RANDOM THOUGHTS: SPANISH FILMFEST 2008

Some observations on the 7th edition of Pelikula! Spanish Filmfest:

VENUE: Excellent, no questions asked.
MARKETING AND PUBLICITY: Very good, considering the cineastes' dire need for art-house, foreign language pictures. Nothing beats Instituto Cervantes for their astute publicity and classy reception in marketing recent Spanish films.
LINE-UP: Good, though my expected high profile Latin film festival awardees The Silly Age (Cuba), The Year My Parents Went On Vacation (Brazil), and XXY (Argentina) (all Oscar Best Foreign Film entries last year) were conspicuously absent in favor of hometown favorites. At least, uncompromising filmmaker Carlos Reygadas (Battle in Heaven; Japon) will be toasted during the Mexican Cinema night for his recent 60th Cannes Filmfest Jury Prize winner and critics' fave (Film Comment Magazine's Best Unreleased Film of 2007) Silent Light (Luz Silenciosa).
BLOOPERS: The opening film, Fuera de CartaOff The Menu (pictured above, right)(Oct. 1) had its fair share of real-life humor when the last reel wasn't shown. No explanations were given though. Ditto Mataharis, in which the projector failed to press the English subtitle button --- to the audience's surprise and comic relief. (It was discovered that the female detective drama will be shown in DVD format. Sigh.)
HIGHLIGHTS (so far): Fuera de Carta had its payback time --- in a very good way --- last night when it was enthusiastically received by the jampacked audience, not to mention the presence of its director, Nacho G. Velilla who introduced his film. It was revenge served hot and mighty indeed.

Here are my favorites:

MATAHARIS (pictured, above left)- Iciar Bollain (Te Doy Mis Ojos, SFF 2005)
LO MEJOR DE MI (The Best of Me)
FUERA DE CARTA - Sure to be an Audience Choice Awardee this year, this family/gay romance comedy starring heralded contemporary Spanish cinema thespians Javier Camara (Talk To Her; Torremolinos '73; this year's entry Under the Stars) and Lola Duenas (The Sea Inside; Volver) was filled with many catchy dialogue, though the plot falters dramatically after the climax. Viewers who are into light comedies like this won't care about this narrative setback.
SILENT LIGHT - After the headache-causing, squirming Batalia en el Cielo (Battle in Heaven), Carlos Reygadas returns to his auteur roots with this critically acclaimed, Cannes winning drama. Watching it was a spiritual experience for me (really), and the jam-packed theater was in complete silence while watching it (despite a few walkouts). The Mexican filmmaker's narrative devices and stylish yet dramatically concurrent directorial touches justified its larger than life plot. (A full critique will be published later this month.)

Reviews of the said films and extended coverage of other movies to be shown this week will be posted after the festival (October 12).