To celebrate the opening weekend of ¡Viva! Spanish and Latin American Film Festival, we are pleased to welcome director Emilio Aragón to Manchester for a special Q&A chaired by Andy Willis, Reader in Film Studies at the University of Salford, following the Sat 3 March screening of Pájaros de papel.
Emilio Aragón was born in Cuba, in 1959, into a renowned Spanish family of nomadic entertainers who had been performing their way across Europe, Latin America and the U.S. for several generations. Growing up in a world of music, comedy, rehearsals, stages and TV studios, from this creative environment he has emerged as one of the most versatile and respected contemporary Spanish talents, as musician, scriptwriter, actor, producer, and now director. His diverse career ranges from orchestrating songs for Plácido Domingo and conducting Spanish symphony orchestras, to representing the Action Against Hunger Foundation and the Stanza Foundation for children and music. Pájaros de Papel, his debut feature film as director and the culmination of a lifelong dream, was nominated for Best New Director at the 2011 Goya Awards.