Pragda, MIFF and MDC present Weeklong Festival of New Spanish Cinema

Pragda, Miami International Film Festival and Miami Dade College present Weeklong Festival of New Spanish Cinema October 21-28 with the presence of Adán Aliaga (Stigmata)

MIAMI, October 4, 2010 – Pragda, Miami International Film Festival (MIFF) and Miami Dade College (MDC) will present an eclectic collection of Spanish films during the Festival of New Spanish Cinema beginning Thursday, Oct. 21 through Thursday, Oct. 28 at MDC’s Tower Theater and the Raleigh Hotel. The festival brings the latest works of Spanish filmmakers to Miami in celebration of the diversity and vitality of contemporary Spanish cinema. The third edition of this traveling film festival is part of a ten-city North American tour that will culminate in Chicago in December 2010.

The Oct. 21 event will kick off with a cocktail reception sponsored by Freixenet, followed by ME TOO! (Yo, también), directed by Álvaro Pastor and Antonio Naharro, a double Goya award winner and Sundance favorite, starring Lola Dueñas (Volver, Broken Embraces, The Sea Inside) and Pablo Pineda. The film will be introduced by Alejandro Rios, MDC public information officer and host of La Mirada Indiscreta, a film critique show on Spanish-language station America TeVe, with the attendance of Director Adán Aliaga and Pragda’s Marta Sanchez.

The weeklong festival is packed with the most original, unorthodox and mind-blowing stories of contemporary Spanish cinema: Second World War double agents and awkward family gatherings coexist with religious boxers and unconventional romances in a film series that reflects the diversity and vitality of the Spanish cinema.

Highlights include Sebastián Cordero’s RABIA, winner of the Special Jury Prize at Toronto International Film Festival and produced by Guillermo del Toro; three of the most renowned Spanish actors, Candela Peña (Take My Eyes), Alberto San Juan (The Shame) and Cristina Marcos (All the Men are the Same), along with the emblematic Geraldine Chaplin, star in the tragicomic camp melodrama THE ISLAND INSIDE, by filmmaking duo Dunia Ayaso and Félix Sabroso. Other festival highlights include AFTER, the second feature film by 7 Virgins’ director Alberto Rodríguez, a compelling and contemporary drama about urban loneliness with a superb cast: Guillermo Toledo (The Two Sides of the Bed) and Tristán Ulloa (Sex and Lucía); THE DAMNED, the first feature film by Isaki Lacuesta, a multidisciplinary artist and radical filmmaker, creator of two of the best Spanish documentaries in recent years, Cravan vs. Cravan and La leyenda del tiempo; and several remarkably assured debuts, including the Spanish Academy Goya Award-winner THREE DAYS WITH THE FAMILY, by 27-year-old Mar Coll; and GARBO, THE SPY by Edmon Roch, a fascinating mixture of documentary and fiction that narrates the story of a Spanish double agent during World War II, winner of the Spanish Academy Goya Award for Best Documentary.

All films will be screened at MDC’s Tower Theater, with the exception of STIGMATA, a hauntingly beautiful and lyrical tale told through a hulking, gentle giant of a man, Bruno (played by Spanish shot-put champion Manuel Martinez), which will be screened at the Raleigh Hotel, co-hosted by Miami Beach Cinematheque, followed by a party at Soleà at the W Hotel, which will include a sangria and wine bar and pica-picas (small plates of Spanish cuisine), with filmmaker Adán Aliaga as the featured guest.

The Festival of New Spanish Cinema in Miami is supported by Centro Cultural Español (CCEMiami), Tourist Office of Spain, and Embassy of Spain, Washington DC. Additional support comes from the Ministry of Culture of Spain-ICAA, Iberia Airlines, American Airlines, Soleà Restaurant, Beacon Hotel South Beach, Miami Beach Cinematheque, Freixenet and Eurochannel.

Tickets may be purchased online at www.TicketWeb.com. Enter “MIFF” in the search tab to purchase tickets to the festival. Cash-only tickets will be available at the theaters’ box offices up to a half-hour before show time. 

