Spanish Cinema Now + 2021
The third edition of “Spanish Cinema Now +” features a selection of three new films that showcase the rich diversity of today’s Spanish cinema.
AFI Silver Theatre and SPAIN arts & culture co-present Spanish Cinema Now +, a selection of outstanding new films that reflect the breadth of styles and talents at work in Spain today, including both established auteurs and emerging filmmakers from the international festival scene. This series is the perfect lead-up to the 2021 edition of our Spanish Cinema Now festival, coming in June.
Madre
- Available Friday, March 26 – Sunday, May 30.
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- Directed by Rodrigo Sorogoyen, Spain, 2019, drama / thriller, 128 minutes. Original title: Madre.
- In Spanish with English subtitles. Watch trailer.
Spanish director Rodrigo Sorogoyen builds on the story he began in his Oscar®-nominated 2017 short with this slow-burn thriller about a mother grappling with the loss of her son. Ten years have gone by since Elena’s (Marta Nieto) six-year-old son (Álvaro Balas) has disappeared. The last thing she heard from him was a phone call he made to her, saying that he was lost on a beach in France and couldn’t find his father. Nowadays, Elena lives on this same beach and manages a restaurant. She is finally beginning to emerge from this tragic episode when she meets a French teenager (Jules Porier) who strongly reminds her of her lost son. The two of them will embark on a relationship which will sow chaos and distrust around them.
Fire Will Come
- Available Friday, April 23 – Sunday, May 30.
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- Directed by Oliver Laxe, Spain, 2019, drama, 85 minutes. Original title: O que arde.
- In Galician and Spanish with English subtitles. Watch trailer.
In Spanish director Oliver Laxe’s powerful third feature, Amador Coro (Amador Arias) has been convicted of arson. When he gets out of prison, nobody is waiting for him. He returns to his hometown, a small village hidden in the mountains of rural Galicia, to live with his mother, Benedicta (Benedicta Sánchez), and their three cows. Life goes by, following the rhythm of nature. Until one night when a fire starts to devastate the region.
A Thief’s Daughter
- Available from Friday, May 14 – Sunday, May 30.
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- Directed by Belén Funes, Spain, 2019, drama, 83 minutes. Original title: La hija de un ladrón.
- In Spanish with English subtitles. Watch trailer.
This award-winning directorial debut from writer/director Belén Funes is a searing working class drama with a star making performance from Greta Fernández as Sara, a 22-year-old new mother juggling minimum wage jobs while fighting for custody of her half-brother to keep him out of the foster care system. Just as she’s managing to pull it all together, her father –played by her real-life father, veteran actor Eduard Fernández– shows up in Barcelona after a lengthy jail sentence with aspirations of getting back in the family’s good graces and threatening to upend their life completely. Recalling the realist dramas of the Dardenne Brothers and Ken Loach among others, this gritty character study is also a heartwarming tale of family that casts a light on some harsh realities in Spain and beyond for those living on the poverty line.