Detailed Program and Schedule Information

(All films are from Spain unless otherwise noted)

A FIANCE FOR YASMINA Un Novio Para Yasmina by Irene Cardona
Spanish, Arabic with English subtitles. 92 min., 2008. Spain / Morocco
With Sanaa Alaoui, José Luís García Pérez, Mª Luisa Borruel, Francisco Olmo.
Lola 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 to be a master at 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, 'A Fiancé For Yasmina' 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 & Audience Awards.
Saturday 5 Sept, 7 pm

CAMINO by Javier Fesser.
Spanish with English subtitles. 143 min. 2009. Spain.
With Nerea Camacho, Carme Elías, Mariano Venancio, Manuela Velles, Lola Casamayor.
 A daring, compulsively watchable drama that questions religious fundamentalism.
Inspired by real events, Camino is an emotional adventure about an extraordinary 11-year-old girl who is 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. 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 has won 6 Goya Awards (Spanish Academy Awards) including Best Director, Best Film and Best Original Script. Above all, Camino intertwines drama, horror and animation in outrageous new ways to enrich us with what is one of the most powerful Spanish films of the decade.
 Sunday 6 Sept, 7 pm
 
DESPERATE WOMEN  aka CRAZY Enloquecidas by Juan Luis Iborra
Spanish with English subtitles. 90 min. 2008. Spain .
With: Veronica Forqué, Silvia Abascal, Concha Velasco.
Along the lines of early Almodóvar comedies like Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown, DESPERATE WOMEN is a sexy and hilarious mystery/comedy about the absurdities of love and life itself. This eagerly anticipated 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 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 & Barbara begin an unpredictable and hilarious investigation. This often outrageous thriller gathers three generations of the best Spanish female actresses against a backdrop of some of the most rarely-seen and odd areas of Madrid .
Sunday 6 Sept, 9 pm

RAMIREZ by Albert Arizza
Spanish with English subtitles. 90 min., 2009. Spain.
With Cristian Magaloni, Geraldine Chaplin, Zoe Berriatúa, Luis Mesonero, Sara Martín, Olalla Escribano.
Ramirez is a confident loner whose fox-like ways and alluring face allow him to wanders 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, by night he is 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. His obsessions with one-night stands and photography collide and in an unforgettable climax, he becomes a victim of his own heartlessness.
Tuesday 8 Sept, 7 pm

AMATEURS by Gabriel Velázquez
Spanish, French with English subtitles. 84 min., 2008. Spain .
With Emilie De Preissac, Francisco Luque, Alberto Díaz, Juanma Hernández
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?
Tuesday 8 Sept, 9 pm

THE SHAME La Vergüenza by David Planell
Spanish with English subtitles. 107 min. 2009. Spain .
With Alberto San Juan , Natalia Mateo, Brandon Lastra
This feature directorial debut from the strongest emerging talent in Spain , award-winning writer David Planell (Seven Billiard Tables FNSC 2008), 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.
Friday 11 Sept, 7 pm

ONE-ARMED TRICK El truco del manco by Santiago Zannou
Spanish with English subtitles. 100 min., 2008.Spain.
With El Langui, Ovono Candela.
Santiago Zannou makes an impressive feature film debut with this winner of 3 Goya Awards (Spanish Acadamy Awards) including Best Debut Film, Best Acting and Best Music.  Paralyzed in 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.
Friday 11 Sept, 9 pm