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Preparations began two years ago. Exactly since 2020 because the amanecistas stayed 'planted' as it happened in several scenes of the movie 'Dawn that is not little', due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Since then, Juan Ángel Martínez, 'the depressed child', has gone from 'being contingent to being necessary', since apart from managing the website and networks of the 'Association of Amanecistas' —which has 60 members—, He is one of the promoters of the annual meeting, which has been recovering this sequence of one of the most important films for a year and that marked a past and an after in the national grotesque surrealism.
Juan Ángel Martínez remembers his time in this film, which the director from Albacete, José Luis Cuerda, shot in three towns in the Sierra del Segura (Ayna, Liétor and Molinicos) for six weeks.
“I received lessons from the sacristan —Manuel Aleixandre— to ring the bell. “Give, give. Take a good look. Good distance of hands, neither too much nor too little. So, so”, said Aleixandre (Paquito in fiction), who after realizing that one of the children was dozing, repeats it: “If you don't write down, how are you going to memorize me later?” that the councilor of Ayna answered: “Yes, I am depressed”.
Yes, Juan Ángel Martínez was not only one of the 'extra', but now occupies the municipal chair of Ayna (640 inhabitants), which he arrived with the acronym of the Popular Party. This year and, after two years of hiatus, he is happy for the arrival of the 'dawners'. I recognize that there is both devotion and fervor that Cuerda's film arouses, that the occupancy figures "have exceeded expectations" this weekend.
Whether for having participated as an 'extra' or for having been present at the filming, each of the inhabitants of these three municipalities felt proud of the recognition they received thanks to the ingenuity of the director of 'El Bosque Animado', 'La tongue of the butterflies' and that attracts thousands of tourists to the Sierra del Segura. Juan Ángel repeats that our solo in the feature film reflects aspects of daily life, there are also those faces and the numbers that the 'dawn singers' are going to repeat this weekend: Venerado, Abundio, Abilio, Petronila and Abundia will walk this weekend week through the white streets of these municipalities, a symbol of the emptied Spain.
The fans of 'Amanece que no es poco' record the scenes of the film in Ayna – ABC
The festival —recalled the mayor of Ayna— has started with the communal dinner followed by games —the Trivial Dawning could not be missing— and also music. For the visit of Molinicos, the attendees gathered in the Plaza Vieja, at the end of finding the town to find the street of the city where Jimmy and Teodoro arrived and ended up in the house where they shot the interiors of the town hall. Along this route, in addition, recreations of the scenes shot there are made and copies of the script are offered to the bravest.
To help with the re-enactments, this year they are accompanied by Paranoia Studi, a theater group from Castelldefels (Barcelona), directed by Carmen. For today, the city will be at the 'Amanece, que no es poco' Interpretation Center, where José Luis Cuerda will be honored. The event will end with a tour of the hotbed for men, the bank where Mariano and Uncle Pedro were born, the tavern outside and inside, or the passageway through which Elena is going to work.
José Luis Cuerda and Luis Ciges, protagonists of the poster of the X Quedada dawn – ABC
Tribute to the "grumpy beard" has managed to make ingenious humor
The death of the filmmaker from Albacete, José Luis Cuerda, which occurred on February 4, 2020, at the age of 72, sank in the Sierra del Segura in a state of desolation, since that same year he was going to surrender a tribute to “that grumpy bearded gentleman” who arrived there with his surreal humor to create one of the most emblematic films of Spanish cinema.
It has taken two years for the figure of the filmmaker to return to the present day with the homage paid by 120 enthusiasts and fans of Cuerda, in an act that will be attended by Eva and Sonia, the daughters of Casto Sendra (Cassen) and Luis Ciges son.
'Amanece que no es poco' is linked to the figure of this director and screenwriter and to the inhabitants of these small towns in the Sierra del Segura, who have been meeting for ten years in a 'meeting' that has become a hallmark for remember and go through the scenes of that filming in Ayna, Molínicos and Liétor.
Once again, humor and grotesque come together to remind us that this feature film reflected, like no other, the idiosyncrasy and sens of some ingenious people who are part of the national imagination. Also the pilgrimage made by the hundreds of people who come every year from different parts of the world.
The tribute, which was stopped in time by the outbreak of the coronavirus, will be today "with prayers and words of remembrance and affection," said Juan Ángel Martínez.
