The Rewind season presents a monthly look back at some of the greatest films screened at Cambridge Film Festival in the lead up to the Festival’s 40th anniversary in November. It offers a Pay What You Can Afford pricing structure via the Festival’s website.
From the 16th – 22nd July, Rewind will showcase three must-see Catalan films from the archives of the Festival’s CAMERA CATALONIA strand as part of its ongoing monthly screenings, thanks to the support of Institut Ramon Llull. Each film has the power to entertain and thrill, from heart-breaking melodramas to romance, so film lovers continue to have an opportunity to watch interesting, unique and alternative cinema. Catalan films include:
BLACK BREAD (2010), by Agustí Villaronga, had its UK premiere at the 32nd Cambridge Film Festival (2012). Beta Cinema Spain’s submission for the Best Foreign Language Oscar is the first film in the Catalan language to win the Goya for Best Film as well as in eight other categories. The film, based in a novel by Catalan writer Emili Teixidor, is set during the aftermath of the Spanish Civil War, and against the backdrop of the beautiful Catalan countryside. Beneath this beauty lies the debris of nationwide conflict. From a shocking opening, Villaronga follows his themes of childhood, war, horror and guilt in a powerful film.
Take One review: https://takeonecinema.net/2012/black-bread-pa-negre/
THE MARINA CAFE (2014), by Silvia Munt, one of Catalonia’s most important actresses and also with a career as a director since 2008. Lead actress Marina Salas came to Cambridge in 2015 to take part in two fascinating Q&As with our Camera Catalonia audiences. This film is based on a popular Catalan play by Josep Maria de Sagarra, published in 1932. It was after translating Marcel Pagnol’s Marius that Sagarra decided to write The Marina Café. Love, jealousy, honour, family obligations, poverty and status are all present in a film than the film, that will be especially appreciated by those who love classical theatre.
Take One review: https://takeonecinema.net/2015/el-cafe-de-la-marina/
FICTION (2006) was in the CFF programme in 2014. Writer-director Cesc Gay specialises in explorations of male friendships and men’s existential crises. In FICTION a film director retreats to the mountains to stay with his friend and finish his next screenplay, leaving his wife and children behind. FICTION is a slow meandering through emotions and relationships, and in a beautifully understated way rewards the viewer with an intense emotional crescendo.
Full Take One review: https://takeonecinema.net/2014/fiction/
Films can be viewed on July 16th via the CFF at Home screening room.
