¡Viva! is in full swing after an eventful opening weekend – a lot of fun was had by all despite the technical issues on Friday night! The Oscar Muñoz exhibition was so packed you may wish to return at a quieter moment to appreciate the exhibits fully – if you haven’t made it down yet, or would like to find out more about his exquisitely crafted pieces, please come along to the Gallery Discussion sessions this week (Wed 18:00 in English and Thu 18:00 in Spanish). Unfortunately we had a technical difficulty with the Arráncame la vida screening on Friday night, and we’d like to thank our wonderful audience for being so understanding – we especially enjoyed the valiant attempts to interpret the non-chronolgical narrative as an exercise in post-modern filmmaking! There will be another chance to view the film again (in the right order!) on Sun 20 March. Assisted by our beer sponsors Estrella Damm, the party atmosphere stretched into the early hours and in the end a good time was had by all.
On Saturday night Gordos nearly sold out in Cinema 1 and the audience loved it – if you want to see what everyone has been laughing about, the comedy will be showing again on Sat 12 March and we’d recommend advance booking! There was a rather different atmosphere on Sunday afternoon with the moving Catalan language film Elisa K, which prompted plenty of discussion for the Cafe Els Quatre Gats event in the Cornerhouse bar. Over 20 Catalan natives and language learners got together to compare, contrast and debate over a coffee, or something stronger! Don’t forget that Castilian Spanish speakers will have their turn next Saturday at Cafe Cervantes from 16:00.
Sunday night finished in style with a wonderful Q&A session following the first of our Cine en Construcción films, El Asaltante. Director Pablo Fendrik was on excellent form as he responded to audience comments and questions. Keep your eyes peeled for our video footage of this event that will be going up online soon. The next film in the Cine en Construcción series is Gasolina this Thursday. Don’t forget there’s a buy-one-get-one-free offer with these films when you purchase tickets from Box Office so it’s great value for money!
Other highlights to mention this week include the introduced screenings of brand new Spanish documentary Escuchando al juez Garzón tomorrow. It’s hot off the heals of its success at the Berlin Film Festival and is set to be popular. And for a flavour of contemporary Mexico, join us on Saturday night for the hotly anticipated Revolución, a collection of shorts celebrating the hundred-year anniversary of the Mexican Revolution from 10 directors at the forefront of Mexican cinema including Rodrigo Plá, Carlos Reygadas and Diego Luna.
¡Disfrutad!
For more information on the full ¡Viva! programme visit the festival website here.
Jessie Gibbs
Festival Co-ordinator