Skip to main content

Viva · 2014

Viva 2014

Full Schedule

Programme

25 films · 9 reviews

Jump to a film

Bad Hair (Pelo Malo)

Junior is a 9 year-old with "bad hair". His efforts to smooth it down for the school picture incur the wrath of his mother Marta. His grandfather suggests that the boy stay with him on a permanent basis. He doesn't care if he's effeminate; he only wants to secure someone to look after him in his old age. Marta refuses and sets out to "re-educate" her son. Junior wants to live with his mother and for her to love him.

(Country: Venezuela; Year: 2013; Director: Mariana Rondón; Writer: Mariana Rondón; Stars: Beto Benites, Samantha Castillo, Nelly Ramos, María Emilia Sulbarán)

Barefoot And In The Kitchen (Con la pata quebrada)

Review preview for Barefoot And In The Kitchen

Worth seeing to remind ourselves how far Spanish women have come (and what they risk losing once more in Spain's current political climate).

Rebecca Naughten · 3.5 out of 5
The evolution of how women have been represented in Spanish cinema, from the 1930s to the present day.

(Country: Spain; Year: 2013; Director: Diego Galán; Writer: Diego Galán; Stars: Carlos Hipólito)

Full review See: London Spanish Film Festival preview

UK premiere

Bertsolari

Review preview for Bertsolari

A beautiful film that manages to marry word, image, and music in a way that does justice to the poetry conjured up by the people it celebrates.

Rebecca Naughten · 4 out of 5
A documentary about the art of improvised rhyming verse sung in the Basque tongue.

(Country: Spain; Year: 2011; Director: Asier Altuna; Writer: Asier Altuna; Stars: Andoni Egaña, Maialen Lujanbio)

Full review

Blank Canvas (24 cines por segundo: Sábanas blancas)

Documentary on the fragile state of Spain's film industry.

(Country: Spain; Year: 2013; Director: Mariela Artiles; Writer: Gorka Cornejo, Luís Macías; Stars: Jaume Balagueró, Álex de la Iglesia, Joaquín Fuentes, Enrique González Macho, Juan Antonio Pérez Millán, Pedro Pérez, Carlos Saura, Juan Carlos Tous, Nacho Vigalondo)

UK premiere

Born Naked (MLB)

Review preview for Born Naked (MLB)

There's no doubting the sincerity on display and this film would work best for teenage audiences, who will enjoy its bouncy pop soundtrack and be more happy to go with its scattergun approach.

Amber Wilkinson · 2.5 out of 5
Documentary examining questions of gender, sexuality and identity for young lesbians in three of the most vibrant European cities: Madrid, London and Berlin.

(Country: Spain, Germany, UK; Year: 2012; Director: Andrea Esteban; Writer: Paula Alamillo, Andrea Esteban, Clara T. Lopez, Clara López, Eloísa Muñoz)

Full review

Chasing Fireflies (Cazando luciérnagas)

In charge of an abandoned salt mine on a remote Caribbean coast, the introverted Manrique seems content to live in almost complete isolation. But his solitary routine is broken by the appearance of a friendly dog.

(Country: Colombia; Year: 2012; Director: Roberto Flores Prieto; Writer: Roberto Flores Prieto, Carlos Franco; Stars: Valentina Abril, Marlon Moreno)

UK premiere

The Cleaner (El Limpiador)

A crime-scene cleaner takes charge of a child orphaned during an epidemic breakout in Lima.

(Country: Peru; Year: 2012; Director: Adrian Saba; Writer: Adrian Saba; Stars: Víctor Prada)

Days Of Vinyl (Días de vinilo, Vinyl Days)

Review preview for Days Of Vinyl

The film is overlong - a symptom of having such a lot of key players - but Nesci balances the individual storylines well, especially considering this is a debut piece.

Amber Wilkinson · 3 out of 5
Four friends consider their lives as one of them prepares to get married.

(Country: Argentina, Colombia; Year: 2012; Director: Gabriel Nesci; Writer: Gabriel Nesci; Stars: Gastón Pauls, Fernán Mirás, Ignacio Toselli, Rafael Spregelburd, Inés Efron, Emilia Attías, Akemi Nakamura, Carolina Pelleritti, Maricel Álvarez, Leonardo Sbaraglia, Santiago Caamaño, Gonzalo Urtizberéa)

Full review

UK premiere

The Delinquents (Los Golfos)

Review preview for The Delinquents

The robberies are carried out stylishly in the chiaroscuro shadows of a moving elevator or with sharp timing and economy of movement in the blazing sun of a parking lot.

Rebecca Naughten · 3 out of 5
A gang of juvenile delinquents pool their resources to pay for one of their number to be put on the bill of a bull-fighting contest.

