Looking for the 2024 festival page? Please head to ¡Viva! 2024.
Fri 10 Mar – Thu 30 Mar 2023
Now in its 29th year, ¡Viva! returns for our annual celebration of Spanish and Latin American culture, bringing you a programme of the most exciting cinema from across the Spanish-speaking world. This year we screen 22 new feature films, including multiple UK cinema premieres, along with filmmaker Q&As, film introductions and other opportunities to get involved.
Plus plenty of archive cinema treats – a classic from Juan Antonio Bardem, the UK premiere of 1970s hidden gems by fellow Spaniard Cecilia Bartolomé, and a programme of shorts from a Mexican feminist film collective.
Join us on the opening night for the UK premiere of a joyous coming-of-age comedy from Spain, Llenos de gracia (Full of Grace), followed by three weeks of engaging drama, fascinating documentary and thrilling tension, as ¡Viva! 2023 serves up slices of life and flights of fancy from all corners of Spain and Latin America.
Don’t miss our three post-screening Q&As with Spanish film makers, all taking place in the first week of the festival – returning guest Nely Reguera with La Voluntaria (The Volunteer) on Sat 11 Mar, Carlota González-Adrio with the UK Premiere of La Casa entre los cactus (The House Among the Cactuses) on Wed 15 Mar, and Luc Knowles with the UK Premiere of Libélulas (Dragonflies) on Thu 16 Mar.
HOME are delighted to announce MUBI as a continued sponsor of this year’s 29th ¡Viva! Spanish & Latin American Festival. As part of this partnership, you can get 30 days of MUBI for free, including the fantastic Catalan film Alcarràs (Carla Simón, 2022). Please note, this offer is only valid for new accounts and not available to use in conjunction with any other offer. 30 days free – MUBI
The full festival programme is now live! Download your digital copy of HOME’s ¡Viva! Brochure, featuring Los Reyes del mundo on the front cover.
Click the image below to download the pdf:
Tickets will be on sale for Friends 9 Feb, Members 10 Feb, General 13 Feb
The festival is curated by Rachel Hayward, Head of Film Strategy, Jessie Gibbs, ¡Viva! Festival Coordinator, and Andy Willis, Professor of Film Studies at the University of Salford and HOME’s Senior Visiting Curator: Film. With additional programme support from the Instituto Cervantes, the Leading Women project funded by the AHRC, and the Invisible Women archive activist film collective.
¡Viva! Spanish and Latin American Festival is produced by HOME with the support of the Embassy of Spain in London, MUBI, and the BFI, awarding funds from the National Lottery.
In this festival
VIVA Festival
¡Viva! Film Notes – Modelo 77
Dr Carlos van Tongeren explores Alberto Rodríguez’s Modelo 77, screening as part of ¡Viva! Festival 2023 on 15 and 23 Mar.
VIVA Festival
¡Viva! Film Notes – La Maternal
Dr Abigail Loxham explores Pilar Palomero’s La Maternal, screening as part of ¡Viva! Festival 2023 on 14 and 26 Mar.
VIVA Festival
¡Viva! Film Notes – Cinco lobitos
Dr Carmen Herrero, Manchester Metropolitan University, explores Alauda Ruiz de Azúa’s Cinco lobitos, screening as part of ¡Viva! Festival 2023.
VIVA Festival
¡Viva! Film Notes – Tiempos futuros
Dr Ignacio Aguiló explores Víctor Checa’s Tiempos futuros, screening as part of ¡Viva! Festival 2023 on 17 and 28 Mar.
Previously in this Festival
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Café Cervantes 2023
Come and practise your language skills while sharing your opinions on this year’s ¡Viva! programme. We recommend language learners have intermediate level Spanish or above.
Cinema
UK Premiere/ Escape Room: La Pel.licula
Four friends; one escape room; a lot of secrets; and only one way out: the truth.
Cinema
UK Premiere/ Libélulas
Without jobs or a future, Álex and Cata have forever dreamed of leaving their neighbourhood, as they plan their escape, they enjoy each night as…
Cinema
UK Premiere/ Llenos de gracia
A rebellious nun arrives at a boarding school to take charge of an unruly bunch of orphan boys, and changes lives with a make-shift football…
Cinema
UK Premiere/ Tiempos futuros
In a dystopian future version of Lima, 12-year-old Teo and his father work feverishly on a mysterious machine designed to bring rainfall to a city…
Cinema
UK Premiere/ Vasil
A charismatic Bulgarian immigrant makes a name for himself at a prestigious club through his talent for chess and bridge, despite being homeless.
Cinema
Nuestros días más felices
One day, Agatha, 74, wakes up in the body of a little girl: as herself, but at the age of eight. A lovely, life-affirming tale…
Cinema
Tengo sueños eléctricos
Clinging onto her father as he goes through a second adolescence, 16-year-old Eva balances between the sensitive naivety of teenage life and the ruthlessness of…
Cinema
La Maternal
What does it mean to be a mother, or a child? Age 14, Carla is both. A wild child living with a toxic single mother,…
Cinema
UK Premiere/ Two short films by Cecilia Bartolomé
While enrolled in Spain’s Official Film School in the 1960s, Cecilia Bartolomé made these short films focused on the challenges women faced under the regressive…
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Intro/ Two short films by Cecilia Bartolomé
This screening will be introduced by Prof. Sally Faulkner, University of Exeter.
