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Viva · 2009

Viva 2009

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22 films · 7 reviews

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The Anarchist's Wife (La Mujer del Anarquista)

During the Spanish Civil War an idealistic young lawyer combating Franco's Fascist troops is separated from his wife and children.

(Country: Germany, Spain, France; Year: 2008; Director: Marie Noelle, Peter Sehr; Writer: Marie Noelle, Ray Loriga; Stars: María Valverde, Juan Diego Botto, Ivana Baquero, Nina Hoss, Jean-Marc Barr, Laura Morante, Irene Montalà, Adrià Collado, Biel Durán, Pere Arquillué)

The Appeared (Aparecidos)

Review preview for The Appeared

The film is made with commitment, even passion, and the terror tactics are effective until the plot loses itself in a miasmic mist of incomprehension.

Angus Wolfe Murray · 3.5 out of 5
Siblings are terrified by tortured ghosts and a brain dead father's legacy in Argentina.

(Country: Spain/Argentina/Sweden; Year: 2007; Director: Paco Cabezas; Writer: Paco Cabezas; Stars: Ruth Díaz, Javier Pereira, Pablo Cedron, Leonora Balcarce, Luciano Caceres, Hector Bidonde, Isabela Ritto, Damasco Conde)

Full review

Ashes From The Sky (Cenizas Del Cielo)

An environmentalist fights for the closure of a power plant.

(Country: Spain; Year: 2008; Director: José Antonio Quirós; Writer: Ignacio del Moral, Dionisio Pérez, José Antonio Quirós; Stars: Celso Bugallo, Gary Piquer, Clara Segura, Beatriz Rico, Eduardo Antuña, Txema Blasco, Nicolás Fernández Luna, Raquel Hevia, Carlos Kaniowsky, Fran Sariego)

Awkward (Incómodos)

An unlikely trio take a road trip to Miramar, for very different reasons.

(Country: Argentina; Year: 2008; Director: Esteban Menis; Writer: Juan Manuel Bernal, Esteban Menis; Stars: Santiago Álvarez, Carolina Tejeda, Ivan Moschner)

Before The Fall (Tres Días, 3 Days)

Review preview for Before The Fall

There is plenty of imminent danger to provide a gripping narrative.

Amber Wilkinson · 3.5 out of 5
A family face a serial killer... and the apocalypse.

(Country: Spain; Year: 2008; Director: F Javier Gutiérrez; Writer: F Javier Gutiérrez, Juan Velarde; Stars: Víctor Clavijo, Mariana Cordero, Eduard Fernández, Juan Galván, Ana de las Cuevas, Daniel Casadellà, Elvira de Armiñán, Marilo Muñoz, Vicente Romero, Pepe Salas)

Full review

The Black Virgin (La Virgen Negra)

Review preview for The Black Virgin

For a film that has a strong theme of romance and seems intent on exploring grey areas between superstition and religion, reality and fantasy, there are an awful lot of things being presented in black and white.

Amber Wilkinson · 2.5 out of 5
A town's church virgin begins granting favours... but people should be careful what they wish for.

(Country: Venezuela; Year: 2008; Director: Ignacio Castillo Cottin; Writer: Ignacio Castillo Cottin; Stars: Carmen Maura, Julio Rodríguez, Matheus Nachtergaele, Angélica Aragón, Carolina Torres, Carolina Torres, Francisco Díaz, Caridad Canelón, Martín Peyrú, César Suárez) , Official site

Full review

Cowards (Cobardes)

Review preview for Cowards

Love may heal the wounds of adolescence, but emotional isolation is the prison from which these lost boys never escape.

Angus Wolfe Murray · 4 out of 5
Communication breakdown and teenage bullying in a privileged Spanish day school.

(Country: Spain; Year: 2008; Director: José Corbacho, Juan Cruz; Writer: José Corbacho, Juan Cruz; Stars: Eduardo Garé, Elvira Mínguez, Eduardo Espinilla, Paz Padilla, Antonio de la Torre, Lluís Homar)

Full review

Dead Hand Knocking (Mà morta, truca a la porta!)

Seven interlocking tales of sex, love, fate and death.

(Country: Spain; Year: 2008; Director: Ramón Costafreda; Writer: Miquel Obiols, Sergi Pàmies; Stars: Leticia Dolera, Pablo Derqui, Gonzalo Cunill, Agustí Villaronga, Carol García, Carlos Blanco, Antonio Durán 'Morris', Mario Chichelnitzky, Georgina Amorós, Daniel Hernández)

Empty Nest (El Nido Vacío)

As a couple's children grow up and leave, their absence exposes cracks in their parents' neglected relationship.

(Country: Argentina, Spain, France, Italy; Year: 2008; Director: Daniel Burman; Writer: Daniel Burman; Stars: Cecilia Roth, Oscar Martínez, Inés Efron, Arturo Goetz)

Gods (Dioses)

A brother struggles to come to grips with his sister's hedonistic lifestyle.

