Spanish film series on life during wartime.

Soldados de Salamina (Soldiers of Salamina)

On October 4th at 7:00 pm

Drama,119 min, 2003, by David Trueba.

When professor and writer Lola Sánchez is assigned to write a column in the newspaper about the Spanish Civil War, she researches and finds for the first time about the shooting of Rafael Sánchez Mazas. Lola has lost her passion for writing, and she becomes intrigued about Rafael, who was a writer and journalist that returned to Spain from the Italy of Mussolini and founded the fascist party Spanish Falange, becoming advisor of the leader Jose Antonio Primo de Rivera. When the lefts won the election in 1936, the Falange became illegal, and later there was a military coup d'stat. Rafael miraculously escaped from the shooting and was spared by an unknown soldier. Lola decides to write a book about the historic event and to disclose the identity of the unknown soldier. But her acquaintance Conchi advises that her work is affected by her lack of passion. When Lola reads a work of a student about the heroic former soldier Miralles, Lola becomes obsessed to find him and see of he is connected to the event.

Pa Negre (Black Bread)

On October 16 at 7 pm

Drama, 108 min, 2010 by Agustí Villaronga.

In the harsh post-war years' Catalan countryside, Andreu, a child that belongs to the losing side, finds the corpses of a man and his son in the forest. The authorities want his father to be made responsible of the deaths, but Andreu tries to help his father by finding out who truly killed them. In this search, Andreu develops a moral consciousness against a world of adults fed by lies. In order to survive, he betrays his own roots and ends up finding out the monster that lives within him.

El viaje de Carol (Carol's journey)

On October 23 at 7 pm

Drama, 103 min, 2002 by Imanol Uribe.

Carol, a twelve-year-old Spanish-American girl from New York, travels with her mother to Spain in the spring of 1938, at the height of the Civil War. Separated from her beloved father, Carol arrives in her mother's home village and transforms the secretive family environment. Her innocence and rebellious nature drive her at first to reject a world that is at once new and foreign. But she soon journeys into adulthood through a friendship with Maruja, the village teacher, and a young local boy, Tomiche.

La luz prodigiosa (The end of a mistery)

November 6 at 7 pm

Drama, 108 min, 2003 by Miguel Hermoso.

Joaquin comes back to Granada in the eighties trying to find out about something happened when he was a child and the Spanish Civil War was going on. He helped an unknown man who survived after being executed. He finds the man, Galapago, who is now quite old, poor and with almost no memory. Joaquin takes care of him and finds hints that point to Galapago as Federico García Lorca.

Bienvenido Mr. Marshall (Welcome Mr. Marshall!)

On November 20 at 7 pm

Comedy, 78 min, 1953 by Luis García Berlanga.

After finding out that North American people are visiting the Spanish villages, the citizens of Villar del Río start preparing themselves to welcome them when they arrive.

Un franco, 14 pesetas (Crossing borders)

On December 4 at 7 pm

Comedy/Drama, 96 min, 2006 by Carlos Iglesias.

Spain, 1960. Two friends named Martín and Marcos decide to look for jobs in Switzerland. They leave their families behind in Spain and head off on their journey to the free, progressive part of Europe. They will have to adapt to a very different way of life there, working as mechanics at a factory and living in a small industrial town. The arrival of Martín´s wife Pilar and son Pablo, and Marcos´girlfriend, María del Carmen, marks the end of the bachelor life they were living in a country with lots of freedom. Martín and Pilar´s everyday life is their work, while little Pablo starts going to school and making the new place his home. When Martin´s father dies, they realize they’ve already got what they went there for and it is time to return. Much to their surprise, going home is much harder than leaving was.

Venue

3150 Rue Jean-Brillant, Montreal, QC H3T 1N8

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Venue

University of Montreal, Pavillon Lionel-Groulx, 3150 rue Jean-Brillant, Montréal, QC H3T 1N8