(Country: Spain; Year: 1960; Director: Carlos Saura; Writer: Mario Camus, Mario Camus, Carlos Saura, Carlos Saura, Daniel Sueiro, Daniel Sueiro; Stars: Manuel Zarzo, Luis Marín, Óscar Cruz, Juanjo Losada, María Mayer, Ramón Rubio, Rafael Vargas, Francisco Bernal, Ángel Calero, Ángel Celdrán, Adelardo Díaz Caneja, Juan Antonio Elices, Lola García, Teresa Gisbert, Milagros Guijarro)

Full review

The Fantastic World Of Juan Orol (El Fantástico mundo de Juan Orol)

This biopic follows Mexican B-movie master Juan Orol, ‘the Involuntary Surrealist’ whose films were so shoddy, improvised and vulgar that they were unmissable.

(Country: Mexico; Year: 2012; Director: Sebastian del Amo; Writer: Sebastian del Amo, Sebastian del Amo, Raul Espinosa Fernández, Rabdul Fez; Stars: Roberto Sosa, Juan Manuel Bernal, Juan Carlos Bonet, Alfonso Borbolla, Julio Bracho, Karin Burnett, Rodrigo Cachero, Rodrigo Corea, Roger Cudney, Gabriela de la Garza, Alberto Estrella, Mauricio Galaz, Ximena Gonzalez-Rubio, Ariadna Perez Mijares, Yolanda Montes)

UK premiere

The Golden Dream (La Jaula De Oro)

Review preview for The Golden Dream

A flowing, lyrical film, at times startlingly beautiful, The Golden Dream hypnotises the viewer with its constant movement, its unceasing rhythm.

Jennie Kermode · 4.5 out of 5
A group of Guatemalan teenagers tries to make it to the US.

(Country: Mexico; Year: 2013; Director: Diego Quemada-Diez; Writer: Diego Quemada-Diez, Lucia Carreras, Gibrán Portela; Stars: Carlos Chajon, Rodolfo Domínguez, Brandon López, Karen Martínez)

Full review

The Grand Disillusion (La Gran desilusión)

On September 1, 2012 the Spanish VAT rate on cultural items rocketed from 8 per cent to 21 per cent, the highest in Europe, with devastating effects for many workers in the sector.

(Country: Spain; Year: 2013; Director: Pedro González Kuhn; Writer: Pedro González Kuhn; Stars: Angel Manuel Férnandez Corral)

Hawaii

Two former childhood friends are reunited and gradually realise that they have romantic feelings for each other.

(Country: Argentina; Year: 2013; Director: Marco Berger; Writer: Marco Berger; Stars: Manuel Vignau, Mateo Chiarino)

UK premiere

Iguana Stew (Ni un hombre más)

Black comedy about a man whose life running a guest house is disrupted by some unexpected visitors.

(Country: Argentina; Year: 2012; Director: Martín Salinas; Writer: Martín Salinas; Stars: Valeria Bertuccelli, Martín Piroyansky, Luis Ziembrowski, Mariela Vitale, Juan Minujín, Germán de Silva, Vanessa Weinberg, Patricia Camponovo, Victor Gomez, Iván Moschner)

UK premiere

Inside Love (Presentimientos)

A young couple escape to the Costa Blanca to work through a crisis in their relationship.

(Country: Spain; Year: 2013; Director: Santiago Tabernero; Writer: Eduardo Noriega, Clara Sánchez, Santiago Tabernero; Stars: Eduardo Noriega, Marta Etura, Jack Taylor, Irene Escolar, Alfonso Bassave, Silvia Tortosa, Alex Spijksma, Pepa Charro, Gloria Muñoz, Francisco Conde, Lourdes Hernández, Jorge Roldan, Pep Noguera, Diego Martínez Del Mar, David Ferraro Jericoh)

I Thought It Was A Party (Pensé que iba a haber fiesta)

The tale of Ana, a woman who has a love affair with her best friend's ex-husband. A film about the search for love, friendship, loneliness, fear, guilt, the world of women...

(Country: Argentina, Spain; Year: 2013; Director: Victoria Galardi; Writer: Victoria Galardi; Stars: Valeria Bertuccelli, Elena Anaya, Fernán Mirás, Esteban Bigliardi, Esteban Lamothe, Abigail Cohen)

UK premiere

The Last Days (Los últimos días)

Review preview for The Last Days

A showcase for Spanish special effects and relatively slick genre cinema, but plot and characterisation required more attention.

Rebecca Naughten · 2.5 out of 5
A couple of months after an epidemic has rendered most of the world's population agoraphobic, and scared to actual death if they go outside, Marc heads underground to make his way across Barcelona in search of his girlfriend.

