Trevor Steele-Taylor
A FESTIVAL of Spanish cinema — to be attended by four leading Spanish filmmakers — will be presented as part of the fringe at the Johannesburg Biennale.
The programme comprises 18 films, including two masterpieces by Luis Bu-uel, Viridiana and The Young One. Winner of the Grand Prix at Cannes in 1962, Viridiana, the tale of a saintly girl who is abused by everybody she tries to help, features a rousing finale which parodies the Last Supper. The Young One mixes racism and paedophila as a gamekeeper on a deserted island pursues a fleeing negro while having carnal knowledge of his 13- year-old ward.
Other titles include:
* Pedro Almod_var’s high-camp What Have I Done to Deserve This? about a housewife at the end of her tether;
* Victor Erice’s The Spirit of the Beehive, in which a young girl becomes fascinated with Frankenstein’s gentle creature in the local cinema;
* Hurry Hurry, an adrenalin-pumping crime thriller from Carlos Saura;
* Julio Medem’s Berlin award-winner, Cows; and
* Gerardo Herrero’s thriller Shortcut to Paradise, starring Charles Dance and Assumpta Serna.
The festival will be attended by four of Spain’s leading filmmakers:
* Juan Antonio Bardem, who will present his classic tale of love and guilt, Death of a Cyclist;
* Pilar Miro, whose thriller, Prince of Shadows, stars Terence Stamp and Patsy Kensit;
* Gonzalo Suarez, who will introduce his film about Lord Byron, Mary and Percy Bysshe Shelley, and Frankenstein, Rowing in the Wind;
* Gracia Querejeta, whose film A Passing Season is about the mysteries of an old house.
The festival will be presented by the Spanish Embassy and the South African Cinema Foundation at the Seven Arts in Norwood from March 1 to 11.