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The Sex of the Angels

Written by Ana Maroto

Directed by Xavier Villaverde

Spain/Brazil, 2012

The Sex of the Angels concerns Bruno (Llorenç González) and Carla (Astrid Bergès-Frisbey), an attractive young couple whose relationship is changed by the introduction of street dancer/martial artist Rai (Álvaro Cervantes) into their lives. Sparks begin to fly between the two men, and they secretly begin a passionate, open relationship on the side. When Carla finally discovers, she is understandably upset, especially since Bruno apparently finds a unique freedom with the less monogamous nature of his Rai relations. After some soul searching, Carla decides she still loves Bruno and wishes to encourage his happiness, which eventually involves befriending and falling for Rai herself.

One commendation to throw the film’s way is that in its depiction of the complicated situation, it never reproaches bisexuality or depicts it in a sleazy manner as many filmmakers...

I can't remember a time I went to the Seattle International Film Festival (Siff) press launch and looked over the list of films and saw so many I was interested in seeing. The claim to fame for over the years is to call it the largest and most-highly attended festival in the United States. This is a fact I've often taken issue with as I don't equate quantity with quality. Granted, there has been a large number of quality features to play the fest over the years, including Golden Space Needle (Best Film) winners such as Kiss of the Spider Woman (1985), My Life as a Dog (1987), Trainspotting (1996), Run Lola Run (1999), Whale Rider (2003) and even recent Best Director winner, Michel Hazanavicius's Oss 117: Nest of Spies in 2006. That said, looking over this year's crop of films I see a lot of films I will be doing my absolute best to see.

Buyers and sellers found common ground at the 4th Lanzarote Spanish Film Screenings, where 60 preliminary agreements were reached for sales of the 94 films showcased at the event, organizers announced Monday. The organizers could not specify which companies were in talks, but said the main buzz was circling Fernando Leon's Mondays in the Sun, Xavier Villaverde's When the Bell Chimed 13 and Lluis Guell's Knots. Acquisition executives held more than 500 meetings and saw more than 203 screenings at event, which ran Nov. 28-30. As first-time attendees to the screenings, Latin American countries -- especially Argentina and Venezuela -- generated a lot of activity. At Lanzarote, the director of Spain's ICAA Spanish film institute, Jose Maria Otero, announced the government would limit the theatrical distribution in Spain of U.S. made-for-TV and video product by banning theatrical openings for non-European Union films that have been dubbed into Spanish, which have not already premiered in their home countries.