10th edition CIFF – 10-14 April 2024

Donkeyote (2017 Feature Film)

Chico Pereira | Spain, Germany, United Kingdom | 2017 | Documentary | color | DCP | 85 min | Spanish | e.s.

Manolo wants to walk the Trail of Tears, the route used during the forced removal of Cherokee Indians to Oklahoma. But the 73-year-old Andalusian has chronic arthritis, speaks no English and more importantly: how will he get his trusty donkey into the US – and cure its fear of water? An ode to intransigence and friendship.

Manolo (73) is a contemporary Don Quichot: a romantic suffering from megalomania. Accompanied by his ‘Sancho Panza’, the (taciturn) donkey Gorrion, he treks through the hills of Andalusia. The stubborn beast is presented as a mature character; we usually see the farcical scenes from his point of view. It proves just how inseparable the duo are after having undertaken many travel adventures.
A major trek across America will be the crown on this special friendship. This grand ambition is greeted with sniggers at a travel agency. Nevertheless, Manolo is determined: nothing shall stop him. Confronted by his worried daughter, he plays down his physical ailments. This uncertainty – caused by such naive behavior – gradually turns to admiration for the relationship between man, animal and nature. The headstrong Manolo and Gorrion lead a classic existence that continually contrasts with the highways and windmills that occasionally (literally) stand in the way of life in the great outdoors.

Place: CINEMA 2

Date: 6 April 2017

Time: 14:00

Duration: 1:50

Place: CINEMA 5

Date: 8 April 2017

Time: 10:15

Duration: 1:15

Place: CINEMA 2

Date: 9 April 2017

Time: 14:15

Duration: 1:15

Year in
Festival

2017

Director

Chico Pereira

Camera

Julian Schwanitz

Cast

Manuel Molera Aparicio
Gorrión
Zafrana

Country

Spain
Germany
United Kingdom

Editor

Nick Gibbon

Language

Spanish

Length

85 min

Music

Mark Deas

Producer

Ingmar Trost / Sutor Kolonko Filmproduktion
Sonja Henrici / SDI Productions

Production Company

Sutor Kolonko Filmproduktion
SDI Productions
Opa Films

Sales

SDI Productions

Scenario

Chico Pereira
Manuel Pereira
Gabriel Molera

Sound Design

René Peltsch

Year of Production

2017

Website

Chico PEREIRA (1979, Spain) grew up in Almadén and was educated in Film and Media at the Scottish Screen Academy in Edinburgh. After making several short films he had his feature-length debut with his graduation project Pablo’s Winter, about a retired mineworker. The documentary won several prizes at IDFA and Leipzig DOK festival. Donkeyote (2017) is again situated in Pereira’s  country of birth, with another willful elderly man as the main character.

 

Filmography

The Way to Macondo (2009, short), Disco (2011, short), Polaris (2012, short doc), Pablo’s Winter (2012, doc), Donkeyote (2017, doc)