¡Viva! Presents New Spanish Cinema: Preview

“Do you know what he did, your cunting son?” Not a line you’d expect from a stop-motion claymation directed by a veteran of Wallace and Gromit animation-house Aardman, but you’ll find it, along with plenty of other blush-inducing lines and copious scenes of inventive violence, in the gloriously dark comedy Pos eso (6&7 Nov), directed by Samuel Ortí Martí aka SAM.

The film, one of the absolute must-sees from HOME’s latest ¡Viva! weekender, follows the familial strife of a flamenco superstar, Trini, who’s slowly coming to the realisation that her son, Damian (of course), may be possessed by the devil. Her only hope is Father Lenin, a priest losing his faith.

If you haven’t guessed from that description, Pos eso is a cheeky riff on The Exorcist by way of The Omen, but SAM packs in plenty of other references to keep things surprising, from A Trip to the Moon to Raiders of the Lost Ark.

Family discord is also at the heart of festival opener film Felices 140 (5&9 Nov). This biting moral comedy concerns a 40th birthday celebration that turns nasty when the birthday girl reveals to the gathered guests that she’s won the Euromillions jackpot. Soon friends and family are plotting how to get a share of the bounty. Puncturing the hypocrisy of the Spanish middle-class is director Gracia Querejeta’s speciality, and this is one of her most cutting efforts.

Requisitos para ser una persona normal (6&7 Nov) delivers comedy of the quirkier kind. There are shades of Miranda July in this debut from actor Leticia Dolera (she played the chainsaw-wielding bride in Rec 3), who also stars as a 30-year-old who's trying to fit in. Her plan for normality is a checklist that includes getting herself a job, a social life and – the requirement of any romantic comedy – a boyfriend. But who will she choose? The good-looking charmer, or her chunky best pal who holds her head under the duvet when he breaks wind? Dolera’s film doesn’t deliver many surprises, but it does have oodles of charm.

¡Viva! isn’t all laughs. Another highlight is Pablo Malo’s incendiary drama Lasa eta Zabala (7&8 Nov), which takes as its starting point the real-life assassinations of two Basque separatists by Spain’s state-sponsored anti-terrorist group GAL, and follows the ensuing murder trial, which the State tried to curtail. If you’re unfamiliar with Basque Country politics, fear not: Malo will be in Manchester for a Q&A after the screening on the 7th, where you can pick his brains.

¡Viva! will be reinvented next year as a multi-artform festival. Until then, enjoy this packed weekend of Spanish cinematic delights.