Surprise! NOW: Another Spanish-language Film Festival!

Yes, CineSeattle's production is just behind us and, again we have a local film festival with a focus on Spanish-language pieces--this time, from Spain. The below information regarding The Festival of New Spanish Cinema is direct from our friends at Spain Association of the Pacific Northwest:

Estimados Amigos de España
I wanted to let you know that we are collaborating with the Seattle International Film Festival (SIFF) presenting The Festival of New Spanish Cinema at SIFF Cinema October 15-21.

Now on its second run, the Festival of New Spanish Cinema continues its annual celebration of films, mainly premieres in the US.With films by such veterans as Juan Luis Iborra, Javier Fesser, and Gabriel Velázquez shown side-by-side with cutting-edge debut productions from the newest generation including Albert Arizza, Irene Cardona, David Planell, Santiago Zannou, and Miguelanxo Prado, there is much to relish in this year's festival. Presenting new and outrageous interpretations of classic genres including melodrama, thriller, and animation, this year's styles range from superb examples of Spain's offbeat thrillers like Ramirez, and the brutal, wrenching fairy tales Camino and The Sound of the Sea, to socially engaged cinema like A Fiancé for Yasmina or One-Armed Trick. You can view trailers from select films online by clicking here.

As an Amigo de España, you can enjoy tickets for all the movies shown during the Festival at a discount price - $8. In order to get the discount, you just need to mention that you are an “Amigo of the Spain Association of the Pacific Northwest” at the booth. It’s that easy!


Nos vemos en el cine!
SAPN
Amigos de España


The Festival of New Spanish Cinema
Opening Night FiestaThursday, October 15, 9:30pm (immediately following the Opening Night Film, Desperate Women)The Alki Room at Seattle CenterJoin us for a special celebration in honor of SIFF Cinema's presentation of The Festival of New Spanish Cinema. Enjoy Spanish music while sipping complimentary Freixenet Spanish Cava and nosh on paella prepared and served onsite by Taberna del Alabardero. Special guest Irene Cardona, director of A Fiance for Yasmina, is scheduled to attend.

Desperate Women(Enloquecidas)Thursday, October 15, 7:30pmSaturday, October 17, 12:00 NoonThe eagerly anticipated new film from writer-director Juan Luis Iborra (Km. 0, Mouth to Mouth) follows three women trying to track down a missing lover. Blanca meets the man of her dreams, falls in love and loses him, all in one week. Then, by chance a few months later, she and her aunt Barbara (Almodóvar favorite Verónica Forqué) find a portrait of him in the house of a charming old couple. The man is revealed to be their son-who is further revealed to be long dead. Determined to learn more about the mysterious man, Blanca and Barbara begin an unpredictable and hilarious investigation. This often outrageous thriller gathers three generations of the best Spanish female actresses and some of the rarer-seen odder areas of Madrid.

A Fiancé for Yasmina(Un Novio Para Yasmina)Friday, October 16, 7:00pmSunday, October 18, 2:30pmLola loves weddings, even though her own marriage is on the rocks. She suspects that her husband Jorge has fallen in love with Yasmina (brilliantly played by Moroccan actress Sanaa Alaoui), who is in need of a visa to stay in Spain. Meanwhile, Yasmina is in a hurry to marry Javi, who proves a master of foot shuffling in his reluctance to set a date. While Alfredo is against the marriage, he'd be ready to get married for friendship.... or for money. A tenderhearted romantic story, Fiancé charts the tangled imbroglio that arises when emotional dilemmas, star-crossed relationships, and the unpredictable effects of love bring mayhem upon a group of friends. A Fiancé for Yasmina is a fresh take on the ensemble drama that swept the awards at the Malaga Film Festival as Best Film, Best Actress, and & Audience Awards. Director Irene Cardona will be in attendance for a Q&A session following the October 16 screening.

