The executioner

Celebrating the centenary of the birth of the great Valencian filmmaker Luis García Berlanga, the Instituto Cervantes in Amman will dedicate June’s session of the virtual Cinema-Club of Spanish and Latin American Movies to the film El verdugo (The executioner).

Synopsis: Amadeo is the executioner at the Madrid Court. There he meets José Luis, a funeral worker who is going to pick up the prisoner that Amadeo has just executed. José Luis cannot find a girlfriend since all the girls run away from him when they find out that he works in a funeral parlor. Amadeo's daughter, Carmen, does not find a boyfriend either since all her suitors escape upon learning that her father is an executioner.

The meeting will be carried out by Colombian film critic, Juan Carlos Lemus Polania, who will make a brief presentation of the director of the film of the day, the cinematography that supports him and the history of the cinema of his country, and, afterwards, he will hold a panel discussion with the registered participants through the «zoom» platform.

Juan Carlos Lemus Polania is a Colombian film critic, editor and blogger. Bachelor in electronic engineering, with an MBA in Marketing, Creative Writing from the Escuela de Escritores de Madrid and Masters studies in Practical Philosophy. He has been working for several years as a freelance covering festivals such as Berlin, Cannes, and Venice. He also does films and documentaries reviews and criticisms for the media: Cero en conducta, El Tiempo, Rolling Stone, Playboy, Bakánica, Kinetoscopio, CineVista and The End. Arcadia, Colombia; Cinéfilos Frustrados, Spain; Deus ex magnifica, Mexico; Desistfilm, La ventana indiscreta, Peru; among others. He has also been jury member at the Jaffna International Festival (SL) and the Short Film Festival in Colombo (SL). He is currently living in Amman with Regula, Elena and Damián with whom he shares some of his passions - movies, music, coffee and travelling - and who support him in other ones - philosophy and triathlon.