This year’s program showcases eight renowned Spanish films that include: 

ME TOO! (Yo, tambien) | Alvaro Pastor & Antonio Naharro | Spain | 103 min. | 2009
Opening Night 
Thursday Oct 21^s, 7:30 pm Opening Night Reception; 8:30 pm screening, MDC’s Tower Theater 
Saturday Oct 23^r, 7:30 pm, MDC’s Tower Theater
Cast: Lola Dueñas, Pablo Pineda
A delightful, offbeat comedy-drama that tells an unusual love story, which challenges society’s deeply ingrained prejudices. Daniel (Pablo Pineda) and Nuria (Lola Dueñas: Volver, Broken Embraces, The Sea Inside) work together and are close friends. Daniel is in love with Nuria, but she’s reluctant to go any further. Touching, funny and sexy, this unconventional romantic comedy openly explores the desires and sexual needs of people with disabilities in a way not seen before on screen.

THE ISLAND INSIDE (La isla interior) | Dunia Ayaso and Felix Sabroso | Spain | 93 min. | 2009
Friday Oct 22^nd, 6:30 pm, MDC’s Tower Theater
Sunday Oct 24^th, 4:45 pm, MDC’s Tower Theater
Cast: Alberto San Juan, Cristina Marcos, Candela Peña and Geraldine Chaplin. Siblings Martin (Alberto San Juan), Gracia (Cristina Marcos) and Coral (Candela Peña) are the children of a schizophrenic. The sudden death of their father forces them to leave the inner island which isolates them from their loved ones, from their dreams … and from being themselves. Exceptional performances by a remarkable cast, featuring the wonderful Geraldine Chaplin and Candela Peña, provide a light, at times funny quality to their dramatic circumstances.

STIGMATA (Estigmas) | Adán Aliaga | Spain | 98 min. | 2009 
Friday Oct 22^nd, 8:30 pm, Raleigh Hotel
Q&A with filmmaker Adán Aliaga (Co-hosted by Miami Beach Cinematheque) Cast: Manuel Martínez, Marieta Orozco and Martha Carbonell A hauntingly beautiful and lyrical tale told through a hulking, gentle giant of a man, Bruno (played by Spanish shot-put champion Manuel Martinez), whose sad life is on a downward spiral. He wakes up one morning bleeding from mysterious wounds on his hands, which he questions from a purely physical viewpoint, but which others see as divine signature. Hounded, Bruno flees the city and wanders through the countryside until he finds a traveling fair and falls in love. Ultimately, Bruno’s journey is one of universal ideas, which lead us to our own, larger than life questions – of love, expectation, and redemption.

RABIA | Sebastian Cordero | Spain/Mexico/Colombia | 96 min. | 2009
Saturday Oct 23^rd, 9:15 pm, MDC’s Tower Theater
Tuesday Oct 26^th, 9:15 pm, MDC’s Tower Theater
Cast: Gustavo Sánchez Parra, Martina García and Álex Brendemühl. An immigrant couple falls in love in a hostile milieu. Jose Maria, a construction worker, kills his foreman, and hides for a long time at the mansion where his girlfriend Rosa serves as a maid. In his debut feature film, Sebastian Cordero turns a social commentary about immigration into a terrifying and claustrophobic thriller. The film was a Special Jury Prize winner at the 2009 Toronto International Film Festival.

THE DAMNED (Los condenados) | Isaki Lacuesta | Spain | 104 min. | 2009
Sunday Oct 24^th, 7:00 pm, MDC’s Tower Theater
Thursday Oct 28^th, 7:00 pm, MDC’s Tower Theater
Cast: Daniel Fanego, Arturo Goetz and Bárbara Lennie. Enfant-terrible and multidisciplinary artist Isaki Lacuesta, author of one of the recent masterpieces of Spanish cinema, La leyenda del tiempo, is always attentive to the mutual intoxications between reality and fiction, between fact and myth. The Damned is a thought-provoking, inspiring thriller about whether or not it’s best to remain quiet about the past. It follows an exiled activist’s return to Argentina after 30 years to search for the body of a friend who died in combat with the military in the jungle. The clandestine excavations resurface old rivalries and some well-kept secrets.

GARBO, THE SPY (Garbo, el espia) | Edmon Roch | Spain | 88 min. | 2009
Tuesday Oct 26^th, 7:00 pm, MDC’s Tower Theater
The Nazis called him Alaric. The British called him Garbo. Born in Spain, Juan Pujol (his true name) was one of the most successful double agents in history. Director Edmon Roch utilizes a fascinating mixture of fictional reconstruction, archive footage and film extracts to tell the unknown and real story of Spaniard Juan Pujol Garcia, who fought on both sides in two wars without ever having held a weapon. Rumor had it he died in 1949 after contracting malaria in Angola – until he was discovered more than 30 years later living a new life, yet again, in Venezuela. This film won the Goya award (Spanish Academy Award) for Best Documentary.

