The 2026 HSBC Spanish & Latin American Film Festival has today revealed a first tantalising taste of its 29th edition, including an award-winning drama, a rom-com starring one of the most well-known Latin American actors, a historical epic, salsa documentary, and more.

Set against the backdrop of a corporate crisis, NOTHING BETWEEN US (Nada entre los dos) is an intimate and charming love story starring Gael García Bernal and Natalia Oreiro, from Argentina and Uruguay. In the first time the two popular actors have appeared on screen together, they star as colleagues on conference at a beach resort in Mexico faced with the fragile balance between personal freedom and social expectations.

The Festival Centrepiece is the highly awarded Spanish box office hit SUNDAYS (Los domingos), from writer/director Alauda Ruiz de Azúa, which won the Golden Shell (Best Film) at the 2025 San Sebastián Film Festival, in addition to five Goya Awards and five Feroz Awards. The quietly spellbinding drama explores a family in crisis after their 17-year-old daughter defies expectations and declares that she is choosing the life of a cloistered nun.

From award-winning director Alejandro Amenábar, comes the epic historical adventure THE CAPTIVE (El cautivo), the Festival Special Presentation. The ambitious and thrilling drama starring Julio Peña (Through My Window) and Alessandro Borghi (The Eight Mountains) follows a young Miguel de Cervantes, author of Don Quixote, who finds an unexpected refuge in the art of storytelling while imprisoned in 16th Century Algiers.

LA SALSA VIVE is a vivid documentary, from Colombia and the USA via Havana, that tells the story of two cities bound by the rhythm of salsa. From New York City, where the genre was born in the 1970s, to Cali, Colombia, the self-proclaimed “world capital of salsa” where it thrives with unmatched passion. The evolution of the genre is an illuminating journey of cultural heritage, music and dance, much like the global 1990s hit The Buena Vista Social Club.

Brazilian film ISABEL, direct from the 2026 Berlin International Film Festival, is an intoxicating drama imbued with wine. It follows talented sommelier Isabel (Marina Person, who also co-wrote the script) in São Paulo’s fine-dining scene who dreams of opening her own wine bar away from her controlling boss. However, she must balance following her passion with the realities of opening a business.

In a feel-good origins tale inspired by true events, ANOTHER LEAGUE (Pioneras: solo querían jugar) tells the story of a group of girls in the early 1970s who decide to play football in a country that does not see a place for them in the sport. Through the many challenges they face, they meet an ambitious promotor who is determined to change the story of women’s football in Spain.

For families and schools, there is the charming family comedy and Spanish box office hit MY AMAZING GRANDMA (Abuela Tremenda). Contrasting overprotective parents with the wild and carefree energy of a mischievous grandmother, three generations of women experience hilarious disasters at a rural farm. And fun is guaranteed in BEAR CLAW CAMP (Campamento Garra de Oso) in which two nine-year-olds race against time to save their summer camp, combining live action and animation for an exciting adventure about the power of friendship and teamwork.

The 2026 HSBC Spanish & Latin American Film Festival takes place nationally from 10 June to 12 July (dates vary) in Melbourne, Ballarat, Adelaide, Perth, Canberra, Brisbane, Sydney, Byron Bay and Ballina. The full programme will be announced, and tickets go on sale in mid-May at spanishfilmfestival.com.

2026 HSBC Spanish & Latin American Film Festival
Canberra 10 June – 5 July: Palace Electric Cinema
Adelaide 10 June – 5 July: Palace Nova Eastend Cinemas and Palace Nova Prospect Cinemas
Brisbane 11 June – 5 July: Palace James Street and Palace Barracks
Perth 11 June – 1 July: Palace Raine Square, Luna Leederville and Luna on SX
Melbourne 12 June – 5 July: The Astor Theatre, Palace Cinema Como, Palace Brighton Bay, Palace Church St,
Palace Penny Lane, Palace Westgarth, The Kino, Palace Balwyn and Pentridge Cinema
Ballarat 12 June – 5 July: Palace Regent Cinema
Sydney 18 June – 12 July: Palace Norton Street, Palace Moore Park and Palace Central
Byron Bay/Ballina 18 June – 12 July: Palace Byron Bay, Ballina Fair Cinemas
www.spanishfilmfestival.com

Reeve, who started his acting career in the theatre was plucked from relative obscurity by landing the role of Superman over a large number of Hollywood hopefuls including Neil Diamond! Landing this gig was a double-edged sword though and he suffered from being typecast as the man of steel for the rest of his active acting career. It forever limited him in the choice of acting roles offered to him.

The fame that came from being the lead in Richard Donner’s film as it became a worldwide phenomenon was overwhelming and Reeve did his best to enjoy the fruits of his labour, this was the seventies after all. He kept busy acting until 1995 when his life was forever changed after he was thrown from his horse during an equestrian event and was paralysed from the neck down.

