Feature: 2009 Spanish Film Festival

Rack your brains for everything you know about Spanish culture. Tapas? Bullfighting? Siestas? Chances are you’ll find none of this at the 12th Spanish Film Festival, beginning this evening at Cinema Paradiso.

“With every year, the major goal for me is to break stereotypes,” says Natalia Ortiz, who founded the festival in 1998.

Natalia worked in Spain’s thriving post-Franco film industry before moving to Australia some sixteen years ago. Disappointed by Spanish cinema’s lack of presence in the land down under, she resolved to raise awareness.

“Back then, I felt that the representation of Spanish cinema in Australia didn’t really reflect what was occurring in my country at that time,” Natalia says.

What was occurring was the rapid emergence of Spain as a leading national cinema on the world stage. Today, Spanish films rival Hollywood for creative and technical excellence. Back in the early nineties, the seeds were being sown.

Acclaimed director Pedro Almodovar was entering a new period of maturity that would reap rewards with All About My Mother and Talk to Her. Antonio Banderas had moved to Los Angeles on his way to becoming a Hollywood heartthrob; and a little-known actress named Penelope Cruz was making her debut alongside Javier Bardem in Jamon, Jamon.

From humble beginnings, the Spanish Film Festival has grown to a national event, screening annually in Sydney, Melbourne, Canberra, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth.

This year’s Perth contigent – “a celebration of the old and the new,” Natalia says – features a selection of 18 films and documentaries encompassing the best that contemporary Spanish cinema has to offer.

Tonight’s opening night film, Chef’s Special, forms part of a mini-retrospective of actor Javier Camara. It features some of Camara’s finest work, including Torremolinos 73, a hilarious film about a struggling salesman and his wife who become a sensation after appearing in erotic films exported to the north; and Blind Sunflowers, Spain’s official entry to the 2009 Academy Awards.

The balding, bespectacled actor is hardly your typical leading man, but his acclaimed roles in Almodovar’s Talk to Her and Bad Education have ensured his place among the elite; and Natalia describes him effusively as one of Spain’s most important actors.

“I think Javier is one of the most interesting actors working in our industry. He’s sensational in drama and comedy, which is very difficult. He’s sensational in theatre too. Unfortunately, he’s not as internationally famous as the other Javier [Bardem] yet. Hopefully he won’t go overseas and we can enjoy him in Spanish cinema for many years to come,” she says, grinning.

The feature film debut of director Nacho G. Velilla, Chef’s Special is a light-hearted farce about an openly gay chef, Maxi (Camara), whose quest for a coveted Michelin star is interrupted by the reappearance of his two young children.

Initially resentful of their presence, Maxi warms to his new role as a father, however a budding relationship with his son’s hero, soccer and TV star Horacio (Benjamin Vicuna), threatens to estrange his children from him once more.

An unashamed crowd-pleaser, Chef’s Special also touches on some challenging subjects. It seems an apt opener for the festival, a reminder of the dual strengths of contemporary Spanish cinema – depth of intelligence and breadth of appeal.

Perth audiences can also take a tour of Spanish music with Viva La Musica. The programme consists of Septembers, a documentary about eight contestants in a Spanish prison’s annual singing competition; Old Man Bebo, a documentary about legendary pianist Bebo Valdes; and a special screening of Calixto Bieito’s controversial modern adaptation of Mozart’s Don Giovanni.

The festival also reflects the wider landscape of Spanish-speaking films, with Mexican and Argentinean co-productions like Insignificant Things (produced by Guillermo del Tero); and Mothers, a heartbreaking documentary about the ‘Mothers of the Disappeared,’ whose children were kidnapped during Argentine’s Dirty War.

Finally, Natalia has also programmed The Hairy Tooth Fairy 2, a sequel to the 2007 festival family favourite about Raton Perez (the Spanish version of the tooth fairy). 

Magical rodents, prison pop idol and Scandinavian sex starlets. It’s hardly the stuff of stereotypes. Will Perth audiences be surprised at this rich and varied portrait of Spain?

“Hopefully,” Natalia says.

“I want audiences see that our culture is much richer than the stereotypes might suggest. I mean, don’t expect to see a single film with flamenco,” she laughs.

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