It’s a great time to be a cinephile in the Philippines, what with the recent capping off of the 18th Cinemalaya Philippine Independent Film Festival and the Korean Film Festival just last August. This October, Spanish and Latin American cinema take center stage with the return of the PELÍCULA-Spanish Film Festival following two years of virtual festivals due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The film fest will run from Oct. 5-16, holding free in-person screenings in three locations in Metro Manila, namely Shangri-La Plaza, Cine Adarna at the University of the Philippines, Diliman, and the Instituto de Cervantes de Manila branch in Intramuros.

PELÍCULA’s film lineup is a mix of comedies, documentaries, dramas, and classics. To save you from analysis paralysis, here are five films you can look forward to catching during the fest. Disclaimer: the film fest is open to all lovers and fans of cinema, even if you think you have zero or just an elementary understanding of Spanish courtesy of “Dora the Explorer.”

The films will be screened in Spanish or in their original languages with English subtitles. Tickets to PELÍCULA will be distributed for free on a first-come, first-served basis.

‘Competencia oficial’ (Official Competition)

This 2021 comedy film is directed by Gaston Duprat and Mari Cohn, starring Hollywood greats Penélope Cruz and Antonio Banderas. It follows the story of the affluent and aged Humberto Suárez (José Luis Gómez), who finances director Lola Cuevas (Cruz) to create a film based on a tragic novel that will star actors Félix Rivero (Banderas) and Iván Torres (Oscar Martinez) as brothers. However, rehearsals turn nightmarish when the two actors butt heads due to their different methods. “Competencia oficial” first graced screens at the Venice Film Festival and the Toronto International Film Festival in 2021.

‘El buen patron’ (The Good Boss)

Directed by Fernando León de Aranoa, 2021 comedy “El buen patron” stars Academy Award-winning Spanish actor Javier Bardem as business owner Julio Blanco. Desperate to win a Business Excellence award from a committee for his company, Blanco does the unthinkable and crosses boundaries, meddling in the lives of his staff out of desperation to solve issues among them. The film broke history after being nominated for 20 Goya Awards, known as Spanish cinema’s Academy Awards. It bagged six, including Best Director, Best Screenplay, and Best Actor for Bardem.

‘El olvido que seremos’ (Memories of My Father)

This 2020 historical drama centers on a Colombian author and his professor father who was murdered by paramilitaries for fighting for human rights in their homeland. Directed by Fernando Trueba, the film is adapted from Héctor Abad Faciolince’s “Oblivion: A Memoir,” a searing account both personal and historical in its telling of the life and murder of Faciolince’s father under the Colombian regime.

‘Muerte de un ciclista’ (Death of a Cyclist)

This social realist melodrama is one of director Juan Antonio Bardem’s masterpieces. Familiar? He is the uncle of Javier Bardem. “Muerte de un ciclista” follows the story of Professor Juan Fernandez Soler (Alberto Closas) and affluent married woman María Jose (Lucia Bosé) who are both in an affair with each other. While driving, the two hit a cyclist with the car, causing his death. Soler and Jose must now contend with their crime, their different responses to the death of the cyclist exposing their own place and privilege in society. This classic 1955 film went on to bag the FIPRESCI Award at the Cannes Film Festival in the same year.

‘Jinetes del paraíso’ (Horsemen of Paradise)

This 2022 documentary by Talía Carolina Osorio is set in the remote regions of Colombia, namely the paradise-like Plains. This land is declared as part of Colombia’s Intangible Cultural Heritage and serves as inspiration for the ranchers in the area and their songs. Grammy Award-winning rancher and singer Cholo Valderrama shines in the documentary, baring his universe to viewers by taking them on a cinematic cultural journey that’s filled with music, picturesque landscapes, riders, and horses.