Adiós, Cornerhouse: ¡Viva! 2015
As Cornerhouse prepares to move to HOME, its Spanish and Latin American Festival gets a makeover, too. We preview the first in a trio of ¡Viva! weekenders
One of the most exciting prospects to look forward to at HOME, Manchester’s soon-to-be-opened centre for contemporary visual art, theatre and film, is that Cornerhouse’s much-loved Spanish and Latin American cinema season, ¡Viva!, will also be making the migration down Whitworth Street West to become a cross-platform festival at the new venue, incorporating visual art and theatre as well as cinema in 2016.
Until then, Cornerhouse and HOME will be splitting the festival into three parts across a trio of ¡Viva! weekenders throughout the year. Part one takes place at the Cornerhouse from 5-9 March, and promises a typically eclectic mix of movies and events.
The ¡Viva! weekender opens with the darkly funny Quién mató a Bambi? (Who Killed Bambi?), directed by acclaimed Sevillano filmmaker Santi Amodeo, who will also be in town to introduce. The film is essentially a comedy of errors which centres on David (Quim Gutiérrez), a young man who's not having the best of days when he finds his boss and future father-in-law dead in his office. It's a film full of mistaken identities and crossed wires and is sure to be a popular opener (5&7 Mar).
Another highlight is María y el Araña (Maria and Spider), from award-winning director María Victoria Menis. It tells its story from the points of view of María (Florencia Salas), a 13-year-old girl who lives in the Argentine shantytown of Villa Rodrigo Bueno, and that of Araña (Diego Vegezzi), a 17-year-old dressed in a lousy Spider-Man costume, who scrapes a living by juggling balls in the subway. As their love story unfolds, another narrative comes to the foreground – a story of suppression and hidden pain that will stir audiences to their very core (9 Mar).
Love is also in the air in Ecuadorian coming-of-ager Feriado (Holiday), from writer-director Diego Araujo. Juan (Juan Manuel Arregui), a shy and sensitive 16-year-old from a posh family, finds himself attracted to teen biker Juano (Diego Andrés Paredes), who introduces the privileged kid to black metal and his first flutterings of true friendship, love and attraction (7 Mar).
For local film-fans, ¡Viva! is the perfect opportunity to see great movies that are unlikely to find their way to your local cinema. And for the Cornerhouse itself, this weekender marks the end of an era as it prepares to finally close its doors in April. No need to get too teary-eyed, though: the second ¡Viva! weekender takes place at HOME in June, with a third gala programme set to be unveiled for the autumn. Keep your eyes and ears open for further details in The Skinny.