2015 Event overview

Full recap

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About the 1st edition

Amsterdam Spanish Film Festival exciting first edition, with a carefully-honed selection of cinema from Spain and Spanish-speaking Latin America, reflected the dynamism and creativity of Spanish Cinema in 2015.

ASFF provided a showcase of new trends in mainstream Spanish cinema as well as focusing on independent films. The festival enriched Amsterdam’s film culture with highly acclaimed films specially curated by Sin Fin Cinema that had gathered praise from critics and the public.

, chatting_credits: Hans Peter Schepp — Peter Greenaway and festival director Virginia Pablos

53 Creditos Carlota Varela — Jesús Castro and Nerea Barros

12513898_181121655605845_3122478396751490903_o — Nataila de Molina having fun with the audience!

34 Creditos Carlota Varela — Live Spanish music!

“Any festival like ASFF ́s that showcases Spanish talent and films is incredibly important and something that needs to be supported.” 

Peter Greenaway

Recap

This first edition opened with La Isla Mínima, one of the most awarded films in Goya Awards history, winning 10 statuettes at the annual Spanish Academy Award ceremony in 2015.

We were committed to bringing you some of the talents who have made these films possible. Among them Natalia de Molina who won the European shooting stars at Berlin International Film festival in 2015, presented Vivir es fácil con los ojos cerrados. Curro Sánchez, Paco de Lucia’s son, introduced his documentary about his father. Nerea Barros (winner of BEST NEW ACTRESS Goya Awards 2015) and Jesús Castro (nominated for the same category as an actor). Director Alejo Flah presented Easy Sex, bad movies, a film featured in Competition at Málaga Film festival that year.

There was a Focus Latino, showcasing the best of new Latin American cinema from that year, with a selection of films that gave the audience a glimpse into Latin America cinema.

We were also proud to present Spanish Cinema without Fear, a special film section which showed Spanish works that defy tradition, that have the courage to experiment with something outside and on the periphery of the Spanish cinematographic industry: films that are concerned with artistic expression and that go beyond the boundaries of traditional narrative. Some of the films in this section; Magical Girl, a deliriously stylised noir thriller from dynamic and underground young Spanish director Carlos Vermut, who won the golden shell at San Sebastian Film Festival in 2014. This marathon ‘without fear’ was closed with Videophilia (and other viral syndromes), the winner of the Tiger Award Competition at IFFR that year. Peruvian director JD Molero was present.

And finally, the best kept secret in the festival: the ASFF Surprise Closing Film rewarded the adventurous viewer with Eisenstein in Guanajuato. We promised to offer our audience something tasty and they could also meet the internationally acclaimed filmmaker Peter Greenaway of our surprise film, selected at Berlinale in 2015!

This 2015 programme set the screen on fire! Creating an exceptional atmosphere to catch up with the most inspiring and unique Spanish spoken films, in the two most beautiful and iconic cinemas in Amsterdam, Pathe Tuschinski and Eye. Spanish cinema, with wine, music and charming guests: it was an unique experience!