"In
1936, three children, in a violent environment brought on by the
Spanish Civil War, watch in horror as one of their playmates avenges
his father's murder by killing the executioner's son. Distraught
by his deed, the boy kills himself. This act haunts the remaining
children for the rest of their lives. Several years later, they
are reunited in a sanatorium. Francisca attends the sick and dying.
Tur, afraid of being abandoned by God, has become a religious fanatic,
driven to self-flagellation for his unnatural attraction to Ramallo.
And Ramallo boasts of his sexual exploits with women to the other
boys in the ward, but is actually being kept by an older man. Like
a scream caught in the throat, The Sea is a quiet, surreal vision
of pent up sexuality, religious fanaticism, and the horrors of the
body." (The San Francisco International Lesbian and Gay Film Festival)
Preceeding The Sea is Pantalones, a short which won Spain's Goya
Award and the Audience Award at many L&G film festivals around the
world.
Sponsored by the Embassy of Spain
El mar (The Sea)
Dir. Agusti Villaronga
(1999/Spain/35mm/107min)
Pantalones
Dir. Ana Martinez
(2000/Spain/35mm/4min)
"In
1936, three children, in a violent environment brought on by the
Spanish Civil War, watch in horror as one of their playmates avenges
his father's murder by killing the executioner's son. Distraught
by his deed, the boy kills himself. This act haunts the remaining
children for the rest of their lives. Several years later, they
are reunited in a sanatorium. Francisca attends the sick and dying.
Tur, afraid of being abandoned by God, has become a religious fanatic,
driven to self-flagellation for his unnatural attraction to Ramallo.
And Ramallo boasts of his sexual exploits with women to the other
boys in the ward, but is actually being kept by an older man. Like
a scream caught in the throat, The Sea is a quiet, surreal vision
of pent up sexuality, religious fanaticism, and the horrors of the
body." (The San Francisco International Lesbian and Gay Film Festival)
