Ibero-American film festival coming to Dublin

Dublin is gearing up to celebrate the 1st edition of the Ibero-American Film Festival at UCD Cinema.

The festival will take place from December 6th until December 10th.

Promoted by the Spanish Ambassador Ion de la Riva and curated by Federico Sartori for EXIT media, the festival will showcase a window into Ibero-American cinema.

Films from Spain, Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Cuba, Mexico, Peru, and Portugal will be shown at the festival, with an emphasis on emerging talents, debut features, and films with socially relevant themes.

The opening film is the unreleased Maixabel (Maixabel) by Icíar Bollaín, inspired by the true story of the Basque human rights activist Maixabel Lasa.

The film portrays Lasa’s decision to confront the killer of her husband face-to-face, who was killed by a commando of the terrorist group ETA.

Lasa herself will be in Dublin to engage with the audience after the screening on December 6 at 6:00 PM.

Films with socio-political themes are reflected in the festival line-up.

The Oscar-tipped 20,000 Species of Bees will be shown at the festival, with the film serving as Spain’s submission to the Best International Feature at this year’s Oscars.BrBacurau (Bacurau) by Brazilian directors Kleber Mendonça Filho and Juliano Dornelles.

Brazillian cinema will be represented by Bacurau, by esteemed directors Kleber Mendonça Filho and Juliano Dornelles

Dornelles will be in Dublin to present the screening on December 7 at 8:00 PM.

“Chile ’76, which highlights resistance against the ruthlessness of the Pinochet regime will also be on show at the festival.

Let the Dance Begin (Empieza el baile), a tango comedy by Argentine director Marina Seresesky, winner of the Audience Award at the 2023 Malaga Festival, and the biopic Virgilio (Virgilio) revealing the art of the Peruvian chef Virgilio Martínez, who created Mater Iniciativa, an ambitious project to map biodiversity in Peru.

Aside from newer films, the Evergreen section this year features the Mexican film “The Good Herbs (Las buenas hierbas)” by María Novaro, which won the Rome Film Festival in 2010, and the award-winning “Behavior (Conducta)” by Ernesto Daranas, which represented Cuba in the 2012 Oscars race.

António da Cunha Telles, a prominent Portuguese director of the Portuguese New Cinema is represented at the festival, with his 2014 film Kiss Me on show.

The grand finale on Sunday, December 10 (6:00 PM), features the captivating documentary “Tequila. Sex, Drugs And Rock&Roll (Tequila. Sexo, droga y rock&roll)” by Álvaro Longoria, focusing on the legendary Hispanic-Argentinian rock band Tequila.

The film highlights a significant era in Spain during the transition from General Franco’s dictatorship in 1975 to democracy, and the role the music played during that era.

For this special closing event, Alejo Stivel, the band’s singer, will be in Dublin to introduce the film.

All festival films are screened in their original language with English subtitles.

Tickets are available on the festival website.