The acclaimed talent of contemporary Spanish cinema, widely regarded as one of the world’s great filmmaking traditions, will be on display during The Spanish Film Festival which runs during April and May in Pretoria, Johannesburg, Durban and Cape Town at Cinema Nouveau screened by Jameson.
Seven memorable and award-winning Spanish films, which have never before screened in South Africa, will appeal to a broad range of tastes – from comedy to drama.
CRIMEN FERPECTO (Ferpect Crime) is a comedy about Rafael, a successful and ambitious salesman in Madrid’s largest department store, and his rivalry with a competing employee. The drama HÉCTOR tells the story of a young man who meets his estranged Mexican father for the first time after his mother dies.
For dance fans, IBERIA brings together flamenco and classical music, ballet and contemporary dance by documenting a series of dances inspired by composer Isaac Albeniz’s Iberia suite. In the drama SIETE VÍRGENES (Seven Virgins) Tano, a working class teenager in a juvenile reform centre, plans to live it up when he receives a 48-hour pass to attend his brother’s wedding.
SOLDADOS DE SALAMINA (Soldiers of Salamina) is the story of a writer who finds renewed passion for her craft when she becomes obsessed with the life of a journalist who was shot during the Spanish Civil War. LOS LUNES AL SOL (Mondays in the Sun) sensitively portrays the daily life of five middle-aged unemployed dockworkers who meet daily in a bar for drinking and small talk.
And finally, a woman who runs away from home and her abusive husband in the middle of the night is the subject of the poignant drama TE DOY MIS OJOS (Take My Eyes).
The 2007 Spanish Film Festival kicks off at Cinema Nouveau screened by Jameson Brooklyn (Pretoria) from 13 – 19 April, moves to Rosebank (Johannesburg) from 20 – 26 April, then to Gateway (Durban) from 27 April – 3 May and finally concludes at the V&A Waterfront (Cape Town) from 4 May – 10 May.
Daily screenings are at 17:30 and 20:30. Tickets are free – subject to availability – and are available from the box-office 3 days before. For more details please log onto www.sterkinekor.com
