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Films

Festival Highlights

Opening Night

Set in Bilbao’s world of high cuisine, this delicious Spanish box office hit comedy stars Karra Elejalde and Enric Auquer as a father and son whose unexpected reunion after thirty years apart puts their ideas about cooking and life to the test.

Australian Premiere
Centrepiece

A critical and audience success in Spain, this personal and beautifully observed new ensemble drama follows a family of Catalonian farmers who, after generations harvesting the same land, face eviction and an uncertain future.

Special Presentation

This five-time Goya Award-winner and Spanish box office hit thriller from Alberto Rodríguez, the director of Marshland, follows a young accountant awaiting trial in 1977, who joins a group of prisoners demanding amnesty.

Australian Premiere
Special Presentation

This multi-award-winning drama, and Colombia’s 2022 Oscars submission, from director Laura Mora follows five Medellín teenagers from the streets who seek a place in the world set out on an adventure in search of the promised land.

Australian Premiere
Special Event

A once-famous tango dance couple reunite and go on a road trip across Argentina with an old friend in this heartwarming adventure starring Darío Grandinetti and Mercedes Morán.

Australian Premiere
Special Event

In this hilarious romantic comedy, two Spanish siblings travel to Mexico to attend the wedding of their father to a woman he met online, but what they find there is not what they expected.

Australian Premiere
Closing Night

This 40th anniversary presentation showcases Carlos Saura's biggest international box-office success with this self-reflexive meditation on both Bizet's popular opera Carmen, featuring legendary dancers Antonio Gades and Laura del Sol.

New Spanish Cinema

Centrepiece

A critical and audience success in Spain, this personal and beautifully observed new ensemble drama follows a family of Catalonian farmers who, after generations harvesting the same land, face eviction and an uncertain future.

A fascinating debut feature from Mikel Gurrea exploring the balance of power in relationships, in which a Barcelona couple move to the country to build a new life in the cork-tree forests.

Australian Premiere

In this box office hit comedy from Álex de la Iglesia, a 50-year-old divorcee with financial problems begins sharing his car with strangers via an app, but trouble ensues when he adds new passengers.

Australian Premiere

Directed by Santos Blanco, this remarkable documentary about twelve monasteries in Spain takes us on journey into the interior lives of those who have given themselves completely to a cloistered life of prayer.

Australian Premiere

Set in a boarding school in the 1990s and starring top Spanish actress Carmen Machi, this uplifting family movie about soccer, nuns and orphaned kids is full of humour and charm.

Australian Premiere

A crowd-pleasing comedy with sharp observations about modern life that follows three friends near retirement age who refuse to give up and dare to launch a kindergarten business from scratch.

Australian Premiere

An elegant drama set in the Basque Country in the late 1970s, actress-director Silvia Munt’s tribute to the brave women of a generation explores the fight for women's rights and the right to abortion.

Australian Premiere

Based on the play by Matías del Federico and from multi-award winner Gerado Herrero, this fun dramatic comedy about three married couples in therapy features witty and cutting dialogue and an excellent ensemble cast.

Australian Premiere
Special Presentation

This five-time Goya Award-winner and Spanish box office hit thriller from Alberto Rodríguez, the director of Marshland, follows a young accountant awaiting trial in 1977, who joins a group of prisoners demanding amnesty.

Australian Premiere

Aura Garrido, Emma Suárez and Magüi Mira star as three generations of actresses united by family ties but separated by generational conflicts in this affectionate drama about the world of acting, fame and family.

Australian Premiere

Full of intrigue and surprises, and featuring a stellar cast led by Festival favourite Paco León, Staring at Strangers follows a man spying on a family from inside a closet, becoming a mysterious presence in their lives.

Australian Premiere

An all-star cast shines in this intelligent comedy about money, love and ambition from Dani de la Orden, where a group of people must decide whether they want 100,000 euros now or are willing to wait ten years for one million.

Australian Premiere

This entertaining Christmas tale follows the Three Wise Men, who are fed up with Santa taking more of the limelight and their confrontation threatens the world with a more dangerous enemy.

Australian Premiere

Set in dreamy landscapes, director Rocio Mesa’s feature debut, inspired by her childhood in southern Spain, will take viewers to a mysterious and moving summer amongst the tobacco barns where anything can happen.

Australian Premiere
Opening Night

Set in Bilbao’s world of high cuisine, this delicious Spanish box office hit comedy stars Karra Elejalde and Enric Auquer as a father and son whose unexpected reunion after thirty years apart puts their ideas about cooking and life to the test.

Australian Premiere

In his final film before his death in 2023, Carlos Saura investigates how “the wall” ties in with the evolution and relationship of art, acting as a creative canvas for thousands of years. 

All sessions will be preceded by the short film Goya: May 3.

Australian Premiere

A young single mother battles to defend her children while at the same time embarking on a love affair with a man in this powerful reflection of everyday life starring Anna Castillo.

