«This morning, the fair began with this tone of animation and brilliance with its traditional and beautiful walk of horseman and Amazonas. At one o’clock in the afternoon, unfortunately, a fire originated in the 113 and 115 booths -it seems, by the spark of a kitchen -that due to the wind that blew in those moments, it quickly spread to other facilities, with the natural alarm and dismay. In a few moments 67 booths were destroyed by fire ». Thus, the journalistic chronicles collected one of the darkest chapters of the April Fair of Seville: he 1964 fire.
From this day not only the journalistic chronicles or the testimonies of those who lived in the first person are the event, in which, fortunately, victims had to be regretted. Some scenes were collected by the documentary news (node) in black and white and, also, By the filmmaker Ana Mariscal (1923-1995) For his film ‘The elves of Andalusia’ (1966)starring Sancho Gracia, Rafaela Aparicio and Ingrid Pitt.
This tape, that treasures the only color images of the spectacular fire occurred at the April 1964 Fair, It has been recovered and digitized by the film library of Andalusia -Institution dependent on the Ministry of Culture and Sports, which is chaired by Patricia del Pozo-, within the project to rescue the filmography of Ana Mariscal and, in turn, to highlight those cinematographic works that are closely linked to the identity and culture of Andalusia.
Specifically, at one point of the film, it is observed how Sevillians are silencing to give way to the sirens of firefighters, while those attending the enclosure are striving to avoid personal damage and get in a record time that the fair, which was then held in the Prado of San Sebastián, followed its course. “Before burning and now laughing” reads a sign in one of the sinister booths. In a few hours, lanterns and paper flowers were spare parts and the party continued.
The April Fair is one of the most unique stages of the feature film, but it is not the only one. Over the 121 minutes duration of the tape, produced by Bosco Films, they are exhibited Images of Córdoba -and of the fair-, Seville, Malaga and Vejer de la Fronterain Cádiz. In this way, Mariscal transports the spectator to the former Mesón del Conde, today Mesón del Bandolero, the Museum of Julio Romero de Torres, El Cristo de los Carols street, the Jardines de Murillo, the Royal Alcazares, Feria Street or La Torre del Oro.
Al Sing for Sevillanas de Backgroundthe unmistakable voice of ‘The Jerez’s pack’that Star in a flamenco show in ‘The elves of Andalusia’. Other outstanding art figures of Jondo are also included in the footage such as the ‘Porrina de Badajoz’, Ana Carillo ‘La Tomata’, Phosphorite and María Rosa.
With these prints, Marshal, a pioneer in the film direction, intended Show the Andalusia of the 70s, through the vision that Your parties and traditions They had the protagonists of their movie. Lovers of the Fair, of the bullfights, of the paintings of Zurbarán or the works of Julio Romero de Torres, these characters are shown by that Andalusian goblin that the filmmaker wants to collect in her feature film.
Projection in Córdoba
The digitized film will be screened next May 8 at the headquarters of Córdoba of the film library at 20 hours, And in Seville, in frame dThe European Film Festival. For his replacement – he is explained by technicians from the Filmoteca – it has been necessary “the scanning and digitalization process by the original materials preserved in the Conservation and Restoration Center (CCR) of the Spanish Film Library, as an optimal matrix material for the digital reproduction most faithful to the original characteristics of the production.”
The result of this work, which now makes possible the viewing of ‘The elves of Andalusia’, is a digital master in quality 4K, adapted to the current parameters of the audiovisual industry that, on the one hand, serves as additional preservation material and, on the other, it facilitates its dissemination and access for the new generations.
Next to this tape, The film library of Andalusia continues with the recovery of Mariscal’s work and in the coming months will project ‘Hello, boy’ (1961)a portrait of extraordinary documentary value focused on the daily life of the students of the Labor University of Córdoba. Rolled in black and white, the film is part of the filmography of this director, which began her career as an actress in 1940 with her participation in ‘The last Hussar’ of the famous filmmaker Luis Marquina.
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