Cinema
UK Premiere/ La Casa entre los cactus
Adapted from a best-selling novel of the same name, Carlota González-Adrio’s feature debut explores a dark secret that haunts a seemingly perfect family.
Cinema
UK Premiere/ La Hija de todas las rabias
María and her mother eke out a living on the edge of an immense rubbish dump. Their future depends on selling a litter of purebred…
Cinema
UK Premiere/ ¡Vámonos, Bárbara!
To the horror of her family, Ana decides to leave her husband and head off on a road trip to the coast, taking her 12-year-old…
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Post-screening discussion/ ¡Vámonos, Bárbara!
This screening will be followed by a discussion with core members of the AHRC-funded research project Leading Women in Portuguese and Spanish Cinema and Television,1970-1980.
Cinema
The Vertical Border
Interviews with journalists, aid workers and academics across El Salvador, Honduras, Mexico and the USA delve into history and expose the current migration crisis.
Cinema
UK Premiere/ No mires a los ojos
Damián, a carpenter with 20 years of service for one company, is driven wild by his sudden dismissal and runs off to hide in the…
Cinema
La Voluntaria
Marisa, a recently retired doctor, travels to a Greek refugee camp with a group of Spanish volunteers.
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Post-screening discussion/ Modelo 77
The screening on Thu 23 Mar will be followed by a discussion with Dr Carlos van Tongeren, University of Manchester.
Cinema
UK Premiere/ Estación catorce
Family love and loyalty, childhood games and friendships, and a wonderfully gentle appreciation of creatures great and small, from the tiny crickets in the fields…
Cinema
Preview/ As bestas
A French couple have moved to a village in the Galician countryside. There they live a quiet life, until a conflict with their neighbours sees…
Cinema
Cinco lobitos
Amaia has just become a mother. Feeling overwhelmed and with her partner away, she seeks refuge with her parents in the hope that they will…
Cinema
UK Premiere/ Llegaron de noche
From Imanol Uribe comes a powerful depiction of the murder of six Jesuit priests in El Salvador in 1989.
Cinema
Muerte de un ciclista
After the death of a cyclist in a hit-and-run accident, an adulterous couple flee the scene for fear of losing their social standing.
event
Intro/ Muerte de un ciclista
This screening will be introduced by Andy Willis, University of Salford.
Cinema
Los Reyes del mundo
Five street kids from Medellin, kings without kingdom, law or family, looking for The Promised Land.
Cinema
Short film/ Criatura
In the depths of her mind, pain takes the form of a creature. A love relationship unleashes the darkness within, to invoke a world of…
Cinema
UK Premiere/ 8 cuentos sobre mi hipoacusia
Charo Mato weaves together stories and questions, using memories, interviews and home video footage to examine her childhood and the experiences of family members.
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Language Lab/ Vasil
Ana Valbuena from the Instituto Cervantes Manchester presents our bespoke study session for adult Spanish language learners and film fans.
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Intro/ Tiempos futuros
The screening on Fri 17 Mar will be introduced by Dr Ignacio Aguiló, University of Manchester.
Cinema
Short film/ El Padre bueno
Damián, a dowser by profession, must urgently locate an underground water source if he is to put food on his family’s table. Water is underground,…
event
Libélulas Q&A
The screening on Thu 16 Mar will be followed by a Q&A with writer-director Luc Knowles.
Cinema
UK Premiere/ El Visitante
Set in the central Bolivian city of Cochabamba, the film is a sombre meditation on class, family relationships, and the increasing power of Evangelism in…
event
La Casa entre los cactus Q&A
The screening on Wed 15 Mar will be followed by a Q&A with writer- director Carlota González-Adrio.
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Intro/ La Maternal
The screening on Tue 14 Mar will be introduced by Dr Abi Loxham, University of Liverpool.
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Intro/ Women’s Work: Three short films from Cine Mujer
This screening will be introduced by Camilla Baier, co-founder of Invisible Women.
Cinema
UK Premiere/ Women’s Work: Three short films from Cine Mujer
A programme of three films from the Cine Mujer collective, rarely screened outside Mexico, which tackle gender roles, domestic labour and sex work.
Cinema
Short film/ Tula
Tula is the cleaning lady at a private school for girls. During her workday, she meets the headteacher’s 14-year-old daughter in the toilet. The girl…
Cinema
Short film/ Ingrid
A day in the life of a young woman living in Guadalajara, a city plagued by a sensation of unsafety at all times.
Cinema
Short film/ Tornar a casa
Nit, her mother and younger sister move into their great-grandparents’ old family house. During the hot days of July 1998, she will have to face…
event
La Voluntaria Q&A
The screening on Sat 11 Mar will be followed by a Q&A with writer-director Nely Reguera.
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Intro/ Cinco lobitos
The screening on Sat 11 Mar will be introduced by Dr Carmen Herrero, Manchester Metropolitan University.