Espana on big screen

Get glimpses of life in Spain with a medley of movies at the VI Spanish film festival starting at the capital today

A noviceu00a0prison official is unlucky to start his new job the very same day prisoners organise a riot. Caught up in a fast-changing situation, he is forced to exploit to the maximum the only resource left to him: his cunning. He finds that far from being the shy, gentle and decent man he has long thought himself to be, he is a born survivor teetering on the edge of an abyss.



Harry Caine is a blind screenwriter in Madrid, assisted by Judit and her son Diego. The past comes rushing in when Harry learns of the death of Ernesto Martel, a wealthy businessman, and Ernesto's son pays Harry a visit. In a series of flashbacks to the 1990s, we see Harry, who was then Mateo Blanco, a director; he falls in love with Ernesto's mistress, Lena, and casts her in a film which Ernesto finances. Ernesto is jealous and obsessive, sending his son to film the making of the movie, to follow Lena and Mateo, and to give him the daily footage.
These are but some of the stories cinema lovers of the Capital would get to see at the VI Spanish Film Festival starting today. The festival brings together a wide bunch of films that showcase Spain.

Medley of thoughts
"We brought together some of the most recent films that have come out of Spain recently. The films bring together different perspectives and show how life is in Spain," says a Spanish Embassy spokesperson in New Delhi. Woody Allen had once said: "When I left New York, the most exciting film in the city at the time was Spanish, Pedro Almodovar's one. I hope that Europeans will continue to lead the way in film making because at the moment not much is coming from the United States."

So if you thought Spain was all about sun-kissed beaches, La Liga, Penelope Cruz and Javier Bardem, think again. For Spain is also about its cinema and some widely-acclaimed directors.u00a0 While Luis Bunuel was the first to achieve international recognition, others like Florian Rey and Alejandro Amenabar burst into the international arena soon.

The festival will showcase eight films and some documentaries. "The films deal with social topics important in Spain, like how women feel, movies on disability (Yo Tambien) and more," says the Embassy spokesperson. There are movies by veteran directors like Pedro Almod var (Los Abrazos Rotos) and also movies by young filmmakers. Don't miss this one.

At: India Habitat Centre, Lodhi Road and Instituto Cervantes, Hanuman Road
for passes, Call: 26011430/43681906