This Spanish film festival in Italy was established in Rome in 2008 on the initiative of the association EXIT media for the purpose of disseminating Spanish cinema in Italy, fostering the distribution of films in their original version and promoting the talented people involved in them, in order to convey a creative, plural and quality image of Spanish films. From the outset the festival in Italy was designed as a national event which, over the course of the year, travels to various cities of strategic importance in the film sector; in 2016 the focus areas, from May to December, are Rome, Milan, Trieste, Perugia, Trento, Turin and Bergamo. This makes it possible for high-quality Spanish films to be distributed across the country and also ensures permanent media exposure and a constant billboard presence.
The festival encourages open exchange between guests and audiences in the various cities it visits. The presence of filmmakers (both young and established), actors, scriptwriters and other sector professionals capable of moving and surprising the audience with their work or skilfully handling gender codes and cultural and film tradition is essential to conveying the healthy current situation and vitality of the Spanish film sector.
The main section of the festival, The New Wave, consists of a selection of recent Spanish films. Among the talented new filmmakers featured in this 9th edition, in keeping with the attention the event has always devoted to debut films, is Daniel Guzmán, whose film A cambio de nada is full of energy, honesty and promise. He will be accompanied at some of the venues by the winner of the prize for the best newcomer at the latest Goya awards, actor Miguel Herrán. The acclaimed professionals who are travelling to Italy include director Fernando Colomo, whose skilful and youthful Isla Bonita shows that irony is the best way of reinventing yourself. Director Luis Miñarro, together with Italian actor Lorenzo Balducci, is presenting his latest work Stella cadente, a masterful essay on Amadeo di Savoia. Films such as Magical Girl by Carlos Vermut, Truman by Cesc Gay, Hablar by Joaquim Oristell, El desconocido by Dani de la Torre, Anacleto agente secreto by Javier Ruiz Caldera and La Isla Mínima by Alberto Rodríguez complete the selection.
As in other years, the festival also includes a retrospective section which this year pays tribute to two great muses of Spanish films: Marisa Paredes and Rossy de Palma. These marvellous screen actresses helped shape a recognisable image of Spanish cinema: an image associated with films we will never tire of watching, such as Pedro Almodóvar’s La flor de mi secreto (The Flower of My Secret) and Kika, Agustí Villaronga’s Tras el cristal (In a Glass Cage), and Guillermo del Toro’s El espinazo del diablo.
The festival encourages open exchange between guests and audiences in the various cities it visits. The presence of filmmakers (both young and established), actors, scriptwriters and other sector professionals capable of moving and surprising the audience with their work or skilfully handling gender codes and cultural and film tradition is essential to conveying the healthy current situation and vitality of the Spanish film sector.
The main section of the festival, The New Wave, consists of a selection of recent Spanish films. Among the talented new filmmakers featured in this 9th edition, in keeping with the attention the event has always devoted to debut films, is Daniel Guzmán, whose film A cambio de nada is full of energy, honesty and promise. He will be accompanied at some of the venues by the winner of the prize for the best newcomer at the latest Goya awards, actor Miguel Herrán. The acclaimed professionals who are travelling to Italy include director Fernando Colomo, whose skilful and youthful Isla Bonita shows that irony is the best way of reinventing yourself. Director Luis Miñarro, together with Italian actor Lorenzo Balducci, is presenting his latest work Stella cadente, a masterful essay on Amadeo di Savoia. Films such as Magical Girl by Carlos Vermut, Truman by Cesc Gay, Hablar by Joaquim Oristell, El desconocido by Dani de la Torre, Anacleto agente secreto by Javier Ruiz Caldera and La Isla Mínima by Alberto Rodríguez complete the selection.
As in other years, the festival also includes a retrospective section which this year pays tribute to two great muses of Spanish films: Marisa Paredes and Rossy de Palma. These marvellous screen actresses helped shape a recognisable image of Spanish cinema: an image associated with films we will never tire of watching, such as Pedro Almodóvar’s La flor de mi secreto (The Flower of My Secret) and Kika, Agustí Villaronga’s Tras el cristal (In a Glass Cage), and Guillermo del Toro’s El espinazo del diablo.