The Moro Spanish Film Festival 2021 brings you a sensational selection of new and recent Spanish language films. The films feature some of Spain and Latin America’s leading stars along with exciting new acting talent. The festival opens from April 20 at Palace Cinemas around the country.
The rich program consists of 20 feature films from Spain (Reel Espanol) together with 9 films from across Latin America including Argentina, Chile, Cuba, Mexico and Uruguay (Reel Latino). From hilarious crime capers to sensual romantic comedies, powerful historical epics and contemporary urban dramas, the Moro Spanish Film Festival is for all movie-lovers and aficionados of Spanish cinema alike.
Joyous romantic comedy Rosa’s Wedding (La boda de Rosa) will open the Festival. Written and directed by Icíar Bollaín (Yuli, SFF19), Rosa’s Wedding stars the superb Candela Peña (Kiki, Love to Love, SFF17) as a woman who decides to take charge of her life after always putting others first. It also stars Nathalie Poza, who won the Best Supporting Actress Goya Award for her role.
Australian comic and filmmaker Simon Palomares will introduce the screenings of his documentary Latigo and take part in Q&As in Melbourne on April 23, Sydney on April 28 and Brisbane on May 4. In Latigo, Palomares uncovers Cuba’s vibrant comedy scene, proving that laughter is truly universal.
In the Reel Espanol section, you can enjoy Wishlist (La Lista de los deseos) starring screen icon Victoria Abril (Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down!) in a devil-may-care road movie about three women who take the adventure of a lifetime when their own lives come to a crossroads. Or maybe the multi award-winning A Thief’s Daughter (La hija de un ladrón): an extraordinary portrait of a brave young mother in Barcelona who must decide whether to reject her father in order to protect her own child, starring real-life father and daughter, Eduard and Greta Fernández.
Spanish box office smash hit comedies like If I Were Rich (Si yo fuera rico) – a rags-to-riches comedy of love lost and wealth found – rub shoulders with intriguing thrillers and mysteries like the nocturnal thriller Cross the Line (No matarás) in which a good-natured man has an unexpected deadly confrontation on a night of adventure. Maribel Verdú (Y Tu Mamá También) stars in The Goya Murders (El asesino de los caprichos), an enthralling serial killer mystery set in the world of wealthy art collectors, as a murderer finds gruesome inspiration in the famous paintings of Spanish master Francisco Goya. And Pilar Palomero’s celebrated coming-of-age-drama Schoolgirls (Las niñas) recently swept Spain’s Goya Awards winning Best Film, Best New Director, Best Original Screenplay and Best Cinematography.
In the Reel Latino program, Oscar-nominated filmmaker Pablo Larraín returns with Ema, an electrifying portrait of a free-spirited dancer who is forced to examine her wild lifestyle to address a mistake from the past. Starring Mariana Di Girolamo and Gael García Bernal, Ema was nominated for the Golden Lion and won the UMINED award at the 2019 Venice Film Festival. White on White (Blanco En Blanco) is a compelling and at times confronting portrait of a photographer who crosses dangerous lines in life and love when obsessing over his client’s young bride-to-be in late 19th century Tierra del Fuego. And The Moneychanger (Así habló el cambista) is a satirical Godfather-like crime epic. Spanning from the 1950s to 1970s, the Uruguayan film follows a slick grifter working the seedy underbelly of South American book-cooking schemes.
The 2021 Moro Spanish Film Festival is screening nationally from 20 April to 16 May in Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide, Perth, Canberra, Brisbane and Byron Bay. Tickets are on sale now. Visit spanishfilmfestival.com for more information and ticketing details.
David Edwards
Other reviews you might enjoy:
- Moro Spanish Film Festival 2019 – movie preview
- HSBC Spanish Film Festival 2023 – a preview
- HSBC Spanish Film Festival 2024 – a preview
David Edwards is the editor of The Blurb and a contributor on film and television
