02/10/2006

The 11th Cinespaña Film Festival, which kicked off on Friday, will offer film lovers in Toulouse and the surrounding Midi-Pyrénées region a chance to discover the widest range of recent Spanish films in France through October 8.

Nine features are in the running for the Violette d'Or, awarded by a jury that is presided over by the director Nelly Kaplan and includes the Cannes prize-winning actor Bernard Blancan, as well as the young director Gérald Hustache-Mathieu.

Battling it out for the prize are DarkBlueAlmostBlack [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] by Daniel Sánchez Arévalo (Europa Cinemas Label, Venice Days 2006 – see news and interview with director), 7 Vírgenes [+see also:
trailer
film profile] by Alberto Rodriguez (Best Actor for Juan José Ballesta at San Sebastian – see article), Salvador [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] by Manuel Huerga (screened in Cannes Certain Regard 2006 – see article), El Triunfo: The Beat of the Streets [+see also:
trailer
film profile] by Mireia Ros (screened in Panorama sidebar at Berlin 2006 – see article), Vida y color by Santiago Tabernero (a Goya award nominee in 2006), El taxista ful (lit. “The Taxi Thief”) by Jordi Solé and three films selected last year at San Sebastian: Hard Times by Manuel Martin (see news), The Wretched Life of Juanita Narboni by Farida Benlyazid (see article) and La distancia [+see also:
trailer
film profile] by Iñaki Dorronsoro.

The festival – which will pay homage in the form of a retrospective to the earthy Alex de la Iglesia and commemorate the 70th anniversary of the Spanish Civil War – will also screen 14 features. The line-up includes Rough Winds by Gerardo Herrero, My Quick Way Out by Miguel Albaladejo (in competition at Karlovy Vary 2006 – see news July 7), Un franco, 14 pesetas by Carlos Iglesias (screened at Locarno’s Piazza Grande) and Sud Express [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Carmen Jimenez & Alina Siga…
interview: Chema de la Peña & Gabriel …
interview: José Luís Carvalhosa
film profile] by the directing duo Chema De La Pena and Gabriel Velasquez (see Focus).

These are accompanied by the latest films by Rafa Russo, Manuel Iorra, Juan Pinzas, Rafael Alcazar, Santiago Garcia de Leaniz, Antonio Hernandez, Rafael Escolar, Raimon Masllorens, Daniel Cebrian et Manuel Gutiérrez Aragón.

Aside from the several documentaries and shorts on the programme, there will also be a presentation by the Community of Madrid of Carlos Saura’s Iberia and a screening in the Voies-off section of The Legend of Time by Isaki Lacuesta (see interview).

(Translated from French)