(Country: Spain; Year: 2013; Director: Àlex Pastor, David Pastor; Writer: Àlex Pastor and David Pastor; Stars: Quim Guttierez, Jose Coronado, Marta Etura, Leticia Dolera)

Full review

The Last Match

Two amateur footballers fall passionately in love and struggle to stay together in a hostile society.

(Country: Spain, Cuba; Year: 2013; Director: Antonio Hens; Writer: Abel González Melo, Antonio Hens; Stars: Milton García, Reinier Díaz, Luís Alberto Garcia, Mirta Ibarra)

UK premiere

Mar Del Plata

Comedy sees a pair of old friends decide to get away from it all... but an encounter with an ex-girlfriend sparks trouble.

(Country: Argentina; Year: 2012; Director: Sebastián Dietsch, Ionathan Klajman; Writer: Ionathan Klajman; Stars: Pablo Caramelo, Lorena Damonte, Cecilia Echague, Daniela Nirenberg, Pablo G. Pérez, Gabriel Zayat)

UK premiere

No Autumn, No Spring (Sin otoño, sin primavera)

Portrait of Guayaquil’s erratic, disenchanted middle-class youth.

(Country: Ecuador, Colombia, France; Year: 2012; Director: Iván Mora Manzano; Writer: Iván Mora Manzano; Stars: Enzo Macchiavello, Andres Troya Holst, Paola Baldion, Alejandro Fajardo, Lucía Moscoso, Andrea Espinoza, Nathalie Vergara, Andrés Crespo, Victor Arauz, Andrea Espinoza, Paulina Obrist, Angela Peñaherrera, Monserrat Serra)

The Passion of Michelangelo (La pasión de Michelangelo)

Political drama set during the Pinochet years.

(Country: Chile, France, Argentina; Year: 2013; Director: Esteban Larraín; Stars: Sebastián Ayala, Claudia Celedón, Patricio Contreras, Roberto Farías, Catalina Saavedra, Alejandro Sieveking)

UK premiere

Rolling Family (Familia rodante)

Eight-four-year-old Emilia’s been invited to her niece’s wedding. So she convinces the 12 members of her family to come along – travelling thousands of miles across Argentina, crammed in a decrepit camper van.

(Country: Argentina, Brazil, France, Germany, Spain, UK; Year: 2004; Director: Pablo Trapero; Writer: Pablo Trapero; Stars: Graciana Chironi, Nicolás López, Liliana Capurro, Ruth Dobel, Marianela Pedano, Bernardo Forteza, Elías Viñoles, Carlos Resta, Laura Glave, Sol Ocampo, Leila Gomez, Federico Esquerro)

Tasting Menu (Menú degustació)

Review preview for Tasting Menu

As is often the case in ensemble films, certain storylines are better served than others and the constant juxtapositions unavoidably highlight that.

Rebecca Naughten · 3 out of 5
On closing night of an acclaimed restaurant, the lives of the final set of guests intertwine as the courses are served.

(Country: Spain; Year: 2013; Director: Roger Gual; Writer: Javier Calvo, Roger Gual; Stars: Cornet, Claudia Bassols, Vicenta Ndongo, Andrew Tarbet, Fionnula Flanagan, Stephen Rea, Marta Torné, Togo Igawa, Akihiko Serikawa)

Full review

UK premiere

Temporary (Temporal)

Black humour pervades this day in the life of the unemployed, underemployed, and unhappy employees of a Madrid temping agency.

(Country: Spain; Year: 2013; Director: José Luis López González; Writer: Andrés Arias, Pablo Caballero; Stars: Luis Callejo, Rocío Calvo, Maggie Civantos, Mar del Corral, Celia de Molina, Natalia de Molina, Rubén Frías, Javier Laorden, Adrián Lastra, Leiva, Juan López-Tagle, Nuria Mencía, Limara Meneses, Luis Moreno, Melanie Olivares)

UK premiere

Witching And Bitching (Las Brujas De Zugarramurdi)

Review preview for Witching And Bitching

A messy but highly enjoyable romp that takes a sideswipe at modern Spanish attitudes and the country's economic turmoil.

Amber Wilkinson · 4 out of 5
When three men go on the run after a heist goes bad, they run into a coven of witches.

(Country: Spain, France; Year: 2013; Director: Álex de la Iglesia; Writer: Jorge Guerricaechevarría, Álex de la Iglesia; Stars: Hugo Silva, Mario Casas, Carmen Maura, Gabriel Delgado, Carlos Areces, Carolina Bang, Macarena Gómez, Pepón Nieto, Secun de la Rosa, María Barranco, Jaime Ordóñez, Enrique Villén, Terele Pávez, Beatriz Urzáiz, Julián Valcárcel-Carbonell)

Full review See: London Spanish Film Festival preview