THREE DAYS WITH THE FAMILY (Tres dies amb la familia) | Mar Coll | Spain | 86 min. | 2009
Wednesday Oct 27^th, 7:00 pm, MDC’s Tower Theater
Cast: Nausicaa Bonnín, Eduard Fernández, Ramón Fontseré. In one of the most impressive Spanish debut features of recent years, Three Days with the Family tells the story of Léa (Nausicaa Bonnín), a 21-year-old girl who returns home to attend her grandfather’s funeral. Though Lea’s parents have long been separated, her mother reappears for the funeral to keep up appearances. Lea’s father Josep Maria, the son of deceased patriarch Pere, is a sensitive man who listens to impassioned opera but is emotionally so withdrawn that he can’t get close to his daughter. Her French mother Joelle drinks to mask her sadness. An observant, insightful, study of rituals of grief in a bourgeois household where little can be aired openly and hypocrisy rules. This film won the Goya (Spanish Academy Award) winner for Best New Director.

AFTER | Alberto Rodriguez | Spain | 116 min. | 2009
Thursday Oct 28^th, 9:15 pm, MDC’s Tower Theater 
Cast: Tristán Ulloa, Guillermo Toledo and Blanca Romero Manuel (Tristán Ulloa), Ana (Blanca Romero) and Julio (Guillermo Toledo), friends since adolescence now in their mid-thirties, reunite for a boozy dinner that turns into a clubbing, dancing, drugging free-for-all. As their trip to the heart of the night unfolds, old attractions and resentments rise to the surface. Filmmaker Alberto Rodríguez (7 Virgins) compellingly portrays three people fervently, desperately seeking connection.

Soleà Party at W Hotel
Friday Oct 22^nd, 10:00 pm, Soleà at W Hotel
Enjoy wine and sangria bar and a tantalizing array of complimentary Spanish pica-picas (small plates) at Soleà at the glorious W hotel. Meet filmmaker Adán Aliaga (Stigmata) and fellow film enthusiasts.

Visit www.pragda.com for film trailers.

Pragda is an independent cultural initiative created with the mission of promoting Spanish films in diverse environments. For more information, contact info@pragda.com.

The Miami International Film Festival (MIFF), celebrating its 28th edition on March 4-13, 2011, is considered the preeminent Ibero-American film festival in the U.S. The annual Festival, produced and presented by Miami Dade College, attracts more than 70,000 audience members and more than 400 filmmakers, producers, talent and industry professionals. In fact, it is the only major festival housed within a college or university. In the last five years, the Festival has screened films from more than 60 countries, including 300 East Coast, U.S. and World Premieres. Because of MIFF programs, such as Miami Encuentros, and a special focus on Ibero- American cinema, the Miami International Film Festival has become the natural gateway for the discovery of Ibero-American talent. Additionally, the Festival offers unparalleled educational opportunities to filmmakers and the community at large, including the REEL Education Seminar Series, and the World Issues / World Films outreach program. For more, visit www.miff2020.wpengine.com or call 305-237-MIFF (3456).

Miami Dade College has a long and rich history of involvement in the cultural arts, providing South Florida with a vast array of artistic and literary offerings including The Miami Book Fair International, the Florida Center for the Literary Arts, the Cultura del Lobo performance series, The Cuban Cinema Series, nine visual arts galleries including The Freedom Tower at Miami Dade College and the School of Entertainment and Design Technology, in addition to the renowned Miami International Film Festival. MDC is the largest institution of higher education in the country and is nationally recognized for many of its academic and cultural programs. With an enrollment of more than 170,000 students, MDC is the nation’s top producer of degrees. The college’s eight campuses and outreach centers offer nearly 300 distinct degree programs including several baccalaureate degrees.

MIFF Media Contact: Tatyana Chiocchetti, 305-237-7879, tatyana@miamifilmfestival.com
MDC Media Contacts: Juan Mendieta – MDC’s director of communications – 305-237-7611, jmendiet@mdc.edu; Tere Estorino, MDC director of media relations, 305-237-3949, testorin@mdc.edu; Sue Arrowsmith, 305-237-3710, sue.arrowsmith@mdc.edu; Tarnell Carroll at tcarroll@mdc.edu; or Alejandro Rios, 305-237-7482, arios1@mdc.edu

– See more at: http://www.miff2020.wpengine.com/press/pr_pragda_miff_and_mdc_present_weeklong_festival.aspx#sthash.Hv6WILVw.dpuf