Spanish flickfest on Northbridge horizon

by Justin Biggar

May 7, 2008

FOREIGN language films often bring to mind images of SBS-viewing cinephiles and teenage boys keen for flashes of foreign flesh.

The upcoming Spanish Film Festival is seeking to change these assumptions, in a seven day celebration of Spanish language cinema taking place at Cinema Paradiso in Northbridge.

The festival found its way to Perth for the first time last year. With a line up of films to please everyone from beret wearing cinema geeks to the casual viewer, Alicia Brescianini from Cinema Paradiso is confident of success.

“We had a lot of film festivals last year and the Spanish festival was the most popular,” Ms Brescianini said. “We have real good films this year and expect a good turnout.”

Kicking off on May 22, the festival aims not just to highlight quality cinema but the beauty and diversity of Spanish culture.

Opening night will see a screening of the critically acclaimed Seven Billiards Tables, followed by a fiesta at the Artrage Bakery complex.

“The opening night is an excuse to have a party,” said Alicia.  “The fiesta will have Spanish food and Spanish music.”

Actress Maribel Verdu, star of Seven Billiards Tables, is the focus of this year’s festival.  The Spanish starlet appears in five other films, including her early acting work in the very racy Y Tu Mama Tambien (And Your Mother Too).

Alicia’s pick of the festival is The Orphanage, the closing film of the event.  She also can’t go past the horror flick REC, “one of the scariest films ever made.”

For more details, hit the Cinema Paradiso website at www.lunapalace.com.au.