¡Viva! returns to HOME

Yes, it is that time of the year: ¡Viva! Spanish & Latin American Festival is back, with the festival’s 23rd edition across 18 days of films, theatre shows, exhibitions and events from across the Spanish-speaking world.

Expect a host of strong international performances, with two UK Premieres of Spanish work including One-Hit Wonders, marking the 20th anniversary of award-winning contemporary dance company Sol Picó (winner of the Spanish National Dance Award 2016), and Barcelona’s hottest young theatre company Agrupación Señor Serrano with their multimedia performance Birdie. Emma Frankland and Keir Cooper return with the World Premiere of Republica, following the sold-out success of Don Quijote at the festival in 2016.

¡Viva! 2017 will also present two scratch performances from Barcelona playwright Josep Maria Miró Coromina on our main stage, Smoke and The Archimedes Principle, continuing the strand from last year’s festival which presented well-received scratch performances of Chamaco (Kiddo) by Cuban playwright Abel González Melo.

The packed film programme features the best in new Spanish and Latin American filmmaking, with an exciting line-up of UK premieres and filmmaker Q&As from ten different countries – Spain, Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Ecuador, Mexico, Peru and Venezuela.

¡Viva! 2017 will also present three weekends of live music, dancing and performances at First Street – Tony Wilson Place, alongside party nights, DJs and Spanish food and drink. The fiesta will start on Fri 31 Mar with an opening party and exclusive performance from the Basque Country’s indie pop and rock band Rural Zombies, in collaboration with Instituto Cervantes and Girando Por Salas.

Commemorating the 40th anniversary of the abolition of censorship in Spain, this year ¡Viva! investigates the transition to democracy era known as La Transición, presenting a series of films from and about the period, including Pepi, Luci, Bom (Pedro Almodóvar, 1980), alongside Republica – inspired by another historical period of transition in Spain, and the last time democracy was seen before the Franco dictatorship – and La Movida, a major new contemporary group exhibition reacting to the hedonistic counterculture movement La Movida madrileña, curated by Sarah Perks. The show will be accompanied by new creative fiction publication Dark Habits, featuring artists from the show and an international selection of contributors.

And we are also pleased to announce the return of the festival’s introduced screenings: the post-screening discussion, the One Hour Intro, the Café Cervantes language learners’ event, and the Adult Study Session. Responding to current debates in the industry and to the strength of films made by women in 2017 programme research, ¡Viva! 2017 features a special focus on contemporary women cineastes, with a panel discussion including visiting female filmmakers. The Festival also looks at the flourishing Basque film industry this year, and for the first time invites festival goers to try their hand at the Basque language.

We look forward to seeing you there!

¡Viva! Spanish & Latin American Festival rund from Fri 31 March – Mon 17 April. Book tickets and find out more here.