Hosted by Kent State University, in collaboration with the Institute for Applied Linguistics and the Department of History. Open and free to the public. Discussion after each film. The Spanish Film Club series was made possible with the support of Pragda, the Secretary of State for Culture of Spain, and its Program for Cultural Cooperation with United States' Universities.
WHEN: March 1-16, 2013, 7:30PM
WHERE: Michael Schwartz Auditorium
Friday, March 1
CHICO & RITA
Fernando Trueba, Javier Mariscal and Tono Errando / 94 min. / 2012
Oscar®-winning director Fernando Trueba (The Age of Beauty) and famous artist Javier Mariscal, have teamed up to make Chico & Rita, an animated love story starring the music, culture and people of Cuba. Chico is a dashing piano player and Rita is an enchanting and beautiful Havana nightclub singer. When they meet, the sparks fly and they fall madly in love. An epic romance unfolds as the pair travels the glamorous stages of 1940s/1950s Havana, New York City, Las Vegas, Hollywood and Paris.
Saturday, March 2
THE MAN NEXT DOOR [El Hombre de Al Lado]
Mariano Cohn and Gastón Duprat / 103 min. / 2010
In this black comedy, Leonardo (Rafael Spregelburd) is a prestigious designer who lives with his family in a famous house designed by Le Corbusier. Life is seemingly ideal for Leonardo until one day his neighbor Victor (Daniel Aráoz), a boorish used-car salesman, breaks through a common wall to make a window in order to “catch a few rays of sun.” Unfortunately, Victor’s new window looks directly into Leonardo’s living space. As the tension mounts between Leonardo and Victor, the film explores the complex relationships between class differences, social barriers, and right and wrong.
Friday, March 8
EVEN THE RAIN [También la Lluvia]
Icíar Bollaín / 104 min. / 2011
Filmmaker Sebastian (Gael García Bernal) and his cynical producer Costa (Luis Tosar) arrive in Cochabamba, Bolivia to make a film about Columbus’s voyage to the New World and the subjugation of the indigenous population. Just as filming begins, the natives face a crisis when the government privatizes the water company and prices skyrocket. Daily protests erupt and the local man cast as a rebellious sixteenth century Taino chief, also becomes a leader in the water hike protests.
Friday, March 15
LA YUMA
Florence Jaugey / 91 min. / 2011
Nicaragua’s first full-length feature in 20 years, La Yuma tells the story of a young woman who dreams of transcending her bleak life in the slums of Managua by becoming a boxer. Looking beyond the meager possibilities that seem available to her (and ignoring the advice of her gang-member friends), she finds solace and hope in her training and falls in love with a middle-class journalism student.
Saturday, March 16
FROM THE LAND TO THE TABLE [¿Qué Culpa Tiene el Tomate?]
Alejo Hoijman, Marcos Loayza, Josué Méndez, Carolina Navas, Paola Vieira, Alejandra Szeplaki and Jorge Coira / 107 min. / 2009
What do you get when you take seven directors from seven different countries with seven different cultures and points of view? From the Land to Your Table is the first documentary of its kind in that it shows the perspectives of seven majorly talented filmmakers and directors from all over Latin America as they capture the conditions and cultural diversity of popular produce markets in their individual countries.