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RELIGION

Scandal over rapper’s saucy music video in Spanish cathedral rages on

A steamy music video featuring erotic dancing and pixelated nudity inside a Spanish cathedral has sparked fury among the faithful, pushing a priest out and forcing an anguished archbishop to apologise.

Scandal over rapper's saucy music video in Spanish cathedral rages on
A view of the historic Spanish city of Toledo with its cathedral rising up above all other buildings. Toledo's archbishop has hastily asked forgiveness in a statement which said he was "completely unaware" of the project or its content. Photo: Gerard Julien

Filmed inside Toledo cathedral near Madrid and released on Friday, the clip displays bare thighs and sensual cavorting as Spanish rapper C. Tangana locks limbs with Argentine singer Nathy Peluso while stunned worshippers peek from behind pillars.

“I was an atheist, but now I believe / Because a miracle like you must have come from heaven,” sing the pair, both of whom have won multiple Latin Grammys.

In one sequence, Peluso cavorts nude behind several strategically-placed pixels, while in another the rapper jerks back her long hair, bending her into a particularly provocative pose, the image drawing particular ire on Twitter.

“I would like to know for what price Toledo cathedral sold the sacredness of the sanctuary to C. Tangana.

I would like to know if the Archbishop agrees with the desecration of his episcopal see,” tweeted “Fray Hernando de Talavera”, an account named after a 15th-century bishop. “How shameful!”

In a statement released after the video emerged on Friday, Toledo’s archbishop hastily asked forgiveness in a statement which said he was “completely unaware” of the project or its content.

“We humbly and sincerely ask the forgiveness of all the faithful.. who have rightly felt offended by this improper use of a sacred place,” it added.

The Archbishop felt “deep regret over the incident and deeply deplores the footage filmed” inside the cathedral, it added.

But the controversy didn’t stop there, with the cathedral’s dean, Juan Miguel Ferrer, who gave his blessing to the project, finally handing in his
resignation on Tuesday.

Asking “forgiveness” for “any mistakes that may have been committed in word, in deed and in omission in the events of the last few days,” the dean said it seemed right to tender his resignation, effective from October 16, a statement said.

His resignation was accepted by the archbishop who invited the faithful to join a mass on Sunday for the “purification” of the cathedral following the video shoot.

It has since emerged Toledo Cathedral received €15,000 for the music video to be filmed on their premises, with a further €15,000 going to Toledo town hall. 

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CULTURE

San Sebastián: What to know about Spain’s biggest film festival

The San Sebastián International Film Festival, the most prestigious of its kind in Spain, kicks off on Friday September 20th. Here are 10 fascinating anecdotes and pieces of information that will help you understand its importance to Spanish culture.

San Sebastián: What to know about Spain's biggest film festival

The Local counts down ten essential facts about the most important film festival in the Spanish-speaking world, as it gets underway in the Basque seaside city.

1. The San Sebastián International Film Festival (Festival Internacional de cine de San Sebastián in Spanish and Donostia Zinemaldia in Basque) was founded in 1953. Although it was originally intended to honour Spanish language films, it soon allowed international films to compete and since 1955 has attracted the great and the good of world cinema.

2. The film festival was started by a group of San Sebastián businessmen and Spanish dictator Francisco Franco, perhaps surprisingly, immediately gave it his blessing. He saw the festival as an opportunity to present Spain as a more open and friendly country on the international stage.

Spanish dictator Francisco Franco repressed the Basque culture and language, but he allowed the San Sebastían festival to become international. (Photo by AFP)

3. This year’s festival – the 72nd – will take place between Friday September 20th and Saturday September 29th at the Kursaal Congress Centre and Auditorium on San Sebastián’s seafront, designed by Spanish architect, Rafael Moneo. It’s an impressive building, especially when lit up at night!

4. It is one of only 15 category ‘A’ film festivals accredited by the FIAPF (International Federation of Film Producers Associations) alongside such other illustrious film festivals as Venice, Cannes and Berlin.

5. Some of cinema’s most classic moments were brought to the screen for the very first time at San Sebastián. It hosted the international premiere of Alfred Hitchcock’s Vertigo, an event attended by the iconic film director himself, as well as the film’s star, James Stewart.

Alfred Hitchcock in 1972 in Cannes, one of Europe’s other big film festivals. (Photo by AFP)

6. Berlin has its Bear and Cannes its Palme, so what is the prize doled out at San Sebastián? Quite aptly for this seaside city, it is the Shell of course! The Golden Shell (Concha de Oro) is awarded to the best film of the festival, while the best actor and actress receive a Silver Shell.

US actor and director James Franco holds the “Concha de Oro” (Golden Shell) best film award for the film “The Disaster artist” in 2017. (Photo by ANDER GILLENEA / AFP)

7. While San Sebastián is not one of the most headline-grabbing events on the film festival calendar, it has attracted quite a few cinematic icons in its time. Elizabeth Taylor, Audrey Hepburn, Meryl Streep, Robert de Niro and Brad Pitt have all attended – among many others.

Brad Pitt and Quentin Tarantino during the presentation of “Inglorious Basterds” at the San Sebastián International Film Festival in 2009. (Photo by RAFA RIVAS / AFP)

8. The festival’s lifetime achievement award is the Donostia award, given every year to honour one more more actors for their work. In 2008, living legend Meryl Streep won alongside arguably the world’s most famous Spanish actor, Antonio Banderas. This year, Spain’s most iconic film director Pedro Almodóvar and Australian actress Cate Blanchett will receive the lifetime award.

9. In 1989 Bette Davis, one of the most classic stars from Hollywood’s golden age came to the festival to receive the lifetime achievement award. It would be her last ever public appearance, she died two weeks later. A documentary about Davis’ time in the Basque city was made in 2014, titled El Último Adiós (The Last Goodbye).

10. At this years edition, many big Hollywood names are expected, including Pamela Anderson, Javier Bardem, Monica Bellucci, Jamie Campbell Bower, Johnny Depp, Andrew Garfield, Isabelle Huppert , Noémie Merlant, Ángela Molina, Franco Nero, Lupita Nyong’o, Charlotte Rampling, Will Sharpe and Tilda Swinton.

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