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Viva · 2019

Viva 2019

All films

Programme

28 films · 13 reviews

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Acción Mutante

A terrorist organisation made up of disabled people kidnaps an heiress and takes off for outer space.

(Country: Spain; Year: 1993; Director: Alex de la Iglesia; Stars: Antonio Resines, Álex Angulo, Frédérique Feder, Juan Viadas)

Ana De Día (Ana By Day)

Review preview for Ana De Día

The stage begins to feel like the only space where anyone is honest, even when miming to somebody else's voice.

Jennie Kermode · 4 out of 5
The appearance of a double who starts living her life and fulfilling all of her obligations allows a frustrated woman to adopt total anonymity for the very first time and escape the tight regulations that have constrained her life.

(Country: Spain; Year: 2018; Director: Andrea Jaurrieta; Writer: Andrea Jaurrieta; Stars: Fernando Albizu, María José Alfonso, Iñaki Ardanaz, Carla de Otero)

Full review See: Interview with Andrea Jaurrieta about Ana De Día

The Angel (El Angel)

Review preview for The Angel

It should come as no surprise, given the kitsch and extravagant props and costumes, that the film has been co-produced by Pedro Almodovar and his brother Augustin.

Richard Mowe · 4 out of 5
The story of a real life teenage serial killer in Argentina.

(Country: Argentina, Spain; Year: 2018; Director: Luis Ortega; Writer: Serguio Olguín, Luis Ortega; Stars: Lorenzo Ferro, Chino Darin, Mercedes Moran, Cecilia Roth, Daniel Fanego, Luis Gnecco, Peter Lanzani)

Full review

Animal

A conservative family man is forced by destiny to face an unexpected situation that shakes him to the core, scrambling up his life and his priorities, pushing him to forget his beliefs and his way of understanding life and follow the most basic instinct: the animal instinct.

(Country: Argentina, Spain; Year: 2018; Director: Armando Bo; Writer: Armando Bo, Nicolás Giacobone; Stars: Guillermo Francella, Carla Peterson, Gloria Carrá)

Alanis

Review preview for Alanis

While the odds are, no doubt, stacked against her, Berneri gives Alanis a real sense of agency.

Amber Wilkinson · 4 out of 5
An evicted sex worker attempts to get back on her feet with her young son.

(Country: Argentina; Year: 2017; Director: Anahí Berneri; Writer: Anahí Berneri; Stars: Sofía Gala)

Full review

Birds Of Passage (Pajaros De Verano)

Review preview for Birds Of Passage

The rituals set in motion at the start, also tune us into the wavelength of portent, so that a heron's feet on a rug or the sound of locusts carry at least as much threat as the site of a loaded gun.

Amber Wilkinson · 4.5 out of 5
Story of a family who become involved with the drugs trade.

(Country: Colombia, Denmark; Year: 2018; Director: Cristina Gallego, Ciro Guerra; Writer: Maria Camila Arias, Jacques Toulemonde Vidal; Stars: Carmiña Martínez, José Acosta, Natalia Reyes, Jhon Narváez, Greider Meza, José Vicente, Juan Bautista Martínez, Miguel Viera, Sergio Coen, Aslenis Márquez, José Naider, Yanker Díaz, Víctor Montero, Joaquín Ramón, Jorge Lascarro)

Full review

The Day Of The Beast

Review preview for The Day Of The Beast

The film contains grotesque violence and slapstick humour in a nonetheless affectionate take on the horror genre.

Rebecca Naughten · 4 out of 5
A Basque priest discovers that the Antichrist is due to be born in Madrid on Christmas Day and sets out to avert the apocalypse with the help of a heavy metal fan and a television psychic.

(Country: Spain; Year: 1995; Director: Álex de la Iglesia; Writer: Jorge Guerricaechevarría, Álex de la Iglesia; Stars: Álex Angulo, Santiago Segura, Armando de Razza, Terele Pávez, Nathalie Seseña, Maria Grazia Cucinotta )

Full review

The Deer (Oreina)

Khalil is a rootless young man who lives on the edge of town, where the industrial estates merge into the river and the marshes. Khalil gets by as best he can and spends his time with an old poacher, who shares a house on the riverbank with a brother who he hasn't spoken to in years. On the banks of the marshes, the tides mark the time for love and heartbreak, friendship and revenge.

