An important part of the agenda of H.E. Mr. Fernando Grillo is promoting Colombian culture via the Spanish language since his accreditation to the Kingdom of the Netherlands as Colombian Ambassador on April 7, 2021. “Our language is a powerful tool that we should use at every opportunity. We talked about Colombia to students, artists, associations, the Spanish is a great language, excellent vehicle to create new links among people. We will do our best to promote Colombia and the studies of the language.”
September 2 marked the first activity of the Hispanic Society of The Hague, directed by Edith Bergansius, after the summer holidays. “Ambassador Fernando Grillo invited me at the end of June to talk about promoting some aspects of the Colombian culture and he gave me the wonderful Gabriel Garcia Marquez book Del Amor y Otros Demonios. Then Viviana Medina, cultural advisor, sent me several options. Finally, I opted for the film based on García Márquez’s novel as he is a very well-known Nobel Prize writer and has been widely translated in Holland,” explained Bergansius.
Hilda Hidalgo directed the film version of the Colombian novel first published in 1994, and was selected in 2010 on the list of Best Foreign Language Film at the 83rd Academy Awards.
There was a considerable group of people attending the screening from the Hispanic Society, taking into account current COVID restrictions, including among all three members of the board of directors, also Dutch, Spanish, Peruvian, and Venezuelan attendees. Besides the Colombian embassy team, there were also several ambassadors with their wives.
Even if Sierva Maria de Todos Los Angeles died of love, the public enjoyed the screening and the opportunity to discuss the film with the Colombian delegation during the reception that followed.
“I’m a fan of Colombia and for sure we will do other joint activities.” Said Bergansius.
