ANTONIO DE LA TORRE

Saturday 10 April 2010  6:15 pm FAT PEOPLE
Sunday 11 April 2010 3:30 pm THE ISLAND INSIDE

Multi award winning actor Antonio de la Torre will present the films Fat People (Gordos) and The Island Inside. The acclaimed Spanish actor, Antonio de La Torre, is best known for his roles in Fat People (Gordos) , Volver, Dark Blue Almost Black, Island Inside (La Isla Interior). Dedication to his craft saw him gain 33 kilos to play the role of Enrique in Gordos and has resulted in critical recognition in the form of numerous awards and nominations. These include a Goya award for best supporting actor in Dark Blue Almost Black and a nomination for best actor for his role in Gordos. Other awards include best actor for Profilaxis in the Bajadoz Short Film Festival, Best Supporting Actor awarded by the Cinema Writers Circle awards, best actor for his role in Dark Blue Almost Black by Toulouse Cinespana as well as the nomination by the Spanish Actors union for his performance in a minor role in Mataharis.

 

JOSE ANTONIO SALGOT

Thursday 8 April 6:30pm MOTHER DEARLY BELOVED

Born in Aiguafreda, a little village in the Montseny (the Catalan Rocky Mountains), he has done almost everything except stowing away on an oil tanker, working as a KGB agent and being a singer-songwriter (which he says is his real vocation). We could highlight some of his jobs: semi-professional card player, comic illustrator (in Fotogramas), fugitive from military service, businessman, painter of pictures, painter of walls, art collector, novelist, advertising photographer, promoter of well-known venues on the Barcelona live music scene (La Araña, Nick Havanna, Zeleste 2), eternally unpublished poet, occasional hippy in Ibiza and Minorca, sheer hooligan in Cadaqués, writer of in-depth articles in Ajoblanco, substitute film director in Houston, TV producer.

A student of almost everything (he says that essentially he is a perpetual student), he has studied sociology, philosophy, business studies, graphic design, macro economics…he finally graduated in economics at the University of Barcelona and took his Master’s degree at ESADE, as well as a degree in graphics from the Eina school. He has never studied cinema except on his nights off, and there were never many of those. But one day he also became a film director. For practical purposes, he graduated at the 1st World S-8 Film Festival in Geneva, Switzerland, in the seventies.

His first 35mm short film, Madison, won the Sant Jordi Award from the Catalan government. His first feature film, Serenata a la Luz de La Luna, won the Ibero-American Festival in Huelva and the second, Mater Amatísima, went to the Cannes Festival (he stole it to present it for selection, as the producer was opposed to showing it) and won a lot more awards, coming between Godard and Fellini in winning the second Golden Camera from the Belgian film library, as the first winner was Godard and the third Fellini. The film was then also selected by the NEW YORK MUSEUM OF MODERN ART for its permanent collection (where it keeps company with illustrious fellows by the likes of Buñuel, Dalí, Almodóvar and Portabella) and it was distributed on what are called the “classic” circuits in the US. It was looking as if this film was going to become a cursed cult film, something which considerably worries Salgot, however fortuantely it has been digitalised especially for La Mirada Film Festival.

 

Friday 2 April 1:30pm TANGO, A STORY WITH JEWS

ROBLES DANCE ACADEMY

FABIO ROBLES

Fabio Robles had already attained the prestigious qualification of Maestro Superior de Danzas Folkloricas and was a registered dance teacher in Argentina when he arrived in Australia in 1981. He was 14 years old. Fabio Robles undertook his first professional dance tour with the Emilio Brizuela Dance Company at the age of 7. He subsequently won a scholarship to study for 7 years at Conservatorium Gatell (Buenos Aires Argentina). Recognized internationally as a virtuoso dancer of Malambo, Fabio pioneered Latin American Dance in Australia. Fabio has achieved recognition as the most outstanding Choreographer and Director specialising in Latin American culture. In 2002 Fabio was awarded by Her Majesty Queen Elisabeth the Second, Queen of Australia and the Prime Minister of Australia Mr John Howard a Centenary medal to mark Fabio's achievements for services to multicultural music and the Latin American communities in Australia. Most recently Fabio has won the Australian Tango Championships a number of times and came number 12th in the world at the World Tango Competition in Buenos Aires, Fabio has produced, choreographed and directed such stage shows as Dirty Dancing the musical, One night in Buenos Aires, Ole Ola, currently Fabio is a choreographer for “So you think you can dance” (10) and “Dancing with the stars” (7) Crowned king of the game by his peers, Fabio is the most recognized dance teacher, choreographer and director in Australasia.

ANA ANDRE

Exemplifying the new generation of Tango Dancers in Australia. Ana Cristina Andre studied Calisthenics, Modern Dance, Jazz,and Martial Arts. Ana eventually combined all her talents to provide a strong basis for Latin American Dance. She began her Latin American training with Fabio Robles at Back to Back Australia Latin American Performing Arts Studio, were she is now teaching and managing. In August 2005 Fabio Robles and Ana Andre were the winners of the Australian Tango Championships held at the Opera House in Sydney, and came 12th in the World Championship held in Buenos Aires. Fabio Robles and Ana Andre have been dancing Tango together since 2002 and are now, together recognized as the foremost exponents of the Argentinean Tango in Australia. Most recently Ana has joined the “Dancing with The Stars” TVhit on channel 7 partnering Red Symons.

