Sam J. Jones, Flash Gordon himself, will receive the Isla Calavera tribute award, the Canary Islands Fantastic Film Festival

Sam J. Jones, the actor who played Flash Gordon in the legendary 80s film, will receive the tribute award from the skull islandthe Fantastic Film Festival of the Canary Islands Ciudad de La Laguna, which will be held from November 10 to 19.

Sam J. Jones rose to fame with this film, ‘Flash Gordon’ (Mike Hodges, 1980), based on the comic book character created by Alex Raymond and who many will remember thanks to Queen’s songsinterventions by Max von Sydow, Ornella Muti and Timothy Dalton and the unwavering production of Dino de Laurentiis.

The actor, who collects works in his filmography with flowery titles such as ‘Wife for rent’ (Jim Drake, 1985), ‘Jane in Search of the Lost City’ (Terry Marcel, 1987), ‘Avenger’ (James Sbardellati, 1988 ), ‘Deadly Formula’ (Lee Doo-yong, Scott Thomas, 1988), ‘Max Force’ (Dale Trevillion, 1989) and ‘The Erotic Telephone Killer’ (Fred Williamson, Alain Zaloum, 1993), He was already honored in the comedies ‘Ted’ (2012) and ‘Ted 2’ (2015), by Seth MacFarlane, as well as in the documentary ‘Life After Flash’ (Lisa Downs, 2017).

Now, he will accept and go to collect the Legend of the Fantastic Award granted by the Canary Islands Fantastic Film Festival, an award for which the celebrated Jones will participate in a meeting with his followers during a special event at Multicines Tenerife.

The seventh edition of the Festival will culminate with a day dedicated entirely to King Kong, the legendary giant gorilla of Skull Island, who celebrates his 90th anniversary this year. On Sunday, November 19, attendees will be able to enjoy a screening marathon that will begin with ‘King Kong’, the 1933 classic directed by Merian C. Cooper and Ernest B. Schoedsackand starring Fay Wray, Robert Armstrong and Bruce Cabot.

The program will continue with John Guillermin’s 1976 adaptation, produced by Dino de Laurentiis, starring Jessica Lange and Jeff Bridgestitle awarded with the Oscar for the best special effects.

The screening marathon will conclude with Peter Jackson’s Kong, title starring Naomi Watts, Jack Black, Adrien Brody and Andy Serkis which, in 2006, won the Oscars for best special effects, sound and sound editing.

The tributes to the great gorilla will include different complementary activities, such as the exhibition ‘Kong Universe: 90 years of the giant ape’ and the launch of the book ‘King Kong. The book of the 90th anniversary’ by Jesús Palacios.

Organized by the Charlas de Cine Cultural Association, the Isla Calavera Cultural Association, Multicines Tenerife and the specialized publication TumbaAbierta.com, sponsored by the La Laguna City Council, through the Department of Culture, among other public and private entities, the Canary Islands Fantastic Film Festival Ciudad de La Laguna Isla Calavera was born in 2017 and, in its six years of existence, it has established itself as one of the five most relevant fantastic film festivals in the country.