30/09/2016 - Seven fiction features as yet unreleased in France are in competition in Toulouse, alongside a vast programme exploring the diversity of Spanish productions

Today sees the start of the 21st edition of the Cinespaña Festival in Toulouse, which will run until 9 October and explore the diversity of Spanish film production, which has recently made a dramatic return to form. The event will boast two opening films: Alex de la Iglesia’s My Big Night [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] and the musical documentary Sexo, maracas y chihuahuas by Diego Mas Trelles.

Seven feature films as yet unreleased in France will duke it out for the Golden Violet 2016, including the gripping and brutal thriller Callback [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Carles Torras
film profile] by Carles Torras (Best Film, Best Actor and Best Screenplay at Málaga last spring) and The Reconquest [+see also:
film review
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interview: Jonás Trueba
film profile] by Jonás Trueba (which is arriving fresh from the San Sebastián competition and is being released today in Spanish theatres). Also in the running are The Shepherd [+see also:
film review
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interview: Jonathan Cenzual
film profile] by Jonathan Cenzual Burley (sold by Wide), Sicixia [+see also:
film review
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film profile] by Ignacio Vilar (who pocketed three awards at Cinespaña last year with his previous movie, A Esmorga [+see also:
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film profile]), The Next Skin [+see also:
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interview: Isa Campo, Isaki Lacuesta
film profile] by Isaki Lacuesta and Isa Campo (Special Jury Prize, Best Director, Best Actress, Best Editing and Critics’ Award at Málaga; also screened in competition at Karlovy Vary), and two films revealed at the Valladolid International Film Festival: La decisión de Julia [+see also:
film review
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film profile] by Norberto López Amado and Awaiting [+see also:
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interview: Daniela Fejerman
film profile] by Daniela Féjerman (co-produced with Lithuania).

A further five films are on the menu of the competitive New Directors section: The Open Door [+see also:
film review
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film profile] by Marina Seresesky (Golden Tesela at the Alicante Film Festival and Audience Award at the Transilvania International Film Festival), Ira [+see also:
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film profile] by Jota Aronak, Los comensales by Sergio Villanueva and two titles that were unveiled at Málaga: The One-Eyed King [+see also:
film review
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film profile] by Marc Crehuet and The Lost Man [+see also:
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film profile] by Christophe Farnarier (Best Film in the Zonazine section).

Besides two other competitive programmes for documentaries (including Dead Slow Ahead [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Mauro Herce
film profile] by Mauro Herce, which will be distributed in France on 5 October by Potemkine Films) and short films, Cinespaña will also present a Panorama giving an overview of recent productions, including six fiction features, among others: the thriller To Steal from a Thief [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Daniel Calparsoro
film profile] by Daniel Calparsoro, Spy Time [+see also:
trailer
film profile] by Javier Ruiz Caldera (Audience Award at the Brussels International Fantastic Film Festival), Kiki, Love to Love [+see also:
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interview: Paco León
film profile] by Paco León, A Perfect Day to Fly [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] by Marc Recha (in competition at San Sebastián last year) and two movies revealed at Málaga: Acantilado [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] by Helena Taberna and Sicarivs, la noche y el silencio [+see also:
trailer
film profile] by Javier Muñoz. 

Also of note are the special screenings for Last Days of Louis XIV [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Albert Serra
film profile] by Albert Serra (popular when it received a special screening at Cannes, and which Capricci will bring out in France on 2 November) and for two documentaries that are due to be distributed in France by Epicentre Films: El Bosco. El jardín de los sueños [+see also:
trailer
film profile] by José Luis Lopez-Linares (released on 26 October) and J: Beyond Flamenco [+see also:
trailer
film profile] by Carlos Saura (which was world-premiered at Toronto; released on 4 January 2017). And the rich programme of this year’s edition of Cinespaña will also offer tributes to actor Sergi López and filmmaker Miguel Picazo, who passed away recently, a Focus on Catalan producer Paco Poch and the cinema of the Balearic Islands, an in-depth look at Basque film, and a spotlight on the anarchistic melodramas made between 1936 and 1937. 

(Translated from French)