Festival of New Spanish Cinema 2011
- Festival of New Spanish Cinema 2011
From October 27 through November 23, the fourth annual Festival of New Spanish Cinema, our biggest and riskiest yet, unveils the new generation of Spanish film legends. Featuring first-time filmmakers and established masters alike, the festival brings the very best in contemporary Spanish cinema to Chicago. Join us for award-winning comedies, romances, and dramatic masterpieces, plus a special Halloween screening of a horror classic.
But we celebrate Spanish-style--which means we don't stop with screenings alone! Our tour includes Chicago premieres, parties, live music, visiting directors and actors, and live online interviews with filmmakers that offer you a direct line to Spain.
For more information and to view trailers, visit pragda.com
Special thanks to Marta Sánchez and María Adell of Pragda; Ignacio Olmos and Teresa Hernando of Instituto Cervantes of Chicago.
Organized by Pragda in collaboration with Instituto Cervantes of Chicago. Supported by Tourist Office of Spain in Chicago, Embassy of Spain in Washington, Ministry of Culture of Spain-ICAA, Chicago Latino Cultural Center. Additional support by American Airlines, Iberia, Eurochannel, and our exclusive wine Martin Códax, Las Rocas. Special thanks to all the venues and universities for hosting our screenings, master classes, and live events.
Buy a ticket at our regular prices for a Festival of New Spanish Cinema film on any Saturday in October or November, and get a ticket for a second Festival of New Spanish Cinema film that day at this discount rate (tickets must be purchased at the same time): General Admission $7; Students $5; Members $4. (This discount rate applies to the second film only.)
WITH OR WITHOUT LOVE
- Opening night film!
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David Serrano and Quim Gutiérrez in person!
- WITH OR WITHOUT LOVE
- (UNA HORA MÁS EN CANARIAS)
- 2010, David Serrano, Spain, 97 min.
- With Angie Cepeda, Quim Gutiérrez, Juana Acosta
Successful director Serrano (SOCCER DAYS) first made his mark as screenwriter of the hit neo-musical THE OTHER SIDE OF THE BED (2002). Now he returns to the genre with another frothy cocktail of sex, scenery, and song-and-dance. Colombian bombshell Cepeda (PANTALEÓN Y LAS VISITADORAS) stars as the gleefully amoral Claudia, who won't give up when her lover Pablo (Gutiérrez of DARK BLUE ALMOST BLACK) dumps her. She enlists her sister Monica (Acosta of CARLOS) in a scheme that involves luring Pablo to the Canary Islands, but then Monica finds herself falling in love with him. In Spanish with English subtitles. 35mm widescreen. (MR)
Director David Serrano and actor Quim Gutiérrez will be present for audience discussion at both screenings. Before the Thursday screening, beginning at 7:00 pm, the audience is invited to an opening night reception co-hosted by our exclusive sponsor: Las Rocas and Martin Códax wine. Valid ticket stub required for admission to the reception.
WHO CAN KILL A CHILD?
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Halloween special!
- WHO CAN KILL A CHILD?
- (aka ISLAND OF THE DAMNED)
- (QUIÉN PUEDE MATAR A UN NIÑO?)
- 1976, Narciso Ibáñez Serrador, Spain, 107 min.
- With Lewis Fiander and Prunella Ransome
"Thoughtful and provocative...a completely unheralded classic of bleak 1970s horror cinema."
—Jeremiah Kipp, Slant Magazine
We present a rare 35mm print of a cult horror classic! English tourists Tom (Fiander) and his very pregnant wife Evelyn (Ransome), on their final holiday before the child is born, arrive on an island off the coast of Spain, only to find it almost completely deserted--save for a group of blank-eyed giggling children who seem to be following their every move. As they explore the island, they discover the few remaining adults, bloodied and cowering in the shadows, and they quickly realize that, when the children ask you to play with them, they’re dead serious. Both genuinely creepy and shocking in equal measures, this classic laid the groundwork for Stephen King's hit CHILDREN OF THE CORN. In English and Spanish with English subtitles. 35mm. (Christopher Sanew)
HAPPY HALLOWEEN!
Come in costume for Monday’s show and get a FREE small popcorn and small soda with your ticket purchase!
80 DAYS
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- 80 DAYS
- (80 ENGUNEAN)
- 2010, Jose Mari Goenaga and Jon Garaño, Spain, 105 min.
- With Itziar Aizpuru, Mariasun Pagoaga
Original love stories are hard to come by these days, but this bittersweet charmer does the trick. While visiting her comatose ex-son-in-law in the hospital, seventyish Axun (Aizpuru of THE GREAT VAZQUEZ) bumps into her school-days best friend Maite (Pagoaga). A worldly, free-spirited music teacher, Maite offers Axun a release from her provincial rut. She also still has a lingering passion for Axun--but can the straitlaced Axun acknowledge her own feelings and, even more difficult, resist the pressures of conformity? Both lead actresses are superb in this subtle, humorous, and moving film that avoids simplistic resolutions. In Basque with English subtitles. 35mm widescreen. (MR)
Co-director Jose Mari Goenaga will be present for audience discussion on Saturday.
LOVESTORMING
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- LOVESTORMING
- (NO CONTROLES)
- 2010, Borja Cobeaga, Spain, 96 min.