It speaks to the man’s character that this event became the nucleus for his transformation into a full-time activist. His fight for expanded research into spinal cord injuries and providing aid to people with those injuries became his life’s work. His drive and determination were very impressive, but what’s most extraordinary about the Reeve presented in Super/Man is how much love and affection he instilled in his family. Their displays of emotion will warm even the coldest of hearts.
Rob Hudson
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Their hosts, a reclusive elderly couple, take a special interest in their young guests. As night falls the couple’s leering interest turns violent.

X stars Mia Goth, Brittany Snow, Scott Mescudi, Jenna Ortega and will be released in Australian cinemas March 24!

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They get to ply their trade delivering a script that doesn’t have a mean bone in its body. It’s quite refreshing to experience a comedy that doesn’t resort to the usual snide and put down ethos that seem to dominate the current crop of movie comedies.

The set up is certainly silly. Overweight high school geek returns as super buff superman CIA agent (who loves the film Sixteen Candles) and reunites with the only fellow student that treated him with any decency. Together they reconnect and save the world, of course!

Few comedies of recent memory have been this funny while also being this sweet. It was also cool to see Aaron Paul drop in the Breaking Bad phrase while playing the bad guy.

Rob Hudson
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Bad Boys for Life stars Will Smith, Martin Lawrence, Vanessa Hudgens, Alexander Ludwig, Charles Melton, Paola Nunez, Kate Del Castillo, Nicky Jam and Joe Pantoliano, and will be released in Australian cinemas January 16!
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THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW interactive screening with live Cards 4 Sorrow floorshow returns to Schonell Theatre, St Lucia on Friday 22 March.

Don’t miss a screening of the 1975 cult movie classic with live floorshow by local fan troupe Cards 4 Sorrow.

Whilst you watch the movie on the huge Schonell cinema screen, Cards 4 Sorrow bring The Rocky Horror Picture Show to life as an interactive floorshow on the stage below.

With Time Warping in the aisles! Dress up and sing-along!

“This is the ONLY way to experience this movie,” Fletcher said.

A 1975 British film starring Susan Sarandon and Tim Curry, The Rocky Horror Picture Show began its journey as a London stage musical before becoming the longest running cult film of all time. A box office failure upon initial release, 20th Century Fox re-opened Rocky Horror at midnight in April 1976 and it found its audience. People began attending the screenings in costume, and shouting out lines in response to the film dialogue. From this, the concept of a ‘floorshow cast’ began. Over the years, this idea has developed with groups now performing during the screenings. In character and in costume, the casts perform a live lip-synch floorshow on the stage in front of the screen whilst the film plays. Now, over forty years later, audience members are still flocking to screenings of the film all over the world. Nothing can beat seeing the film with a live cast in costume, and with audience members singing-along and shouting audience participation lines in time with the film.

Bookings are essential. Grab your fishnets and purchase your tickets now!

The Rocky Horror Picture Show Interactive Screening
Friday 22 March 8pm
Schonell Theatre, University of Queensland, Union Rd, St Lucia, Brisbane
Bookings: www.kristianfletcher.com

Moll (Jessie Buckley) is a girl with a past, one that is never completely explained. Her life is a dull one punctuated by vividly violent nightmares. She soon meets local Pascal (Johnny Flynn) in the small isolated island community they call home and sparks fly.

The film is geared to never letting you off the hook and its creepiness aids in both drawing you in and freaking you out. It establishes both these feelings very well. The story revolves around a series of gruesome murders that have rocked the community. Suspicion is everywhere but it is most intensely focused on Pascal, who has a police record.

This film excels at challenging the viewer to not sit on the sideline and establish a connection with both the characters and their actions. There is depth to be found but you must seek it out. The reward is well worth the effort.
Rob Hudson
www.facebook.com/IconFilmDistribution.Au

But the participants didn’t know that their VR experience would be cut inexplicably short – when they came face to face with a group of terrifying “nuns.”
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In the tradition of Amblin classics where fantastical events occur in the most unexpected places, Jack Black and Cate Blanchett star in The House with a Clock in Its Walls. A film for the whole family, this magical adventure tells the tale of 10-year-old Lewis, an orphan who is sent to live with his Uncle Jonathan in a creaky old house. But his new home is far from ordinary and soon reveals a secret world of warlocks and witches. The house is enchanted, and Lewis must join his uncle on a quest to discover the source of a mysterious ticking within its walls.

Based on the beloved children’s classic written by John Bellairs and illustrated by Edward Gorey, THE HOUSE WITH A CLOCK IN ITS WALLS is directed by Eli Roth and written by Eric Kripke (creator of TV’s Supernatural).

Starring Jack Black, Cate Blanchett, Owen Vaccaro, Kyle MacLachlan, Colleen Camp and Renée Elise, The House with a Clock in its Walls is in cinemas September 20.
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To enter this great competition just fill out the entry form below.

Competition will be drawn 17 September 2018, winners will be notified by mail.

Chased by a vengeful criminal and a gang of otherworldly soldiers,​ a recently released ex-con and his adopted teenage brother are forced to go on the run after finding a futuristic super-weapon of mysterious origin as their only protection.

KIN stars Jack Reynor, Zoë Kravitz, Carrie Coon, Dennis Quaid, James Franco, Michael B. Jordan and will be released in Australian Cinemas August 30!
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