these schools, and the personal stories of both teachers and the very few pupils of different ages, as well as their families.
The Biosegura Film Festival involves activities related to film, the environment and the rural world and has been taking place since 1999 in Beas de Segura. The objective behind this festival is to showcase and recommend a lifestyle linked to nature, respect for the environment, sustainable development and solidarity.
