Created in 2010 with the purpose of boosting and spreading Spanish films and shorts made by women, Mujeres de Cine is made possible by SPAIN arts & culture. Four films will be screened as matinees at 2 pm on select Saturdays between July 14 and August 25.
Saturday, July 14, 2 pm: Dancing Beethoven, directed by Arantxa Aguirre
Saturday, July 28, 2 pm: Most Beautiful Island, directed by Ana Asensio
Saturday, August 11, 2 pm: Júlia Ist, directed by Elena Martin
Saturday, August 25, 2 pm: Summer 1993, directed by Carla Simón
ABOUT THE FILMS
Dancing Beethoven, a 2016 documentary by Arantxa Aguirre, is an immersive look at the staging of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony by the Béjart Ballet of Lausanne, France. The Béjart troupe dances with the Tokyo Ballet with music by the Philharmonic Orchestra of Israel. The international collaboration creates a spellbinding performance of movements that give physical expression to four movements from Ludwig van Beethoven’s classical masterpiece composed between 1822 and 1824. (Not rated | 2016 | 1 hour, 19 minutes)
Watch the trailer for Dancing Beethoven:
Most Beautiful Island is a psychological thriller set in the world of undocumented female immigrants hoping to make a life in New York City. Shot on Super 16mm with an intimate, voyeuristic sensibility, the film chronicles one harrowing day in the life of Luciana, a young immigrant woman struggling to make ends meet while striving to escape her past. As Luciana’s day unfolds, she is whisked, physically and emotionally, through a series of troublesome and unforeseeable extremes. Before her day is done, she inadvertently finds herself a central participant in a cruel game where lives are placed at risk, and psyches are twisted and broken for the perverse entertainment of a privileged few. (Not rated | 2017 | 1 hour, 20 minutes)
Watch the trailer for Most Beautiful Island:
Júlia Ist follows a 21-year-old architecture student from Barcelona, decides to spend an Erasmus grant study-abroad year in Berlin. Once there, in a cold, gray city, alone for the first time, she must compare her expectations—and her own self-perceptions—with reality. (Not rated | 2017 | 1 hour, 30 minutes)
Watch the trailer for Júlia 1st:
In Summer 1993 six-year-old Frida looks on in silence as the last objects from her recently deceased mother’s apartment are placed in boxes. Although her aunt, uncle, and younger cousin Anna welcome her with open arms, it’s only very slowly that Frida begins to get used to her new home in the countryside. Striking a careful balance between narrative and atmosphere, writer-director Carla Simon paints a vivid portrait of a light-filled summer when a little girl has to face the loss of her mother and integration into a new nuclear family. (Not rated | 2017 | 1 hour, 36 minutes)
Watch the trailer for Summer 1993:
