SPANISH FILM FESTIVAL
I met a Spanish girl once. She took me to the front of the bar where the band was playing and danced like only a beautiful, carefree Spanish girl could. She ticked all the boxes of our imagination of the Spanish female. The 13th Spanish Film Festival, however, is not that easy to stereotype. The 40 films on the list are as eclectic as a tapas feast but they all retain a certain alluring Spanish flavour. Opening night film Pagafantas (Friend Zone) is a hilarious rom-com with an unexpected McLovin-esque protagonist. But unlike a Hollywood rom-com that follows a tight script of clichés, Pagafantas is a refreshing take on the tired genre. Then we make a 180 with Fernando Trueba’s El Baile de la Victoria (The Dancer and the Thief), a heist film with a heart that would appeal to an older audience. The much anticipated Habitación en Roma (Room in Rome) by Julio Medem, to put it crassly, sounds like Brokeback Mountain with hot Spanish chicks. Of course, if you’ve seen Medem’s Sex and Lucia or Chaotic Anna, you’d know he’s anything but crass. He’s a master at choreographing pure poetry in motion. And then there is the Mexican gem Chinco dias sin Nora (Nora’s Will). Because I’m running out of space, I’ll just say that this is a winner – a nuanced love story from beyond the grave with a sense of humour. I didn’t dance with the Spanish girl at the bar that day because let’s be honest, not everyone does it like the Spaniards do.
May 5 – 16, Palace Academy, 3a Oxford St, Paddington, Palace Norton Street, 99 Norton Street, Leichhardt, $12-50, 1300 306 776, spanishfilmfestival.com
