¡Viva! Spanish & Latin American Festival 2021

See the Full ¡Viva! 2021 Festival Calendar

The ¡Viva! Spanish & Latin American Festival returns to HOME this Summer with a spectacular lineup of films, from the wildly enjoyable Argentinian heist film El Robo del siglo (The Heist of the Century) to the Spanish comedy El Inconveniente (One Careful Owner), via true crime, socio-political documentary, an LGBTQ+ love story and films tackling the most important issues facing us today.

With 18 feature films, including 11 UK premieres, and introductions from the curators, this 27th edition of the festival is not to be missed. Full details will be announced in July, sign up to the HOME mailing list to make sure you don’t miss out.

Our usual range of special events will be delivered slightly differently this year, to ensure the safety of staff and audiences during the pandemic. We’re thrilled that so many participating filmmakers have recorded special introductions for our festival screenings, which you can see both in the cinema and online. In addition, the festival programmers will introduce selected films in person, with the notes also available online. The final Saturday of the festival will see the return of the Café Cervantes, a free but ticketed event, offering you an opportunity to share your thoughts about the films you’ve seen while practising your Spanish with native speakers and other festivalgoers – weather permitting, this will be an al fresco event!

It’s a particularly strong year for Spanish titles, with eight films from Spain coming to our big screen in this summery ¡Viva! edition.  Transport yourself to the sunny coast of the Basque Country with the delightful road movie Nora; and make your way to Valencia in Iciar Bollaín’s latest film, comic drama La Boda de Rosa. Then take a deep dive into post-dictatorship Spain with the epically proportioned and wonderfully absorbing documentary El Año del descubrimiento.

We have a trio of fantastic dramas from Chile this year, including the passionately romantic film Los Fuertes, which breaks new ground in Chilean cinema as a charmingly up-beat, same-sex love story.

On Wed 11 Aug we are delighted to present a preview screening of Mexican auteur Michel Franco’s Nuevo orden, which will be introduced by Jason Wood, author of the newly published The Faber Book of Mexican Cinema and HOME’s Creative Director: Film & Culture.

Amongst these and all the remaining titles – from Paraguay, Bolivia, Colombia, the Dominican Republic and Mexico – we’re sure you’ll find some cinematic gems to treasure, whether you’re after thrilling drama, joyous comedy or social analysis.

¡Disfrutad el festival!

All films will begin at the advertised time with no adverts or trailers. All films are in Spanish with English subtitles unless otherwise noted. All age certificates are local to Manchester City Council, unless otherwise stated.

¡Viva! is curated by Rachel Hayward, Head of Film, Jessie Gibbs, ¡Viva! Festival Coordinator, and Andy Willis, Professor of Film Studies at the University of Salford and HOME’s Senior Visiting Curator: Film.