Melbourne International Film Festival

FUTURES MARKET
Spain, 2011 (TeleScope)

 “A compelling meditation on dreams that doubles as an exposé of how cheap those dreams have become, Futures Market is a wise and fulfilling film.” – Variety

Rotterdam Film Festival Tiger Award winner (for The Sky Turns, MIFF 05) Mercedes Álvarez returns with a visually exquisite and meticulously composed filmic essay on the life of objects, and the trivialisation of dreams turned into merchandise.

Beginning with and pivoting on the meditations of Greek poet Simonides on memory, Futures Market ponders past, present and future as it contrasts trade in things with trade in futures. It follows objects, physical and immaterial, from their beginnings to their ends: real-estate salesmen peddling properties that don’t yet exist and stockbrokers frantically selling conceptual numbers through to the valued contents of a house as they end up in a trash & treasure market, ignored or – worse – stepped on.

These images are alternated with those of timeless artworks, Simonides’ reflections and the insights of inexhaustible nonagenarian market trader Jésus Castro, a junk seller who refuses to sell, and in doing so they offer an elegant comment on commercialism versus spirituality, timely its exploration of the financial currents running through contemporary Europe.

More information: http://www.futuresmarket.es/

[REC] GENESIS
Spain, 2012 (Night Shift)

“[REC] Genesis is possibly the sweetest, most endearing film I’ve seen in quite some time; throat rips, chainsaws, gut munches and vicious possessed included.” – Fangoria

Paco Plaza (co-director, [REC], [REC] 2) directs this ‘rom-zom-com’ – the third instalment in the series that goes back to where the infection of the other films began: a wedding.

Everything appears to be running smoothly for Koldo and Clara’s big day, until some guests show signs of a strange illness. Then the gates of hell are opened; the bride and groom get separated, and so begins their desperate search to reunite. Until death do they part… supposedly.

In an audacious rewriting of his own rules, Plaza ditches the found footage format 20 minutes into the action, taking the franchise into new, uncharted territory as it becomes equal parts terrifying and gruesomely funny.

“You haven't lived until you've seen a gorgeous Spanish woman destroy devil zombies while wearing a bloody bridal gown with red thigh garter in full view.” – Fearnet

Screens with Perished (Australia, 16 mins).

More information: www.recoficial.com

7 DAYS IN HAVANA
Spain/France, 2012 (Through the Labyrinth: New Latin American Cinema)

“The seven films present a rich, vivid and pointedly non-stereotypical view of the energetic and diverse culture of the Cuban capital.” – The List

Seven directors – Julio Medem (Earth, MIFF 98), Gaspar Noé (Enter the Void, MIFF 10), Laurent Cantet (Heading South, MIFF 06), Pablo Trapero (Lion’s Den, MIFF 08), Elia Suleiman (Divine Intervention, MIFF 02), Juan Carlos Tabio (Plaff!, MIFF 89) and Benicio Del Toro – each take on a single day within one week in Havana, to tell the city’s stories.

A young American is offered an unconventional tour of the city by cab driver; a beautiful Cuban singer must decide between a career in Spain and her boyfriend; a Palestinian writer assigned to interview a prominent Cuban figure wanders the streets of Havana as he waits for his appointment.

Featuring an eclectic cast that includes Josh Hutcherson, Daniel Brühl and Emir Kusturica, 7 Days In Havana is a slice of Cuban life that uncovers the diverse strata of this romantic, fascinating city.

CORRESPONDENCE JONAS MEKAS - JL GUERÍN
Spain/USA, 2011 (Films on Film)

“Reflections, philosophically and politically sophisticated, on the relationship of film to reality, time, place, memory and death mix with subtle, telling, elegant images to produce intellectually provocative cinema.” – Time Out London

An ongoing project of Barcelona’s Centre of Contemporary Culture, Correspondence charts the exchange of filmic “letters” between some of the world’s most revered filmmakers.

In this most recent instalment, Jonas Mekas, godfather of the American avant-garde, and renowned Spanish experimentalist José Luis Guerín (In the City of Sylvia; Memories of a Morning, part of Jeonju Digital Project 2011, MIFF 11) engage in a pointed, lyrical visual discourse on the nature of filmmaking and humanity’s ever-evolving relationship to the moving image. The result is a wide-ranging and poignant cinematic immersion that draws together the lives, careers and hopes of two filmmakers, so different in age, who share a need to find in cinema a language for expressing the ineffable.

GIRIMUNHO
Brazil/Germany/Spain, 2011 (Through the Labyrinth: New Latin American Cinema)

At 81, Bastu (playing herself) enjoys partying with friends ‘til the wee hours. One morning, she wakes to find her husband dead and is forced to rethink her life. Disturbed at night by inexplicable noises and convinced they’re the work of her husband’s spirit, Bastu packs his belongings and heads to her brother-in-law’s village, where she intends to leave them.

In following Bastu on her journey to the small village of São Romão, in the arid region of Brazil’s north, directors Helvécio Marins Jr and Clarissa Campolina deliver a magical and moving film. Girimunho reveals both the physical beauty of São Romão as well as the unique cultural traditions of its people. It’s an elegiac portrait that poignantly explores the relationship between tradition and contemporary life, reality and dream, life and death.

LAS ACACIAS
Argentina/Spain, 2011 (Through the Labyrinth: New Latin American Cinema)

“A little masterpiece of understated resonance and humility.” – The Independent

Middle-aged lumber trucker Rubén is tasked with driving country-woman Jacinta from Paraguay to Buenos Aires. Gruff and unchivalrous, Rubén is dismayed to discover she has a baby in tow. Jacinta’s attempts to engage Rubén in dialogue are practically fruitless and it seems it will be a long ride. However, this strained atmosphere slowly gives way to mutual connection and affection.

Quiet and emotional, Las Acacias is nevertheless a rigorous, eloquent slow-burner, conveying meaning via small moments and smaller gestures. Subtle camerawork and pitch-perfect performances give the film its overwhelming humanity, creating an intensely satisfying cinematic experience.

This debut by Pablo Giorgelli won both the Camera d’Or and the Young Critics’ Award at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival.

Event Details:

Melbourne
02 Aug to 19 Aug 2012