(Country: Spain; Year: 2018; Director: Koldo Almandoz; Writer: Koldo Almandoz; Stars: Laulad Ahmed, Patxi Bisquert, Ramón Agirre, Iraia Elías, Erika Olaizola)

En Las Estrellas (Up Among The Stars)

A bereaved man has descended into alcoholism and depression but he was once a talented filmmaker and model maker extraordinaire. Struggling to cope with his current reality, he takes his devoted son on flights of fancy using some delightful animation and 2D special effects, drawing on the hundreds of movies they’ve watched together.

(Country: Spain; Year: 2018; Director: Zoe Berriatúa; Stars: Luis Callejo, Jorge Andreu, Macarena Gómez, Magüi Mira)

The Executioner (El Verdugo)

Review preview for The Executioner

The film is laced with both deadpan and sly humour, and is laugh out loud funny.

Rebecca Naughten · 5 out of 5
A newly-married man must follow his father-in-law into the profession of State executioner in order to keep the family apartment, but he doesn't have the temperament for the job.

(Country: Spain, Italy; Year: 1963; Director: Luis García Berlanga; Writer: Rafael Azcona, Ennio Flaiano, Luis García Berlanga, Luis García Berlanga; Stars: Nino Manfredi, Emma Penella, José Isbert, José Luis López Vázquez, Ángel Álvarez, Guido Alberti, Julia Caba Alba, María Luisa Ponte, María Isbert, Erasmo Pascual, Xan das Bolas, José Orjas, José María Prada, Félix Fernández, Antonio Ferrandis)

Full review

Formentera Lady

Samuel, an aging hippy eking out an existence as a banjo player on the tiny island of Formentera, is suddenly left in charge of Marc, the 10-year-old grandson he barely knows.

(Country: Spain; Year: 2018; Director: Pau Durá; Stars: José Sacristán, Sandro Ballesteros, Nora Navas, Jordi Sánchez)

The Good Girls (Las Ninas Bien)

Mexico City 1982. Affluent and arrogant, queen bee Sofia rules over the city’s social elite–until the family business falls victim to the national economic crisis... but how far will she go to retain her status.

(Country: Mexico; Year: 2018; Director: Alejandra Márquez Abella; Writer: Alejandra Márquez Abella; Stars: Ilse Salas, Flavio Medina, Cassandra Ciangherotti, Paulina Gaitan, Johanna Murillo, Jimena Guerra, Ana José Aldrete, Pablo Chemor, Claudia Lobo, Diego Jáuregui, Daniel Haddad, Rebecca de Alba, Nicolas Andreu, Alfonso Borbolla, Alejandro Caballero)

Huevos De Oro (Golden Balls)

Benito is an ambitious but lowly construction worker with a big dream – to build an enormous phallic skyscraper in Benidorm. His ticket to victory is his unfathomable success rate with a string of sexy women, who he enlists in his mission to achieve architectural domination.

(Country: Spain; Year: 1993; Director: Bigas Luna; Stars: Javier Bardem, Maria de Medeiros, Maribel Verdú, Elisa Tovati)

Jamón, Jamón

In a provincial Spanish town José Luis, whose wealthy parents own the local underwear factory, falls in love with Silvia, the sensuous daughter of a prostitute. His horrified mother hires Raúl, an underwear model and ham factory worker, to seduce Silvia away.

(Country: Spain; Year: 1992; Director: Bigas Luna; Stars: Penélope Cruz, Javier Bardem, Stefania Sandrelli, Anna Galiena)

Jean-François And The Meaning Of Life

Review preview for Jean-François And The Meaning Of Life

Megias acquits himself well, presenting us with a complex character whose emotions run deep.

Jennie Kermode · 4 out of 5
A 12-year-old existentialist kid runs away from home to meet his favourite philosopher, Albert Camus, not knowing he has been dead for 50 years. On his way he finds love and rejection for the first time in his life.

