09/03/2015 - The 18th edition of the gathering will open with Hablar by Joaquín Oristrell, and its Official Competition Section will include such titles as Jonás Trueba’s third movie

The Málaga Spanish Film Festival is about to reach adulthood as it turns 18 years old, and it is celebrating this milestone with a rich and varied programme that will mix mainstream films with alternative movies. On 17 April, Joaquín Oristrell’s Hablar will open this feast of titles that bear the “made in Spain” hallmark, and the gathering will continue until 26 April. Shot in a single take along a 500-metre stretch of the Madrilenian neighbourhood of Lavapiés, Hablar [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Joaquín Oristrell
film profile] features 20 characters chatting about their individual crises. Visitors will also be very keen to find out what Jonás Trueba has been up to since his hipster movie Los ilusos: he describes Los exiliados románticos [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Jonás Trueba
film profile] – which is in the Official Competition Section – as “a film about friendship”.

Andrés Luque and Samuel Martín Mateos will also be vying for the Golden Biznaga: following their Guts [+see also:
trailer
film profile], they have joined forces once again in Tiempo sin aire [+see also:
trailer
film profile], supported by Tornasol Films and Zebra Producciones. Argentinian director Alejo Flah (the screenwriter for La espera – read more) is making his debut, with help from LaZona Films (Spanish Affair [+see also:
trailer
film profile]), with his romantic comedy Sexo fácil, películas tristes [+see also:
trailer
film profile] (read more), and another promising career looks set to kick off in the Mediterranean city for Manuela Moreno, a multi-award-winning short filmmaker who has directed Cómo sobrevivir a una despedida [+see also:
trailer
film profile], starring Natalia de Molina (who was recently selected as one of the EFP’s Shooting Stars – read more).

Likewise, three restless actors who have already dabbled in short films will get the chance to show off their feature debuts: Requisitos para ser una persona normal by Leticia Dolera is produced by A Contracorriente films and Telefónica Studios, A cambio de nada by Daniel Guzmán has benefited from backing from Luis Tosar and his production outfit Zircozine (Aces [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Alfonso Zarauza
film profile]), and Zoe Berriatúa is presenting Los héroes del mal, a movie funded by Pokeepsie Films, Álex de la Iglesia’s company, which made its debut with Shrew’s Nest [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Esteban Roel and Juanfer An…
film profile].

Lastly, the 18th Málaga Spanish Film Festival will pay tribute to actors Antonio de la Torre, Paco León and Julieta Serrano, filmmaker Isabel Coixet and DoP Kiko de la Rica.

(Translated from Spanish)