Spotlight on Spanish cinema
A festival celebrating the best of Spanish and Latin American cinema will take place in Edinburgh throughout October.
The Edinburgh Spanish Film Festival has been organised with the help of University staff and students. Screenings include film premieres, question and answer sessions, documentaries and award-winning dramas.
Edinburgh Spanish Film Festival 2017
5 Oct - 31 Oct
As well as screenings at the Edinburgh Filmhouse, events will also take place at the Glasgow Film Theatre and the Macrobert Arts Centre in Stirling.
Charity screening
The opening screening of this year’s Festival is the critically acclaimed 100 Meters, which will take place on Thursday 5 October.
The 2016 film is based on the true story of a Spanish man with multiple sclerosis who challenged himself to finish an Iron-Man Challenge.
All proceeds from the festival’s opening gala will go to the Anne Rowling Regenerative Neurology Clinic, a University research facility, in support of those affected by multiple sclerosis.
The film will be introduced by Director, Marcel Barrena, who will also take part in a Q&A.
Varied programme
The three-week series includes the Scottish premier of Happy 140, a black comedy about a woman who wins the jackpot at the lottery.
The festival also features a screening of the Goya prize-winning Smoke and Mirrors, which follows the true story of a husband and wife who hire a spy to conceal 1.5 billion embezzled pesetas.
A further highlight includes war drama, 1898, Our Last Men in the Philippines, which recounts the final days of the Spanish Empire’s last colony.
Staff and student input
The Festival is curated by Marian A. Aréchaga, a Senior Teaching Fellow in Spanish, Portuguese and Latin American Studies.
In 2013, Marian identified a gap in Edinburgh’s film calendar, with French and Italian Film Festivals already established in the city.
Seeking to cater for Edinburgh’s large and vibrant Hispanic community, and growing interest around Hispanic culture, she set out to establish a festival covering a wide range of films.
Now in its fourth year, the festival has grown, and students form the University’s Film Studies Course and staff from across the School of Literatures, Languages and Cultures are involved in the screenings.
Alongside the Filmhouse and the Glasgow Film Theatre, this year sees the University of Stirling joining as another Festival hub.
Related links
Edinburgh Spanish Film Festival