The Near East | 2006 | Spain | 96 mins
Synopsis : Cain is fat, shy, and invisible for women. He works as a butcher in the Madrid district of Lavapies surrounded by immigrants from Morocco, Bangladesh, China, Senegal, Bulgaria, PeruÉ But Cain feels lonely. His family is limited to his brother Abel, who is everything Cain would like to be; good-looking, seductive, married to a striking woman and the father of two lovely twin girls. Our story begins when Cain finds out that his brother Abel has got Aisha pregnant. Aisha is an attractive neighbor, the daighter of immigrants from Bangladesh who are Muslims. Cain surprises everyone when he decides to pretend to be the father and take on the maintenance and education of the child.
Director : Fernando Colomo
Bio : Spanish veteran Fernando Colomo made his reputation with samll-scale, fluidly-made comedies with a social agends, building the sold foundations of the so-called Madrid Comedy, a trendsetter for many directors, among them Almodovar. He has also made films with actors Harvey Keitel, Laus Kinski, Fernando Rey. The Near East represents a fine return to his old form. Immigration is a new problem in Spain and this is a celebratory take on multiculturism in Madrid.
Awards/ Screenings : Best Director - 2007 Peñiscola Comedy Film Festival
The Secret Life of Words | 2005 | Spain | 122 mins
Synopsis : Writer-director Isabel Coixet's (My Life Without Me) beautifully wrought chamber drama The Secret Life of Words opens on Hanna (Sarah Polley), a laconic, backward and introverted girl in her early '30s, quietly drowning in her own isolation. Partially deaf from working an untold number of hours in a loud factory, Hanna must wear a hearing aid. When her supervisors -- deeply concerned about the four years that have lapsed in Hanna's life without a break -- force her to go on holiday for a month, she hesitantly takes off for a coastal village in the north of Ireland. Once there, she decides to dine in a local restaurant, and overhears, by chance, a telephone conversation conducted by Victor (Eddie Marsan), regarding an accident on a nearby oil rig that he precipitated, which left a victim, Josef (Tim Robbins) in its wake. Hanna tells Victor that she is a nurse, and is instantly flown to the rig to treat the bedbound Josef -- temporarily blind from extensive cornea damage, and his body blanketed with severe burns. She also encounters the structure's motley and eccentric band of workers -- from ecologist Martin (Daniel Mays), who spends his time studying mutated mussels that collect on the ship's base and the waves that strike the side of the rig, to Josef, to chef Simon (Javier Cam‡ra), who prepares "gourmet" food no one else can stand, to Dimitri (Sverre Anker Ousdal), an elderly gentleman who is as much of a loner as Hanna. As Hanna begins to foresee a new place for herself among these individuals, a relationship gradually develops between Hanna and Josef, who holds his new friend rapt with lyrical, evocative, magisterial tales from his past -- unknowingly drawing Hanna, one step at a time, toward inner joy, self-expression, and revelation of her own sad and complex story.
Director : Isabel Coixet
Bio : Spanish writer/director Isabel Coixet started making films when she received an 8 mm camera for her first communion. After studying 18th and 19th century history at the University of Barcelona, she made a living in advertising and copy writing. Her international breakthrough came in 2003 with the intimate drama My Life Without Me, based on a short story by Nanci Kincaid. My Life Without Me won acclaim at the Berlin International FIlm Festival.
Awards/ Screenings : Best Director, Best Performance in a Leading Role - 2006 ADIRCAE Awards. Best Director, Best Film, Best Production Supervision, Best Screenplay - 2006 Goya Awards
Volver | Spain | 2006 | 121 mins
Synopsis : Two sisters learn that the bonds of family don't always end after death in this gentle, observational comedy drama that marks celebrated Spanish filmmaker Pedro Almod—var's 16th feature. The story explores the interactions between three generations of women in a Spanish family. Raimunda (PenŽlope Cruz) was born and raised in the apocryphal village of Alcanfor de las Infantas, in La Mancha, Spain. But she now resides in Madrid, where she works as a janitor. She is married to Paco (Antonio de la Torre), an unemployed layabout, and looks after her daughter, Paula (Yohana Cobo). Raimunda's mother, Irene (Carmen Maura), died several years back (along with her father) in a house fire. Raimunda's younger sister, Sole (Lola Due–as), also lives in Madrid and works as a hair stylist, while their aunt Paula (Chus Lampreave) still makes her home in La Mancha, with occasional help from neighbor Agustina (Blanca Portillo). The story takes an unusual and mystical twist when Agustina mentions that Irene has begun reappearing in ghostly form -- a fact questioned by Raimunda and Sole. After a murder and an unexpected family tragedy, Paula's story is indeed corroborated by the appearance of Irene's spirit (who has come to comfort her family), and Sole must decide how to respond to the long-dead mother's strange, enchanting presence.
Director : Pedro Almodovar
Bio : The most internationally acclaimed Spanish filmmaker since Luis Bunuel was born in a small town (Calzada de Calatrava) in the impoverished Spanish region of La Mancha. He arrived in Madrid in 1968, and survived by selling used items in the flea-market called El Rastro. Almodovar couldn't study filmmaking because he didn't have the money to afford it. Besides, the filmmaking schools were closed in early 70s by Franco's government. Instead, he found a job in the Spanish phone company and saved his salary to buy a Super 8 camera. From 1972 to 1978, he devoted himself to make short films with the help of of his friends. The "premieres" of those early films were famous in the rapidly growing world of the Spanish counter-culture. In few years, Almod—var became a star of "La Movida", the pop cultural movement of late 70s Madrid. His first feature film, Pepi, Luci, Bom y otras chicas del mont—n (1980), was made in 16 mm and blown-up to 35 mm for public release. In 1987, he and his brother Agust’n Almod—var established their own production company: El Deseo, S. A. The "Almod—var phenomenon" has reached all over the world, making his films very popular in many countries.
Awards/ Screenings : Best Actress, Best Screenplay - 2007 Cannes International Film Festival. Best Actress, Best Director, Best Film, Best Score, Best Screenplay, Best Supporting Actress - 2007 Cinema Writers Circle Awards, Spain |
