Thirty-four feature films celebration famous faces and new talents!
The rich programme of thirty four films consists of twenty-one features from Spain, ten from across Latin America including Argentina, Mexico, Uruguay and the Dominican Republic and another three from Australia and the USA and features a wide range of genres from period-set drama, documentary, realist drama, to satire and riotous comedy.
Opening the Festival is the Australian Premiere of the much-anticipated OFFICIAL COMPETITION (Competencia oficial). Penélope Cruz, Antonio Banderas, and Oscar Martínez star in Mariano Cohn and Gastón Duprat’s ingenious, icy behind-the-scenes satire of moviemaking.
To honour one of the great couples in modern cinema, this year’s festival features a special focus on Oscar Winners Penélope Cruz and Javier Bardem with two titles in which they co-star – JAMÓN JAMÓN, their first film together which is celebrating its 30th anniversary and LOVING PABLO, based on Virginia Vallejo´s bestselling memoir about her love affair with notorious drug lord Pablo Escobar – plus Cruz’s latest collaboration with Pedro Almodovar, PARALLEL MOTHERS.
In the New Spanish Cinema programme:
Securing Best Cinematography, Best Original Song and Best Production at the 2022 Goya Awards, MEDITERRANEO: THE LAW OF THE SEA (Mediterráneo) is based on real events; the gripping drama tells the story of two Spanish lifeguards who traveled to Greece and rescued refugees during the 2015 humanitarian crisis in the Mediterranean Sea.
Intriguing thrillers include survival story BEYOND THE SUMMIT (La Cima) set in the awe-inspiring Himalayas, SKIN IN FLAMES (La piel en llamas), a political thriller based on the award-winning play; THE DAUGHTER (La hija), a cleverly constructed drama from one of Spain’s most intriguing auteurs Manuel Martín Cuenca; psychological horror THE HOUSE OF SNAILS (La casa del caracol) starring Javier Rey and Raúl Arévalo and Paz Vega in the story of a married couple trapped in a web of conspiracy and injustice in WETLAND (El lodo).
Spanish box office smash hit comedies: CARPOOLERS (Con quién viajas) a road movie filled with comical situations and tension, YOU KEEP THE KIDS (Mamá o papa) starring Paco León and Miren Ibarguren, about a divorcing couple who are trying to convince their children to choose the other parent, and POLYAMORY FOR DUMMIES (Poliamor para principiantes) a spicy comedy about sexuality.
In the CINE LATINO programme:
Renowned director Fernando Trueba’s Goya award-winning FORGOTTEN WE’LL BE (El olvido que seremos), is a tender family drama that is an adaptation of Héctor Abad Faciolince’s memoir about his father, Colombian professor and campaigner Héctor Abad Gómez.
9 is a drama about fame, money, passion and love, focusing on a successful football player suffering media harassment who seeks escape from his isolated life. From Argentina, CAMILA COMES OUT TONIGHT (Camila saldrá esta noche) an intimate and lively portrait of Argentine youth, and CARAJITA a potent, compelling drama set in the Dominican Republic about a teenager and her nanny who have a relationship that seems to transcend their class conditions.
IMMERSION (Inmersión) A suspense-filled thriller starring Chilean star Alfredo Castro, in which a father and his daughter’s day of sailing unravels wildly as they encounter some local fishermen in their sinking boat.
Finally, two significant documentaries round out the 2022 line up – BEGIN AGAIN (Tornar a començar) profiling a global network of women scientists working for planetary sustainability in the Antarctic and the Australian produced, OUR VOICES (Nuestras Voces) which tells the story of a group of Spanish-speaking migrants who arrived in Victoria between the 1960s and 1980s and showcases their contribution to Australia.
27 April – 18 May
Palace Cinemas Raine Square, Luna Cinemas Leederville & Luna on SX
Tickets on sale from 7 April. Visit www.spanishfilmfestival.
