With a 20-year record of audience and critical acclaim, ¡Viva!, Manchester’s annual, internationally celebrated Spanish & Latin American Film Festival, returns to Cornerhouse and HOME in three parts, with a carefully honed and lovingly curated programme presenting the best in new Hispanic cinema.
Divided into three long weekends in 2015, ¡Viva!, one of Cornerhouse’s most popular events, will present an eclectic film selection with award winners and UK prèmieres, established filmmakers and new talent, features and documentaries, and inspirational figures from the Spanish and Latin American film industries leading talks, Q&As and workshops.
2015 introduces an exciting revamp of ¡Viva!, with three separate festival parts showcasing features from a diverse range of genres including comedy, LGBTQI, action, documentary and historical drama. Part one took place at Cornerhouse from 5 – 9 March, with a mixture of Spanish and Latin American film and a special tribute commemorating International Women’s Day on 8 March (Os Fenómenos (Aces)).
Produced by Film Programme Manager Rachel Hayward and Festival Coordinator Jessie Gibbs, the festival will kick off with Santi Amodeo’s ¿Quien mató a Bambi? (Who Killed Bambi?) (2013), a farcical black comedy following a group of ordinary people dealing with extraordinary situations. Amodeo, a director, screenwriter and musician from Seville, will introduce the film ahead of taking part in a post-screening Q&A. This year’s ¡Viva! will include Alfonso Zarazua’s Os Fenómenos (Aces) (2014), which tackles the themes of economic crisis and the decimation of the Spanish building industry from the perspective of a single mother; María Victoria Menis’ María y el Araña (Maria and Spider) (2013), an award-winning film presenting the tragic tale of two Argentine teenagers who fall between the cracks in a grossly unfair world; Diego Araujo’s Feriado (Holiday) (2014), his debut feature exploring race, class and sexuality with sensitivity and intelligence through the eyes of 16-year-old Juan Pablo; and Roberto Flores Prieto’s Ruido Rosa (Pink Noise) (2014), his second feature film that takes audiences back to the Caribbean coast of Colombia, this time during the Barranquilla rainy season. The festival is delighted to announce that both Alfonso Zarazua and Roberto Flores will also visit Manchester for post-screening Q&A events.
Rachel Hayward commented: “We are extremely pleased to be presenting ¡Viva! across three long weekends, each with its own special focus for 2015. It’s been an exciting process to select the final line-up for March and this will be an important year for the festival as we celebrate our successes at Cornerhouse and welcome the future of the festival at HOME.”
¿Quién mató a Bambi? (Who Killed Bambi?)
Dir Santi Amodeo/ES 2013/96 mins/Spanish wEng ST/Cert TBA
Quim Gutiérrez, Julián Villagrán, Belén Ponce de León, Ernesto Alterio, Enrico Vecchi, Clara Lago
María y el Araña (María and Spider)
Dir María Victoria Menis/AR FR EC 2013/90 mins/Spanish wEng ST/Cert 12A
Florencia Salas, Diego Vegezzi, Mirella Pascual, Luciano Suardi, Lucía Ruiz Ortiz, Pablo Aguirre Andrade
Os Fenómenos (Aces)
Dir Alfonso Zarauza/ES 2014/110 mins/Spanish wEng ST/Cert TBA
Lola Dueñas, Luis Tosar, Juan Carlos Vellido, Ledicia Sola, Antonio Duran
Feriado (Holiday)
Dir Diego Araujo/EC 2014/82 mins/Spanish wEng ST/Cert TBA
Juan Manuel Arregui, Andrés Paredes, Manuela Merchán, Canela Samaniego, Irwin Ortiz
Ruido Rosa (Pink Noise)
Dir Roberto Flores Prieto/CO 2014/110 mins/Spanish wEng ST/Cert TBA
Roosevel Gonzalez, Mabel Pizarro
The second part of ¡Viva! will take place from 18 – 21 June with a focus on new Mexican Cinema, promising to celebrate The Year of Mexico in the UK – a 2015 collaboration project between the British and Mexican governments – with a specially curated selection of films and events that bring the flavour of Mexico to Manchester. Further information, as well as details of the final part of the Festival, will be announced later this year.