GUILLERMO ANAD

Guillermo Anad is a composer and writer from Buenos Aires. He has worked as an orchestral musician (violist) in Argentina, Paris and Berlin and his compositions have been performed and recorded in Europe and the Americas. He is a specialist in both Argentine tango and Argentine literature and has published widely on both. His doctoral thesis explored the nexus of these two disciplines and explicated a new field of study: Tangografía literaria. His first book of poetry, Versos tomados, has been adapted as a music theatre work in Buenos Aires. He has produced and presented the radio programme La vuelta al tango en ochenta mundos for Radio Nacional Argentina. In 1998 he worked as a consultant to UNESCO in Paris for the Collection UNESCO Musique Traditionnelle du Monde and that same year was appointed a foundation member of the Cuadro Joven of the Academia Nacional del Tango in Buenos Aires.

Guillermo was recipient of the Paul Sacher Stiftung award 2003-2004 (Basel), where he researched the music of Alberto Ginastera. He has composed milongas to texts by J. L. Borges and performed with tango ensembles including the Mariano Mores Tango Orchestra and the Antonio Agri Ensemble. Other compositions include: Impromptu for bandoneón and symphony orchestra commissioned to celebrate the centenary of the city of La Plata, three pieces for cello and piano (based on poems by J. L. Borges), Milonga en re for solo piano and Elegy for woodwinds, piano and vibraphone.

Since relocating to Australia, Dr Anad completed a PhD at La Trobe University and taught studies in Spanish language, literature and society. In 2009 he was appointed the first international Académico Correspondiente in Australia for the Academia Nacional del Tango. Currently, Dr. Anad is co-writing a new Masters course for the ANU: Culture and Development in Latin America.

DR FAY BENDRUPS

Dr. Faye Bendrups is a composer, performance-maker and educator who works both in academia and as a freelance artist. She has researched extensively Argentine culture and society and is a specialist in Argentine Tango. She has developed an interdisciplinary project Takes Who To Tango with Australian and Argentine performers and researchers which has produced music theatre works in Buenos Aires, Melbourne, Barcelona and London, including Shades of Tango (2003), Perpetual Tango (2002), Versos Tomados (2001), Sindromtango: una opera grotesca (2001), Tango Oscuro (2000), and From Berlin to Buenos Aires (1999). In 2003-2004 she was recipient of the Paul Sacher Stiftung award at the University of Basel for research into the works of Alberto Ginastera. Her second opera Sindromtango: una ópera grotesca was written as part of a doctoral thesis on Argentine cultural expressions and presented in Buenos Aires in 2001. Her creative output includes 2 operas, 17 music theatre scores, 10 youth theatre plays, 3 film scores, and various song series.

SPANISH CUISINE AND FILM

Monday 5 April

1:30pm Spanish Feast
3:30pm A DAY AT EL BULLI

ABEL MARTIN

Abel Martin (Entre Tapas y Vinos). One of the greatest Spanish Chefs in Australia, Abel has worked with Internationally famous chefs, including Ferrán Adría, considered one of the best chefs in the world. In 2009, Abel Martín was La Mirada's invited chef for Spanish Cuisine on Film, cooking up his award winning traditional paella at La Mirada Lounge.

RAUL MORENO YAGUE

Raul Moreno, Australia's most acclaimed sommelier paritcipated in La Mirada Film Festival's Spanish Cuisine and Film for 2009 making a selection of organic Spanish wines.

Raúl Moreno Yagúe, was born and bred in Seville, Southern Spain. He started his career in hospitality as chef in Seville where he studied culinary arts. At the tender age of 18 he relocated to London where he pursued studies in wine as a compliment to his future culinary career, which would soon be eclipsed by a fervor growing passion and predisposition towards wine. In London Raúl worked for acclaimed chef Marco Pierre White at his signature restaurant Mirabelle and completed his trainee ship as a Sommelier.

A growing desire for seeing the new world lead him to the U.S.A. where he worked as assistant Sommelier at the prestigious restaurant Jöel’s in Atlanta, by Jöel Autunnes a French chef carrying 2 Michelin stars. A greater challenge to be pursued was Australia and Raúl relocated in 2003 where he work for successful restaurateur Paul Mathis as Head Sommelier at S.O.S restaurant from where he moved to work as Head Sommelier at Vue de monde restaurant.

Nowadays Raúl Moreno Yagúe is the director of a Spanish wine wholesale company called ‘Vinoteca Australis’ and a Spanish wine bar in St Kilda called ‘Entre Tapas y Vinos’ and is an active member of the Australian Sommelier Association where he is continuously organizing tastings and educational seminars.