If you’re interested in film then surely the name Akira Kurosawa means something to you – the Japanese “emperor” of film who would have been celebrating his 100th birthday this week.

Akira Kurosawa, Japanese legend

An academy award winner, Kurosawa (1910-1998) is responsible for influencing many films of his time, from the famous “wipe” style of cinema (imitated in Star Wars) to complete stories re-told in Western filmmaking. To mark such a great influence, 12 Spanish cities are celebrating his life in their own unique way – from exhibitions of his storyboards, displays of original costumes, debates, film cycles and conferences.

The biggest highlight will be taking place in Sevilla, in the Andalucian city’s film festival: Sevilla Festival de Cine, which will be held from 13th November.  Other cities include:Madrid, Barcelona, Valladolid, Las Palmas, Murcia, Oviedo, Valencia, Sitges, Bilbao and Salamanca (where we have a Mester Spanish school which put on some great film nights in their Salamanca activity programme!).  In fact it’s even said the film Vantage Point – which was based in Salamanca, was inspired by Kurosawa’s work!

Akira Kurosawa really is a cinema legend – his influence described by Martin Scorsesse as “so profound as to be almost incomparable” and so if you  haven’t already heard of his work, now’s the time to do it!

Kurosawa film: Ran

In fact, this corss-over of culture works both ways: Spanish culture’s become a hot trend in Japan!

To celebrate the “Foodex Japan” festival, 17 Castilla y León companies travelled to Tokyo, from 2nd-5th March, to take their wines and food across the world.  The event is considered as the third world fair of the sector and the first in the Asia-Pacific region, given that it brings together over 100,000 congregates, all of whom are professionals from the world of wine and agriculture.

As well as gastronomy, Cinema’s a great medium to get an idea of the culture of a country – how it really is, not just how the tourist boards try to communicate the life there.  It’s also a great medium for bringing people together, to debate and interact – so why not check out the film nights we do in our Mester Spanish schools?  Not only will you get an insight into Spanish culture but you’ll be able to enjoy discussing the films with your fellow classmates, all whilst practising Spanish!