UB Festival Looks At Women’s Identity And Power In Contemporary Spanish Films

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- The UB Department of Modern Languages and Literatures will present its second annual Spanish Film Festival Nov. 6-7 in the Center for the Arts Screening Room (Room 112) on the university's North Campus.

Titled "La Mujer en el Cine Español," ("Women in Spanish Cinema"), the festival will salute the work of women directors in Spain and take an unflinching look at how women are represented in Spanish film.

None of the films have been shown before in this region. All screenings are free of charge and open to the public; there are no tickets for these events.

The films will be shown in 35mm in the original Spanish versions without subtitles. However, a detailed film synopsis in English will be available for each film.

What unites the films in this series is their concern with women as creative artists and as figures in motion pictures today, according to Elizabeth Scarlett, assistant professor of Spanish at UB and director of the festival.

"Two of the movies were made by Spain's most noted female directors: Pilar Miró, whose career was cut short a few years ago by breast cancer, and Arantxa Lazcano, who combines her interest in female adolescence with a focus on the Basque region of Spain, where many inhabitants seek independence.

"The final years of this century are a time of remembering and reckoning, and all three films, made in the mid-1990s, have much to say about what the 20th century will be remembered for," says Scarlett. "They also remind us of the issues that still must be reckoned with in Spain and elsewhere, concerning women in society and the separatist drive of ethnic groups living within larger states."

The festival is sponsored by the College of Arts & Sciences, the Office of the Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, the Department of Modern Languages and Literatures, and the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

"La Mujer en el Cine Español"

("Women in Spanish Cinema")

Saturday, Nov. 6

2 p.m.: "Los años oscuros" ("The Dark Age")

This 1993 film, starring Urte Ilunak and directed by Arantxa Lazcano, tells the story of a girl growing up in Basque country in the years following the Spanish Civil War and explores questions of Basque independence and identity, and the development of feminine identity. A roundtable discussion will follow.

N.B. Because a UB football game is also scheduled that day, afternoon parking will be restricted to the following lots: bookstore, Jarvis, Furnas and Hochstetter. The only entrances open to traffic will be Flint, Lee and Hamilton.

8 p.m.: "Nadie hablará de nosotras cuando hayamos muerto" ("No One Will Talk About Us Once We're Dead")

A 1995 film noir directed by Agustín Díaz Yanes features a stellar cast headed by two great Spanish actresses, Victoria Abril and Pilar Bardem. It is the story of a Spanish woman whose matador husband has been paralyzed in the bullring. Confronted by serious financial difficulties, she takes on the mob to deal with her family's predicament. The movie deals graphically with the themes of prostitution, organized crime and violence against women.

Sunday, Nov. 7

2 p.m.: "El perro del hortelano" ("The Orchard-keeper's Dog")

This 1995 film was adapted by Pilar Miró, Spain's most noted woman director, from a 17th-century Lope de Vega play. Set in 17th century Spain, it showcases sexual politics and the challenges facing women in positions of power. A female aristocrat has difficulty coping with her woman's heart and her unusual political power when confronted with loss of love.

Following the film, Claudia Schaefer, professor of Spanish and comparative literature at the University of Rochester, will present the festival's keynote lecture. She has written many books and articles on women in Spanish society in Europe, Mexico and Latin America. A public reception will follow.