(Country: Spain, France; Year: 2018; Director: Sergi Portabella; Writer: Sergi Portabella; Stars: Claudia Vega, Eudald Font, Théo Cholbi)

Full review

A Journey To The Fumigated Towns (Viaje A Los Pueblos Fumigados, Reise In Die Vergifteten Dörfer)

A documentary investigation of the social aftermath of monoculture and the uncontrolled use of weedkillers and other chemical substances.

(Country: Argentina; Year: 2017; Director: Fernando E Solanas)

Memorias De Un Hombre En Pijama

The animated story of a fortyomething bachelor from Barcelona who finally sees his childhood dream come true: a job working from home in his pyjamas. Just when he’s reached the zenith of personal happiness, however, he falls in love with a woman who’s not convinced his main objective in life should be to remain at home in his pyjamas.

(Country: Spain; Year: 2018; Director: Carlos Fernández de Vigo; Stars: Raúl Arévalo, María Castro, Manuel Manquiña, Santi Balmes)

Miriam Lies (Miriam miente)

Review preview for Miriam Lies

Both Rodriguez and Rohana deliver delicate, nuanced performances in a story that revolves in large part around friendship.

Jennie Kermode · 3.5 out of 5
Shy girl Miriam is waiting to celebrate her 15th birthday and she wants to invite her guy. So far they’ve only chatted online, and the anticipated blind date only complicates things.

(Country: Dominican Republic, Spain; Year: 2018; Director: Natalia Cabral, Oriol Estrada; Writer: Natalia Cabral, Oriol Estrada; Stars: Frank Perozo, Margaux Da Silva, Roger Wasserman, Pachy Méndez, Georgina Duluc, Manuel Chapuseaux, Isabel Cristina Polanco, Uxio Lis, Cristobalina Morel, Cecile van Welie, Vicente Santos, Ana Maria Arias, Maria Castillo, Alexander Bergés, Carolina Rohana)

Full review

Plácido

Review preview for Plácido

Berlanga excels at the chaos of everyday life - the messiness of human interactions and the way in which lives randomly interconnect.

Rebecca Naughten · 4.5 out of 5
A town's charity initiative to 'sit a poor man at your table' for Christmas dinner continually thwarts one man's efforts to protect his livelihood.

(Country: Spain; Year: 1961; Director: Luis García Berlanga; Writer: Rafael Azcona, Rafael Azcona, José Luis Colina, José Luis Font, Luis García Berlanga, Luis García Berlanga; Stars: Cassen, José Luis López Vázquez, Elvira Quintillá, Manuel Alexandre, Mario Bustos, María Francés, Mari Carmen Yepes, Jesús Puche, Roberto Llamas, Amelia de la Torre, Juan G. Medina, José María Caffarel, Xan das Bolas, Fernando Delgado, Laura Granados)

Full review

Petra

(Country: Spain, France; Year: 2018; Director: Jaime Rosales; Writer: Michel Gaztambide, Clara Roquet, Jaime Rosales; Stars: Bárbara Lennie, Alex Brendemühl, Joan Botey, Marisa Paredes, Petra Martínez, Carme Pla, Oriol Pla, Chema del Barco, Natalie Madueño, Bárbara Lennie, Alex Brendemühl, Joan Botey, Marisa Paredes, Petra Martínez, Carme Pla)

Quién Te Cantará

Lila Cassen was the most successful Spanish singer of the nineties until she mysteriously vanished from one day to the next. Ten years later Lila is preparing her triumphant stage comeback; however, shortly before the long-awaited date she is involved in an accident and loses her memory.

(Country: Spain, France; Year: 2018; Director: Carlos Vermut; Writer: Carlos Vermut; Stars: Najwa Nimri, Inma Cuevas, Natalia de Molina, Julián Villagrán, Carme Elias, Vicenta N'Dongo, Eva Llorach, Ignacio Mateos, Catalina Sopelana, Najwa Nimri, Inma Cuevas, Natalia de Molina, Julián Villagrán, Carme Elias, Vicenta N'Dongo)

Retablo

Review preview for Retablo

It's difficult to express just what a bold piece of work this film is.

Jennie Kermode · 4.5 out of 5
A teenage boy finds his world turned upside down when he learns a secret about his beloved father.