Camino Saturday, October 17, 2:00pm, Wednesday, October 21, 8:00pm A daring, compulsively watchable melodrama against religious fundamentalism inspired by real events, Camino dances, stomps, and kicks the viewer's emotions while focused on an 11-year-old girl simultaneously faced with two completely new events in her life: falling in love and dying. On his third film Fesser (The Miracle of P. Tinto, Mortadelo & Filemon: The Big Adventure) once more offers a child's perspective on the adult world. Newcomer Camacho navigates the most sophisticated cinematic ordeals with courage and bravura. In the unpleasant role of her mother, Elias fearlessly brings the viewer face-to-face with extreme fanaticism. The uncompromising script is not anti-religious, though it successfully condemns the dehumanizing effects of religious extremism. It is earmarked for media attention thanks to its biting criticism of the controversial Opus Dei movement and Catholic fundamentalism in general. Widely acclaimed at its San Sebastian debut this year, the film won six Goya awards (Spanish Academy Awards) including Best Director, Best Film and Best Original Script. Above all, Camino intertwines melodrama, horror and animation in outrageous new ways to enrich us with what is one of the most powerful Spanish films of the decade.

The Sound of the Sea(De Profundis)Saturday, October 17, 10:00amTuesday, October 20, 9:00pm Spanish graphic novelist Miguelanxo Prado, one of the best-known and important European comic authors, turns to animation with The Sound of the Sea, a simple and lyrical labor of love about freedom, passion, and loss. A woman plays the viola while her painter partner, fascinated by the sea, is away on a fishing boat. The boat is taken by a storm and, with a mermaid, he undertakes a dreamlike underwater journey through a series of evocative seascapes. The Sound of the Sea is a strange and fantastic history of love, attacking adults and infants alike. With themes brought to life by the digitization of thousands of the Helmer's oil paintings, drawings, and acrylics, it offers an ode to the ocean that feels like a return to the early principles of cartoon art. The unique film is a creative voyage of a painter, a game of metaphors, but ultimately an homage to the Sea (the real sea and its mythical qualities) that will stay with you.

The Shame(La Vergüenza)Saturday, October 17, 8:00pmMonday, October 19, 9:00pmThe feature directorial debut from the strongest emerging talent in Spain, award-winning writer David Planell boldly allows us a glimpse into the home of Pepe and Lucia, a modern and attractive couple with a big problem: they cannot handle Manu, their eight-year-old Peruvian adopted child. They soon realize the price they must pay if they want to go ahead with their brazen plan: to send him back. Planell, the director of the multi-award winning shorts (Ponys, Trivial) skillfully makes the jump from screenwriter to director, using this strong premise to tell a caustic, tender, and funny tale about doubts, paradoxes, and the wounds of an ashamed couple. The film was the top performer at this year's Malaga Film Festival.

Amateurs Sunday, October 18, 9:00pmTuesday, October 20, 7:00pm Julio Nieves is a 65-year-old foreman who has spent his entire life in the Madrid suburb of Vallecas. In the blink of an eye, he goes from contentedly facing his retirement alone to the possibility of companionship in the form of a 16-year-old girl from Marseille, who claims to be his daughter. But what if she's not his flesh and blood? And what if Nieves takes her in to ease the pain of his own solitude? How far can people go to avoid being alone?

Ramírez Friday, October 16, 9:15pmSunday, October 18, 7:00pm Ramírez is a confident loner whose fox-like ways and alluring face allows him to wander aimlessly through life. Despite a luxurious Madrid apartment and upper-middle-class status, he has chosen a life of crime. A drug dealer by day, and by night a dangerous hunter of anonymous women-objects of his perverse "artistic" tendencies. His character is shrouded in mystery although perhaps the key to unlocking it rests in his indifference to his bed-ridden mother. As his obsessions with one-night stands and photography crash together and in an unforgettable climax, he becomes a victim of his own heartlessness.

One-Armed Trick(El Truco del Manco) Monday, October 19, 7:00pm Santiago Zannou makes an impressive feature film debut in this winner of three Goya awards (Spanish Film Academy) including Best Debut Film, Best Acting, and Best Music. Paralyzed on half of his body from childhood, Cuajo has a single dream: to succeed in music. Together with his friend Adolfo, he attempts to set up a studio while gathering some of Barcelona's freshest hip-hop talent. One-Armed Trick features some of the hottest stars of Spanish rap-among them Elio Sagues, Ovone Candela, and La Mala Rodriguez and El Langui, lead singer of La Excepción, recently voted the best Spanish-language rappers on MTV.