Archive 2004
HOMMAGE EMMA SUÁREZ
Emma Suárez was born 1964 in Madrid, Spain. Her film career began at the early age of fifteen when she was cast for Miguel
Ángel Rivas’ play "Memoria de Leticia Valle". In the 80s she worked for the theatre and television. She played her first leading role in
1989 in Juan Minón’s "The White Dove". Her work with the great Spanish director Julio Medem brought her international fame. She
played in three of his films: "Vacas", 1991, "La Ardilla Roja"; and "Tierra", a powerful love story in which she works with actor
Carmelo Gómez. With Carmelo Gómez too she played in "El Perro del Hortelano", directed by Pilar Miró; a film version of Lope
de Vega’s baroque comedy. For her interpretation of Countess, Emma Suárez was awarded Spain’s highest film prize, the "Goya" for best
actress. For her role in "La Ardilla Roja" she received the Sant Jordi Prize from the government of Catalonia, the Cartelera Turia
Prize and the Spanish Actors’ Union Prize.
Emma Suárez is one of the most demanded actresses in Spain and she has proved her adaptability in various genres. Her film history
comprises far more than forty films
Filmography (Excerpt):
| 1990 |
|
Contra el Viento |
| 1991 |
|
Vacas |
| 1993 |
|
La Ardilla Roja |
| 1995 |
|
El Perro del Hortelano |
| 1996 |
|
Tierra |
| 1999 |
|
Sobreviviré |
| 2000 |
|
Besos para Todos |
| 2002 |
|
Dama de Porto Pim |
| 2004 |
|
Horaz de Luz |
Hours of Light (Horaz de Luz)
D: Manolo Manjí, E 2004, 98 Min, 35 mm, colour, ES
September 1987. During a confrontation with the police, Juan José Garfia kills three people in an action forever
etched on his mind. Condemned to over a hundred years, Juanjo is a rebel prisoner. One day he punches a hole in the
floor of a Black Maria and jumps out while it’s moving. Back in jail, he leads several riots, to which the
authorities respond with an experiment: they gather troublesome prisoners together and put them in special
confinement.
Amid this Hell he meets Marimar (Emma Suárez), a nurse with whom, despite barely being able to exchange a few words, he
shares the feeling of something special. They can only see each other once a month, in the vis-à-vis room.
Together they dare to dream of the future. But the future is always a long way off: today they’re still together
as the years of sentence continue to stretch ahead of them...
Contra el Viento (Against The Wind)
D: Francisco Periñán, E 1990, 89 min, 35 mm, colour, ES
In order to escape an incestuous affair with his sister, Juan leaves Madrid to go and work on the coast of Andalusia. Ana follows
him as she cannot stand being parted from him. Juan resists Ana and tells her to go. But Ana stays. When she meets the engineer
Petersen, she rejects him. Nevertheless, she moves into his house on the beach. When Juan visits her there to tell her once again to
go his former feelings flare up and the two are once more caught up in their fateful relation to one another.
Vacas (Cows)
D: Julio Medem, E 1991, 96 min, 35 mm, colour, GS
This first film of Spanish director Julio Medem tells in an original manner the story of the conflict between two Basque families
from 1875 to 1936. With an impossible love which crosses the borders between the clans, a boy and a girl, half-brother and half-sister,
try to end this never-ending fight. The conflict stands for the civil war in Spain. A family saga, a fairy tale with a surrealistic
touch and again and again those big cow’s eyes – Medem’s first film impresses us with its very own style, a style that soon won the
Basque film maker international acclaim.
La ardilla roja (The Red Squirrel)
D: Julio Medem, E 1993, 114 min, 35 mm, colour, GS
An attractive young woman loses her memory in a car crash. Rock musician Jota saves her life and tells her that she is
his girl-friend. But is he telling the truth or is he simply taking advantage of the situation? A quick-moving relationship develops, a unique
and and puzzling mixture of thriller, erotic love story and black humour. Julio Medem’s masterpiece and homage to Alfred Hitchcock
is dominated by "an actress who is cloaked in an enigmatic, erotic aura the like of which has not been seen in
the cinema for a long time." (filmdienst).
Tierra (Soil)
D: Julio Medem, E 1996, 118 min, 35 mm, colour, GS
In a beautiful region of Spain where the air seems to be electrically charged and where storms with thunder and lightning are commonplace
there is an odd parasite in the soil that gives the wine an unusual taste. That’s when Ángel comes to free the earth of
this pest. But he soon falls in love – with two women at the same time!; he is torn between way-out Mari and sensuous Ángela, who
lives with her family in one of the vineyards. Spanish director Julio Medem created in his film "Tierra" a bizarre and wonderfully wacky
cinematic highlight.
El Perro del Hortelano (The Dog In The Manger)
D: Pilar Miró, P/E 1995, 104 min, 35 mm, colour, ES
This is Lope de Vega’s baroque comedy with magnificent costumes and outstanding actors. Diana, the beautiful Countess of
Belfor, is in love with her secretary Teodoro. She rejects him since an aristocrat cannot marry a commoner, but she does not want to
give him up either. Jealous, she prevents him from approaching her maid Marcela. In a fit of rage she slaps Teodoro in the face and has
Marcela imprisoned. But rescue comes in the shape of Teodoro’s faithful servant Tristán.
I Will Survive (Sobreviviré)
D: David Menkes/Alfonso Albacete, E 1999, 102 min, 35 mm, colour, ES
José enjoys his life as a single; he likes airline stewards and invests a small fortune on the Madrid-Barcelona line. Single mother
Marga, José’s best friend, runs a video shop, loves "Breakfast at Tiffany’s" and dreams of a steady relationship. One day handsome
Iñaqui turns up, exactly the man for Marga except for one little thing – he’s gay. The fact that the man with the fiery eyes desires a woman
for the first time in his life irritates everyone. However passionate the affair is at first, it is built on sand because there are enough
gay competitors for Iñaqui’s affection.
Kisses for Everyone (Besos para todos)
D: Jaime Chávarri, E 2000, 101 min, 35 mm, colour, ES
Three medical students Ramón, Alfonso and Nicolás share a flat and work for their exams. But then Vicky and Marian, two night
club dancers, turn up and bring a scent of freedom and fun. When Ramón is introduced to a "respectable" girl, the result is fights for
the girls, fights with each other: in the end everything is confused, things look bad for the exams and the girls are out of work. But they
have learnt to stand up to the world.
The film won the "Goya" in 2001 for best director.
Sansa
D: Siegfried, F 2003, 115 min, 35 mm, colour, ES
Sansa roams / The world / Sansa is free / He runs / Gets arrested / Women protect him / From the whirlwind
of dreams / At every street corner / A symphony of Faces / Fantastic Encounters / Click, a brilliant violonist /
Music / Sucks Sanza / From labyrinth to labyrinth / He dodges...
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