(Country: Peru, Germany, Norway; Year: 2017; Director: Alvaro Delgado Aparicio; Writer: Alvaro Delgado Aparicio, Héctor Gálvez; Stars: Junior Bejar, Magaly Solier, Amiel Cayo, Claudia Solís)

Full review

Rojo

Review preview for Rojo

The writer/director casts his net wide, taking inspiration from auteurs like John Boorman and Sam Peckinpah through to freeze-frame moments that could slot straight into TV detective dramas of the time.

Amber Wilkinson · 4 out of 5
Violence is sparked on the eve of Argentina's dictatorship.

(Country: Argentina; Year: 2018; Director: Benjamín Naishtat; Writer: Benjamín Naishtat; Stars: Alfredo Castro, Darío Grandinetti, Andrea Frigerio)

Full review See: Benjamin Naishtat interview about Rojo

The Silence Of Others

Review preview for The Silence Of Others

The film cuts every so often to one of the few monuments honouring the victims of Franco’s regime; faceless statues pierced with bullet holes on a deserted mountain side. The Silence Of Others puts real faces to these figures.

Emilia Rolewicz · 5 out of 5
The struggle against the amnesty law in Spain for those who committed atrocities under the rule of General Franco.

(Country: US, Spain; Year: 2018; Director: Robert Bahar, Almudena Carracedo; Writer: Ricardo Acosta, Robert Bahar, Almudena Carracedo, Kim Roberts; Stars: María Martín, José María Galante, Carlos Slepoy, Ana Messuti, Maria Servini, Felisa Echegoyen, María Ángeles Martín, María de las Mercedes Bueno, Ascensión Mendieta, María Martín, José María Galante, Carlos Slepoy, Ana Messuti, Maria Servini, Felisa Echegoyen)

Full review

The Snatch Thief (El Motoarrebatador)

(Country: Argentina, Uruguay; Year: 2018; Director: Agustín Toscano; Writer: Agustín Toscano; Stars: Sergio Prina, Liliana Juarez, Leon Zelarayan, Daniel Elías, Camila Plaate, Pilar Benitez Vivart, Mirella Pascual)

Some Time After (Tiempo Despues)

In 9177, give or take a thousand years (there's no point in being finicky about these details) the whole world, and, according to some authors, the universe too, has been reduced to a single Representative Building and squalid suburbs inhabited by all of the out-of-work and hungry in the cosmos.

(Country: Spain, Portugal; Year: 2018; Director: José Luis Cuerda; Writer: José Luis Cuerda; Stars: Blanca Suárez, Miguel Herrán, Antonio de la Torre, Roberto Álamo, Carlos Areces, Nerea Camacho, Berto Romero, Secun de la Rosa, Manolo Solo, Gabino Diego, Arturo Valls, Javier Bódalo, María Ballesteros, Miguel Rellán, Joaquín Reyes)

La Teta Y La Luna (The Tit And The Moon)

In a small town in Catalonia, nine-year-old Tete frets at the arrival of his new baby brother, and jealously dreams of drinking from his mother’s breasts again. He appeals to the Moon to send him alternative ones, and a dancer arrives in town.

(Country: France, Spain; Year: 1994; Director: Bigas Luna; Stars: Biel Durán, Mathilda May, Gérard Darmon, Miguel Poveda)

Yuli

Review preview for Yuli

It's in dance that the film's strength lies, illustrating, through choreography, Acosta's more abstract - and more negative - emotions, including fear, loneliness and lust.

Amber Wilkinson · 4 out of 5
The true story of Carlos Acosta, a black Cuban dancer who rose from an impoverished childhood to find international acclaim as a ballet dancer with London's Royal Ballet.

(Country: Spain; Year: 2018; Director: Icíar Bollaín; Writer: Paul Laverty; Stars: Edison Manuel Olvera, Mario Elias, Carlos Enrique Almirante, Carlos Acosta, Santiago Alfonso, Andrea Doimeadiós, Laura De la Uz, Carlos Acosta, Keyvin Martínez, Cesar Domínguez, Yerlín Pérez, Carlos Enrique Almirante, Andrea Doimeadiós, Laura De la Uz, Keyvin Martínez)

Full review See: Icíar Bollaín and Paul Laverty on adapting Yuli - The Carlos Acosta Story for the big screen , Carlos Acosta on Yuli