This year’s Spanish submission for the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar is a 1920s, silent-set reworking of the Brothers Grimm fairytale “Snow White,” offset by punchy Flamenco rhythms and full of imagination. Rejected at birth by her father, Carmencita (Macarena Garciá) is raised by her grandmother. But when her grandmother dies, the poor dark-haired maiden is sent to the lower depths of her evil stepmother’s villa. Maribel Verdú ("Y Tu Mamá También") gives an ingeniously smart, campy performance as the villainess, hell-bent on keeping Carmencita from Prince Charming—here a bullfighting dwarf!—and thwarting her dreams of becoming a matador. (90 mins.)

“While Michel Hazanavicius’s Oscar winner, 'The Artist,' was a playful valentine to pre-talkies Hollywood, Spanish writer-director Berger’s inventive Andalusian tale is a love letter to 1920s European silent film, effortlessly mixing humor and melodrama in delightful fashion.”—Hollywood Reporter

Selected Filmography: Torremolinos 73 (03)

Showtime: 2/7, 7:30 p.m. | Newmark Theatre

One of the region’s most culturally diverse arts events, the Portland International Film Festival offers a broad mix of new international feature films, shorts, documentaries, and visiting artists, including submissions for the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar and works by New Directors. Over the last 35 years, the Festival has provided diverse and innovative films to an audience of more than 35,000 annually from throughout the Northwest.

Opening Night Film & Party
The Northwest Film Center, with support from The Paul G. Allen Family Foundation and Mercedes-Benz of Beaverton, invites you to join us after the screening at the Newmark Theatre for our Opening Night Party, hosted by Stella Artois and King Estate Winery. Opening Night Film & Party tickets: $30 general, $25 Silver Screen Club Friend and Portland Art Museum members. There is a $3 fee per ticket. Tickets purchased online will be held at will call the night of the show. Your 'print-at-home' ticket is your receipt. For more information, please visit the PIFF website.