- With Unax Ugalde, Alejandra Jiménez
It's New Year's Eve, and recently separated lovers Sergio (Ugalde) and Bea (Jiménez) are headed on separate flights toward separate destinies. Then two wild cards enter the picture: the biggest snowstorm in years and Sergio's onetime schoolmate Juancarlitros (played with Galifianakisesque gusto by Spanish comedy star Julián López). Laid over in the same hotel, Sergio sets out to win Bea back with the dubious assistance of the overzealous Juancarlitros. Director Cobeaga (THE FRIEND ZONE) demonstrates a sure touch at blending broad comedy and engagingly foolish characters. In Spanish with English subtitles. 35mm. (MR)
HALF OF OSCAR
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- HALF OF OSCAR
- (LA MITAD DE ÓSCAR)
- 2010, Manuel Martín Cuenca, Spain, 89 min.
- With Rodrigo Sáenz de Heredia, Verónica Echegui
"Visually striking and superbly played."
—Jonathan Holland, Variety
This tense psychological study evokes Antonioni in its visual precision, enigmatic mood, and evocative landscapes. The setting is Almería in the arid southeast corner of Spain, where taciturn Oscar works as a security guard at a desolate, disused salt mine. His repressed anxieties are brought to the surface by a visit from his vivacious, long-unseen sister (Echegui of BUNNY AND THE BULL), whose discomfort around Oscar hints at unspoken secrets in their past. Director Cuenca and cinematographer Rafael de la Uz make superb use of widescreen compositions and long takes to bring out the buried tensions in the story, especially in a nerve-wracking cliffside stroll and a climactic confrontation played out against the rising sun. In Spanish with English subtitles. 35mm widescreen. (MR)
BICYCLE, SPOON, APPLE
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- BICYCLE, SPOON, APPLE
- (BICICLETA, CULLERA, POMA)
- 2010, Carles Bosch, Spain, 105 min.
"Touching, uplifting, and informative."
—Jay Weissberg, Variety
"Highly watchable...This fascinating and quite compulsive documentary is set apart from similar documentaries through the sheer charisma and personality of Pasqual Maragall."
—Mark Adams, Screen Daily
When asked what sort of movie should be made about him, Pasqual Maragall replies, "Fun, interesting! I'm tired of 'Pity the poor things.'" Maragall, the popular Catalonian politician who was mayor of Barcelona during the 1992 Olympics, was diagnosed with Alzheimer's in 2007 and quickly went public, waging a vigorous campaign to demystify and destigmatize the disease. Maragall's tireless efforts, his interactions with his supportive but apprehensive family, and his sometimes humorous, sometimes ornery attempts to maintain his independence are interwoven with input from leading doctors and researchers on the causes of Alzheimer's and the continuing battle to treat it. In Catalan, Spanish, and English with English subtitles. DigiBeta video. (MR)
THE GREAT VÁSQUEZ
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- THE GREAT VÁSQUEZ
- (EL GRAN VÁSQUEZ)
- 2010, Óscar Aibar, Spain, 106 min.
- With Santiago Segura, Mercé Llorens
“Comic book characters bouncing out of the screen…a rich piece of comic entertainment.”
—Mark Adams, Screen Daily
The real-life exploits of Spanish cartoonist and notorious artful dodger Manuel Vásquez Gallega become comic fodder for a script that comes alive through the snappy performance of Santiago Segura in the lead role. A cunning conman whose greatest talent is shirking work (the repeated death of his father is only one prank at the expense of his gullible employer), Vásquez lives a life of hedonistic self-indulgence atop a heap of monstrous fibs. A serial womanizer, deadbeat dad, thief, and extortionist, he’s also an inveterate charmer whose slick but sad maneuvers take on a kind of heroic bravado that is translated into his art. In Spanish with English subtitles. 35mm. (BS)
LOPE
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- LOPE
- 2010, Andrucha Waddington, Spain, 106 min.
- With Alberto Ammann, Luis Tosar, Leonor Watling
"An entertaining and surprisingly accessible film, which lopes along with a good deal of verve and panache."
—Lee Marshall, Screen Daily
Spain's greatest author after Cervantes, Lope de Vega was incredibly prolific both on the page (1,800 plays) and off (14 children and countless love affairs). This lively biopic by acclaimed Brazilian director Waddington (ME YOU THEM, HOUSE OF SAND) captures Lope's adventurous spirit as writer, lover, and anti-establishment rebel, with each facet of his life fueling the others. Beginning in the 1580s, the film traces Lope's rise from debt-ridden ex-soldier to innovative playwright who disdained convention in favor of realism and boldly mixed tragedy and comedy, all the while juggling two stormy love affairs and fighting libel suits from his powerful enemies. In Spanish with English subtitles. 35mm widescreen. (MR)
EVERY SONG IS ABOUT ME
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- EVERY SONG IS ABOUT ME
- (TODAS LAS CANCIONES HABLAN DE MÍ)
- 2010, Jonás Trueba, Spain, 104 min.
- With Oriol Vila, Bárbara Lennie
In his directing debut, Jonás Trueba (son of Fernando and co-screenwriter of THE DANCER AND THE THIEF) channels early Woody Allen and the French New Wave in this tale of young intellectuals who overcomplicate love while seeking solace in the more dependable pleasures of literature and popular music. Thirtyish Ramiro (Vila) works in his uncle's secondhand bookstore in Madrid. Devastated when his long-term girlfriend leaves him, Ramiro attempts to pick up the pieces and revive his long-dormant ambitions as a poet. In Spanish with English subtitles. 35mm. (MR)