(Country: Peru, Argentina, France, Germany; Year: 2008; Director: Josue Mendez; Writer: Josue Mendez; Stars: Edgar Saba, Anahí de Cárdenas, Maricielo Effio, Sergio Gjurinovic )

Heart Of Time (Corazón del tiempo)

Review preview for Heart Of Time

Docudrama at a basic level.

Angus Wolfe Murray · 3 out of 5
Is love stronger than duty in the heartland of Mexico's rebel community?

(Country: Mexico; Year: 2009; Director: Alberto Cortés; Writer: Hernann Bellinghaussen, Alberto Cortés; Stars: Rocío Barrios, Francisco Jiménez, Marisela Rodríguez, Doña Aurelia, Leonardo Rodríguez) , Official site

Full review

The Jar (El Frasco)

Love story of two shy people whose lives connect via a urine sample jar.

(Country: Argentina, Spain; Year: 2008; Director: Alberto Lecchi; Writer: Verónica Chen, Peto Menahem, Pablo Solarz; Stars: Darío Grandinetti, Leticia Brédice, Martin Piroyansky)

The Last Magic Trick (El Último truco. Emilio Ruiz del Río)

Documentary about Emilio Ruiz del Río - a master of special effects who has worked on more than 500 films, including Pan's Labyrinth and Dune.

(Country: Spain; Year: 2008; Director: Sigfrid Monleón; Writer: Asier Mensuro, Sigfrid Monleón; Stars: Ginette Angosse, Eugenio Caballero, Enzo G. Castellari, Biel Durán, Mateo Gil, Ray Harryhausen, José López Rodero, Juan Mariné, Juan Piquer Simón, Emilio Ruiz del Río)

LT22: Radio La Colifata

Review preview for LT22: Radio La Colifata

Through the course of the film, we will come to know many of the patients there for who they really are, humans – no different from anyone else except for their medical problems, which so many of us are blessed to avoid.

Amber Wilkinson · 4 out of 5
Documentary about a radio show produced by patients at a Buenos Aires psychiatric hospital.

(Country: Italy, Argentina; Year: 2007; Director: Carlos Larrondo)

Full review

Nedar

Documentary charting the lives of three generations of women in the filmmaker's family.

(Country: Spain; Year: 2008; Director: Carla Subirana; Writer: Carla Subirana)

Night Flowers (Flores De Luna)

Documentary about the El Pozo del Tio Raimundo suburb of Madrid, as a reflection of Spanish society, class war and solidarity.

(Country: Spain; Year: 2008; Director: Juan Vicente Córdoba)

The Paranoids (Los Paranoicos)

A scriptwriter who makes ends meet as a clown is forced to face up to his failings when a successful childhood friend pays a visit.

(Country: Argentina; Year: 2008; Director: Gabriel Medina; Writer: Nicolas Gueilburt, Gabriel Medina; Stars: Daniel Hendler, Jazmín Stuart, Walter Jakob, Martín Feldman)

Perro Come Perro (Dog Eat Dog)

In the crime world of Colombia, there is an unwritten code. When Víctor and Eusebio, two hoods who bungle a shake-down job, break that code, they unwittingly sign their own death sentence.

(Country: Colombia; Director: Carlos Moreno; Stars: Marlon Moreno, Oscar Borda, Alvaro Rodríguez, Blas Jaramillo, Paulina Rivas))

The Sandman (El Hombre De Arena)

Charting a young man's defiance in a brutal psychiatric hospital, where he has een sent for denouncing a Nationalist officer.

(Country: Spain; Year: 2007; Director: José Manuel González; Stars: María Valverde, Hugo Silva, Samuel Le Bihan, Alberto Jiménez, Héctor Noas, Irene Visedo, Esteban G Ballesteros, Pedro Cebrino, Miguel de Lira, Gabrielle Lazure)

Second Round (Segundo Asalto)

An aspiring boxer finds himself torn between a life in the ring and a life of crime.

(Country: Spain; Year: 2005; Director: Daniel Cebrián; Writer: Daniel Cebrián, Imanol Uribe; Stars: Darío Grandinetti, Álex González, Eva Marciel)

Sleep Dealer

Review preview for Sleep Dealer

Made on a minuscule budget the feature took eight years to get from script to screen, one wonders how much more innovative it might have seemed back those eight years.

Tony Sullivan · 3 out of 5
Node Runner - if they catch you you're through!

(Country: US, Mexico; Year: 2008; Director: Alex Rivera; Writer: Alex Rivera, David Riker; Stars: Luis Fernando Peña, Leonor Varela, Jacob Vargas)

Full review See: Sundance Film Festival 2008: Day Seven

Spleen (La Noche Que Dejó De Llover)

A young dandy embarks on a surreal, magical romance.

(Country: Spain; Year: 2008; Director: Alfonso Zarauza; Writer: Alfonso Zarauza; Stars: Luis Tosar, Nora Tschirner, Miguel de Lira)