Recent Spanish Cinema Virtual Screenings Virtual Screenings on Eventive | Recent Spanish Cinema New Films from Spain including AMA, ANE IS MISSING, BABY, CARPOOLERS, THE HOUSE OF SNAILS, and MIGHTY FLASH.
ABOUT THE FILMS L.A. & Miami Virtual Premiere! AMA, 2021, Filmax, 97 min. Dir. Júlia de Paz. The powerful drama was named Best Film at the 2021 Málaga Spanish Film Festival, where newcomer Casellas also won the Best Actress award. This story is set in motion when Pepa (Tamara) and her six-year-old daughter, Leila (Leire Marin Vara), are evicted; forced to fend for themselves on the streets, the two form an exceptionally close bond. “AMA looks at motherhood as a human relationship … and shines a light on those women who are facing this task alone, desperately trying not to fall short of the mythicized ideals of motherhood,” notes the filmmaker. AVAILABILITY: California & Florida Viewers L.A. & Miami Virtual Premiere! ANE IS MISSING, 2020, Latido, 100 min. Dir. David Pérez Sañudo. Winner of three Goya awards, the first feature film from Basque director David Pérez Sañudo is set in the Basque Country during the final period of ETA terrorist activity in 2009. The film follows the story of Lide (Patricia López Arnaiz), a young mother who works as a security guard at a controversial local infrastructure project. When her adolescent daughter Ane (Jone Laspiur) disappears after the two argue, Lide enlists the help of Ane’s father, Fernando (Mikel Losado), and discovers that her daughter has grown into someone she no longer recognizes. AVAILABILITY: California & Florida Viewers L.A. & Miami Virtual Premiere! BABY, 2020, Latido, 104 min. Dir. Juanma Bajo Ulloa. Creepy atmosphere is thick in this psychological thriller, which has no dialogue but makes up for it with outstanding sound design and Koldo Uriarte & Bingen Mendizábal’s Feroz-winning/Goya-nominated original score. Rosie Day stars as Neska, a junkie mother who hits rock bottom when she sells her newborn baby to an adoption broker. She immediately regrets her decision, as there is something sinister about the baby’s new caretakers, Emakumea (Harriet Harris) and Albinoa (Natalia Tena), who live in a crumbling mansion surrounded by a dark forest. As Neska embarks on a quest to reclaim her infant son, she descends into dark fairytale world. AVAILABILITY: California & Florida Viewers L.A. & Miami Virtual Premiere! CARPOOLERS (CON QUIÉN VIAJAS), 2021, Latido, 87 min. Dir. Martín Cuervo. There’s tension as well as laughs in this comedic road trip, handled with remarkable assurance and economy by first-time feature writer-director Martín Cuervo. Four strangers looking to travel from Madrid to Cieza, Murcia connect through a mobile app and agree to carpool. Motor-mouthed Ana (Ana Polvorosa), good-natured Elisa (Andrea Duro) and pensive Miguel (Pol Monen) are content to ride while Julian (Salva Reina) – an odd sort – takes the wheel. But as conversations pass the time along the way, revelations connect the passengers when their driver takes them on some unusual turns. AVAILABILITY: California & Florida Viewers L.A. & Miami Virtual Premiere! THE HOUSE OF SNAILS (LA CASA DEL CARACOL), 2021, Filmax, 104 min. Dir. Macarena Astorga. Shot during the pandemic, an air of unease pervades this engrossing thriller, Macarena Astorga’s feature directorial debut. Successful author Antonio (Javier Rey) hopes to cure a case of writer’s block with a change of scenery and moves to a remote town in Andalusia. Though he hits it off with a real estate agent (Paz Vega), most of the villagers are standoffish, wondering if this outsider could be the shape-shifting killer of legend. When a young woman is found dead, Antonio has reason to suspect a brutish local character – but the truth turns out to be stranger than fiction. AVAILABILITY: California & Florida Viewers Co-presented by LA OLA – L.A. & Miami Virtual Premiere! MIGHTY FLASH (DESTELLO BRAVÍO), 2021, Patra Spanou Film, 98 min. Dir. Ainhoa Rodríguez. Managing to stage precise set-ups with a non-professional cast, Rodríguez’s feature debut is a remarkably assured one, and earned the director awards at both the Málaga and San Sebastián film festivals. As its young people leave Puebla de la Reina in search of better opportunities, the older women of the remote town find themselves stuck between memories of the past and dreams of the future in this unusual drama. “Laced with touches of suspense, rural surrealism, social realism and Almodovar-style humor.” – Emilio Mayorga, Variety. “The film of the year shines and is called, how could it be otherwise, DESTELLO BRAVÍO.” – El Mundo AVAILABILITY: California & Florida Viewers