A ground-breaking, moving drama about self-discovery and love across age, social, and national barriers, ANDER departs from conventional film portrayals of male homosexuality by focusing on a middle-age farmer living in a small mountain village with his sister and aging mother. Ander (Joxean Bengoetxea) runs the family farm in the Basque countryside, supplementing his income with part-time work at a bicycle factory. Shortly after his sister Arantxa (Leire Ucha) announces her upcoming wedding, Ander breaks his leg and is told by his doctor that he'll have to wear a cast for the next two months. Out of necessity, he hires a young Peruvian handyman, José (Christian Esquivel), to assist him. José's presence awakens strong undercurrents of desire which Ander is unprepared and reluctant to confront, much less accept. In an attempt to re-assert his heterosexual identity, Ander spends time with Reme (Mamen Rivera), a single mother who prostitutes herself to support her child, but he is forced to come to terms with his feelings for José once the latter announces his departure from the farm.
Filmmaker Roberto Castón, a native of Galicia, directed several short films prior to making his feature film debut with ANDER. He is also the director of Zinegoak (Bilbao's International Festival of GLBT Cinema). ANDER is the first gay-themed film shot in Euskera (the Basque language), originating as an initiative by the GLBT Basque organization Berdindu; funding came from EITB (Basque television), Basque government agencies, and a small number of independent producers.
ANDER had its world premiere at Zinegoak's 2009 edition, heading then to the 2009 Berninale and twenty other international film festivals worldwide since then. Although ANDER has played in movie theaters across Europe to the approval of critics and audiences, it has never been released in Spain.
All films are shown with English subtitles. Screenings take place in the auditorium of the Instituto Cervantes New York, 211 East 49th Street (between Third and Second avenues). Admission to the films is free of charge.
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