Program 2020

A young blockbuster filmmaker, Toby (Adam Driver) is making an ad for a Russian vodka brand in Spain when he suddenly discovers a DVD of his 10-year-old student film, The Man Who Killed Don Quixote. Filmed near the current location, Toby goes around to refresh his memory and meets the then-film star (Jonathan Pryce), who has been since  identified himself as Don Quixote. As he is feeling for the old demented man, Toby incarnates as his henchman, Sancho Panza, and from there on, even he loses his understanding of where the line between reality and imagination runs. Filmmaker Terry Gilliam worked on the film for over 20 years before it finally premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in 2018. Although predominantly in English, the film is mainly filmed in Spain and Portugal and exudes a truly Cervantesian vibe.

Director: Terry Gilliam

Cast: José Luis Ferrer, Ismael Fritschi, Juan López-Tagle, Adam Driver

Genre: Comedy

Year: 2019

Filmmaker Salvador Mallo (Antonio Banderas) has reached the beginning of a physical decline that brings an unexpected emptiness to his life. He is no longer able to continue making films and begins to recall the most important yet painful moments of his life – his childhood in the ’60s, when his parents moved to the Valencia region for a better living; first love in the 80s and parting of it when love was still vibrant and full of passion; writing as the only therapy to overcome it and finally discovering filmmaking. Salvador Mallo’s character is partly the film’s director, Pedro Almodóvar himself, partly a fictional character. Banderas has called it auto-fiction. An interesting fact, however, is that Salvador Mallo’s home movie features a copy of Almodóvar’s own home. Antonio Banderas won Best Male Actor Award at the Cannes Film Festival for the role, as well as Alberto Iglesias, the composer of the film.

Director: Pedro Almodóvar

Cast:  Antonio Banderas, Asier Etxeandia, Leonardo Sbaraglia, Penélope Cruz

Genre: Drama

Year: 2019

Carlitos is a 17-year-old adolescent who looks like a film star with light curly hair and a childlike face. Already as a child he longed for other people´s things, but as a young man did he feel his true calling – to be a thief.  In a new school, he meets handsome Ramon. Together, they embark on a journey of discovery, love, and crime. The killing is just a sporadic act of violence, but it starts rolling like a snowball until Carlitos is finally arrested. Because of his angelic appearance, the press begins to call Carlito “the angel of death.” He becomes a celebrity overnight, although he is believed to have committed more than 40 robberies and 11 murders. Currently, after 46 years in prison, Carlos Robledo Puch has been the longest-serving prisoner in the history of Argentina. The film, based on real-life events, was directed by Luis Ortega, who was voted the best director of 2019 by film Argentinian film critics.

Director: Luis Ortega

Cast:  Lorenzo Ferro, Cecilia Roth, Luis Gnecco

Genre: Crime, drama

Year: 2018

Somewhere in the remote mountains of Colombia, away from civilization, a mysterious group of adolescents, armed to the teeth is guarding an American hostage with the mission of keeping her alive. As the relationship between the recruits and the hostage is friendly, the task doesn´t seem very difficult. Soon, however, the hiding place will fall under armed attack, and both adolescents and their hostage have to fight for survival. Alejandro Landes’ apocalyptic thriller, with its amazing visual language and exceptional acting, has won countless awards for best film and directing both here and beyond the Atlantic Ocean, the brightest of which is the Sundance Film Festival Jury’s Special Prize.

Director: Alejandro Landes

Cast:  Sofia Buenaventura, Julián Giraldo, Karen Quintero

Genre: Drama, thriller

Year: 2019

Marriage between young eccentric reggaeton dancer Ema (Mariana Di Girolamo) and a choreographer Gastón (Gael García Bernal) ends if they cannot cope with raising their adopted child Polo. The dancing-sexual odyssey of a woman who has given up a child in search of personal liberation runs along the empty streets of the Chilean port city of Valparaiso, including a revolt against public order and numerous casual relationships. However, Ema doesn`t give up – she has a plan on how to win back all that she has lost. The film premiered at the Venice Film Festival Competition Program in 2019, where it received the Young Cinema Award. Filmmaker Pablo Larraín is also one of Chile’s leading film and series producers.

Director: Pablo Larraín

Cast: Mariana Di Girolamo, Gael García Bernal, Paola Giannini, Santiago Cabrera

Genre: Drama

Year: 2019