AQA GCSE Spanish Foundation (Viva! AQA GCSE Spanish)

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Provides a seamless progression to our ¡Viva! GCSE resources for both the Pearson Edexcel and AQA GCSE (9–1) Spanish qualifications. We have a trio of fantastic dramas from Chile this year, including the passionately romantic film Los Fuertes, which breaks new ground in Chilean cinema as a charmingly up-beat, same-sex love story. Don’t miss our three post-screening Q&As with Spanish film makers, all taking place in the first week of the festival – returning guest Nely Reguera with La Voluntaria (The Volunteer) on Sat 11 Mar, Carlota González-Adrio with the UK Premiere of La Casa entre los cactus ( The House Among the Cactuses) on Wed 15 Mar, and Luc Knowles with the UK Premiere of Libélulas( Dragonflies) on Thu 16 Mar. Rachel: “I’d love it to be! ‘Mamma Mia!’ is a good comparison because the songs within the film are famous songs that Spanish and European audiences will be familiar with. The film was constructed around those songs to showcase them. It definitely has a ‘Mamma Mia!’ element for sure.” It’s a particularly strong year for Spanish titles, with eight films from Spain coming to our big screen in this summery edition. As well as visiting the sunny coast of the Basque Country with Nora, audiences can make their way to Valencia in Iciar Bollaín’s latest film, comic drama La Boda de Rosa then take a deep dive into post-dictatorship Spain with the epically proportioned and wonderfully absorbing documentary El Año del descubrimiento.

Viva! Segunda Edición provides a seamless progression to our ¡Viva! GCSE resources for both the Pearson Edexcel and AQA GCSE (9–1) Spanish qualifications. ¡Viva! gives your pupils a real taste of Spanish culture, with resources that bring language learning to life. Pupils establish good Spanish pronunciation and spelling, as key sounds of Spanish are introduced using phonics.

Other ¡Viva! 2020 highlights include the latest films from well-known Chilean directors Andrés Wood ( Araña) and Patricio Guzmán ( La Cordillera de los sueños), the Argentinian filmmaker Carlos Sorín ( Joel), and Spain’s Benito Zambrano ( Intemperie). Plus we’re proud to present nine debut feature-length films, including Ana García Blaya’s homage to her late father ( Las Buenas intenciones) and the dreamlike, tragic drama Canción sin nombre by Melina León. Full customer support throughout the subscription to ensure you and your pupils get the most out of the course. There are three premieres on Saturday, 7 August, including Valentina Reyes’ quietly moving drama Las Mujeres de mi casa, the sun-drenched road movie Nora, and the dazzling and surreal Mosh. The ¡Viva! film programme is curated by Rachel Hayward, Head of Film, Jessie Gibbs, ¡Viva! Festival Coordinator, and Andy Willis, Professor of Film Studies at the University of Salford and HOME’s Senior Visiting Curator: Film. With the support of the BFI, awarding funds from the National Lottery.

Tasks to help pupils build skills towards GCSE: role plays, picture‑based tasks, authentic and literary texts and translations. Rachel: “It impacts the audience in a really positive way. People know that they’re going to get the best film choices means they’re going to tell other people about the festival. We’re able to secure funding for when we get these big-name directors which help us profile ¡Viva! both nationally and internationally. Ensuring these directors have a really good experience in Manchester is hugely important.Pupil Books, also available as online ActiveBooks with access to audio, support logical grammar progression and good Spanish pronunciation, with differentiated Workbooks for practice. As ever, we highly recommend digging into the line-up yourself, with so many films on offer, there’s bound to be something to whet your appetite.

Over the next three weeks the venue will host several UK exclusive premieres as well as screening classics from genius film director, Luis García Berlanga. From Latin American cinema buffs to those who just want to see something fresh on the roster, there is a film for everyone on the line-up with the films covering a wide range of genres – coming-of-age dramas, capitating documentaries, and an explosive musical. This year, the festival features many familiar names in Spanish cinema including Ingrid García Jonsson, Blanca Portillo and Emma Suárez. Guests from four of the titles will give a post-screen Q&A to answer your questions about the films. Explota Explota is described as a “feelgood musical romcom”, do you think this could be the next ‘Mamma Mia!’? Extra focus on the grammar task in the International GCSE exam, and plenty of ‘Exam Hints’ throughout support students indeveloping their exam technique. ActiveLearn combines engaging front-of-class teaching resources with online homework and practice exercises, as well as planning and assessment materials to help monitor your pupils’ progress.

The festival is curated by Rachel Hayward, Head of Film Strategy, Jessie Gibbs, ¡Viva! Festival Coordinator, and Andy Willis, Professor of Film Studies at the University of Salford and HOME’s Senior Visiting Curator: Film. With additional programme support from the Instituto Cervantes, the Leading Women project funded by the AHRC, and the Invisible Women archive activist film collective. Rachel: “We’ve still got these repercussions of the pandemic so having international film is such a brilliant window to the world that we’ve not been able to explore. It’s a way to learn about history and culture. It’s also a great way to interrogate ourselves about who’s making those films – whose voices don’t we hear? We give opportunities to voice those filmmakers whose work is not necessarily shown, and signpost things to audiences that they might not know about. That worldview is really important I think.” Supports you to teach the skills students will need, such as translation and understanding authentic and literary texts, and will help you to understand what is expected at each tier in the linear assessments. Highlights of the line-up include No mires a los ojos ( Staring at Strangers), Félix Viscarret’s darkly comic film adapted from Juan José Millás’ novel and Carlota González-Adrio’s psychological thriller La Casa entre los cactus ( The House Among the Cactuses).