Australian Premiere

Cine Latino

An intimate documentary about the cruise that left for Antarctica just before the World Health Organization declared the COVID-19 pandemic and whose outcome was seen live and direct by millions of people around the world.

Australian Premiere

A tribute to Mexican wit, this comedic adventure set in a small desert town in 1930s Mexico follows the crazy plan of a group of locals who decide build their own steam train when their railroad route is cancelled.

Australian Premiere
Special Event

In this hilarious romantic comedy, two Spanish siblings travel to Mexico to attend the wedding of their father to a woman he met online, but what they find there is not what they expected.

Australian Premiere
Special Presentation

This multi-award-winning drama, and Colombia’s 2022 Oscars submission, from director Laura Mora follows five Medellín teenagers from the streets who seek a place in the world set out on an adventure in search of the promised land.

Australian Premiere

Based on the acclaimed novel by Pedro Mairal, this drama from Ana García Blaya revolves around a writer who pins his hopes on a free-spirited 25-year-old he meets up with in Montevideo to get through his daily frustrations.

Australian Premiere

Spotlight on Argentina

In 1980s Argentina, two jurists race against time to try to solve the case of an intriguing disappearance of a wealthy businessman while facing police corruption in this gripping true-crime story.

Australian Premiere

After a young girl is brutally murdered, her mother and a detective decide to undertake their own investigation in this tense, twisted, and darkly comic thriller starring Adriana Ugarte and Javier Gutiérrez.

Australian Premiere

A stylish and intelligent horror film filmed in black and white and set in the 1980s, following the final live broadcast of a current affairs program, where an occult conspiracy threatens to be exposed.

Australian Premiere
Special Event

A once-famous tango dance couple reunite and go on a road trip across Argentina with an old friend in this heartwarming adventure starring Darío Grandinetti and Mercedes Morán.

Australian Premiere

Shot mainly in the majestic Cordillera de las Andes of Mendoza in Argentina, The Broken Land is a feminist western imbued with magic realism, about two women who are willing to do anything to protect a dream.

Australian Premiere

A busy talk show producer discovers that he is not the real father of the nine-year-old in his household and the two set out on an adventure to find the real father in this heartwarming family comedy.

Australian Premiere

Retrospective: Carlos Saura

Closing Night

This 40th anniversary presentation showcases Carlos Saura's biggest international box-office success with this self-reflexive meditation on both Bizet's popular opera Carmen, featuring legendary dancers Antonio Gades and Laura del Sol.

A cinematic collage of incredible music, extraordinary dance forms and stunning visuals, this musical explores the folkloric tradition of the music and dance of Mexico.

Australian Premiere

A unique film experience investigating fado, a traditional Portuguese music genre dating back to 1820 featuring top artists and dancer from Portugal, Brazil and Cape Verde.

An intimate engagement with the vivacity and charisma of the jota, a waltz-like castanet dance originating in the province of Aragon, the birthplace of Carlos Saura.

In his final film before his death in 2023, Carlos Saura investigates how “the wall” ties in with the evolution and relationship of art, acting as a creative canvas for thousands of years. 

All sessions will be preceded by the short film Goya: May 3.

Australian Premiere

In this short work, Carlos Saura “repaints” Francisco de Goya’s canvas ‘The Third of May 1808’. An innovative audio-visual project that offers a cinematographic recreation of Goya's iconic painting.  

Focus on Female Filmmakers

Centrepiece

A critical and audience success in Spain, this personal and beautifully observed new ensemble drama follows a family of Catalonian farmers who, after generations harvesting the same land, face eviction and an uncertain future.

An elegant drama set in the Basque Country in the late 1970s, actress-director Silvia Munt’s tribute to the brave women of a generation explores the fight for women's rights and the right to abortion.

Australian Premiere
Special Event

A once-famous tango dance couple reunite and go on a road trip across Argentina with an old friend in this heartwarming adventure starring Darío Grandinetti and Mercedes Morán.

Australian Premiere

Aura Garrido, Emma Suárez and Magüi Mira star as three generations of actresses united by family ties but separated by generational conflicts in this affectionate drama about the world of acting, fame and family.

Australian Premiere
Special Presentation

This multi-award-winning drama, and Colombia’s 2022 Oscars submission, from director Laura Mora follows five Medellín teenagers from the streets who seek a place in the world set out on an adventure in search of the promised land.

Australian Premiere

Based on the acclaimed novel by Pedro Mairal, this drama from Ana García Blaya revolves around a writer who pins his hopes on a free-spirited 25-year-old he meets up with in Montevideo to get through his daily frustrations.

Australian Premiere

Set in dreamy landscapes, director Rocio Mesa’s feature debut, inspired by her childhood in southern Spain, will take viewers to a mysterious and moving summer amongst the tobacco barns where anything can happen.

Australian Premiere