What to do in Madrid this week: LesGaiCineMad, ‘True West’, MADn Circus, Sui Generis…

The actress Youn Yuh-jung is the protagonist of this edition of the Korean Film Festival, whom we know from films like fire woman, housemaid either Minari, history of my family. For the latter, she won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress in 2021, so if you didn’t have the chance to see her on her day, this week you have a new opportunity to enjoy her on the big screen at the Ideal Cinemas. Beside Minari, history of my familyfour other titles starring the revered South Korean performer (fire woman, Grandma Gye Chun, The Bacchus Lady, nest of vipers) and the independent film short Women of the Forest.

Making Greek mythology interesting to 13-year-olds is quite a challenge. But an even greater challenge is to turn the tragedy of Antigone in comedy, being a story in which one death after another happens and the drama only increases in intensity. However, the Companhia do Chapitô already has in its curriculum the adaptations of Oedipus Y electra, which are not far behind when it comes to tragedies. With this third incursion into mythology they want to value the social questioning that a story like the one about Antigone he poses to us, giving a twist to his argument to provoke in the public, not only reflection, but also a good handful of laughs.

It has been almost 15 years since he left us, but the mark of Fernando Fernán Gómez continues to be indelible. This month, the SGAE, hand in hand with the family of the actor, director and writer, pays tribute to him with an exhibition that covers his life and his work, stopping at some of his most important milestones. In the exhibition you can see posters of his films, original scripts, scripts, playbills and several of the awards that he won throughout his extensive career, including the Goya for Best Director for the journey to nowhere. Fernán Gómez acted in more than 200 films and directed another 30, and several of his personal objects will also be exhibited in this careful exhibition, as well as the props of some of his most famous interpretations, such as the armor of Don Quixote rides again or the cane Grandpa.

The Madrid International LGBTI+ Film Festival celebrates its 27th edition and on its poster it wanted to pay tribute to the director and screenwriter Roberto Pérez Toledo, who passed away at the beginning of this 2022. Among the premieres of the festival stand out the agitators by Marco Berger, wilderness by Bretten Hannam, Framing Agnes of Chase Joynt or the documentary the hidden memory by José Luis Pecharromán, about the experience of four people from the LGBTIQ+ community during the end of the Franco regime and the Spanish transition. In addition, the festival will award its Honor Award to the actor Eusebio Poncela, a visible reference for the group and an essential actor in Spanish cinema. In collaboration with Filmoteca Española and Cine Doré, they will celebrate their 50 years of career with a session in which they will screen killer week by Eloy de la Iglesia in a version that includes the fragments eliminated at the time by the Francoist Censorship Board.

Two brothers who have not seen each other for years, a family home in the middle of the desert and a film script that will test the rivalry that has been forging between them over time. The tension is palpable from the first scene of this black comedy by American playwright Sam Shepard, which now comes to Naves del Español in the adaptation by Eduardo Mendoza, directed by Montse Tixé. Envy and contempt mix with the admiration and affection that both profess for each other, generating a destructive dynamic that will lead to a cathartic outcome. Tristán Ulloa plays Lee and Kike Guaza plays Austin, two characters who, deep down, could be the two sides of the same coin.

Discovering new worlds, imagining others and stimulating their curiosity and critical spirit are some of the best reasons for the little ones to go to the cinema. my first film festival makes it easy with a program specially designed for them, in which, in addition to movies and short films, there will be workshops documentary film, stop motion, interpretation or optical toys. Organized by MODIband, the festival will bring films such as Oink! —which opens this edition and will be attended by the film’s animator Marike Verbiest—, Yuku and the Himalayan flower, Gabi, from 8 to 13 years old or the collection of stories of The beauty of life. And as in every edition, girls and boys will be the ones who decide with their vote the prizes of the public of the festival.

Some of the best contemporary circus proposals will meet in Madrid over the next few weeks. MADn Circus Festival celebrates its eighth edition, in which 13 national and international companies will fill the streets, squares and theaters of the Fuencarral-El Pardo, Tetuán and Vallecas districts with their shows. With innovative proposals such as those of the companies La Triochka, PuntoCero Company, Les Invendus, Cie. Defracto or Cia. Madame Gaüc, among many others, the objective of this festival is to bring the most current circus closer to the public and banish old beliefs and stereotypes regarding this discipline, showing its richness and versatility in shows for all types of audiences.

The Sui Generis Madrid platform has been promoting alternative culture for years (with a focus on the Gothic subculture, Romanticism and mystery) through different events that seek to encourage reading, always linking books with other arts such as cinema, music or fashion. During the months of November and December they celebrate their very interesting festival, which this year is dedicated to magical thinking, which we really need to survive these dark times. Its programming is full of gems, but we will highlight three: the meeting between Mariana Enríquez and Cat Rambo —who will talk about fantastic and horror literature—, the V Mystery Room —which will feature the presence of Aldo Linares, Servando Rocha or Pablo Raijenstein , among other guests— and the round table science versus spiritualitywhich will take place at the National Museum of Natural Sciences.