Instituto Cervantes de Manila is presenting the film cycle “Familia,” a series of Spanish films, this December at the FDCP cinematheques in Iloilo, Davao and Zamboanga.

The festival is also presented by the Embassy of Spain and the Film Archives of the Spanish Agency for International Development and Cooperation.

Kicking off the cycle is the surrealistic comedy “Familia,” directed by Fernando León de Aranoa. It is about a lonely man who organizes a surprise birthday party in his honor with professional actors featuring the members of his own family.

The movie was presented at the 1996 Valladolid Film Festival where it got the Audience Award and best new director. It won best picture in the 1997 Miami Hispanic Film Festival. De Aranoa later won the Goya for best new director in 1998.

The well-acted and poignant drama “Solas” (Benito Zambrano, 1999) tells the story of María (Ana Fernández) and her mother Rosa (María Galiana). María’s father, a violent, cruel, abusive man, has fallen ill and been brought to a hospital in Seville, where María lives. Rosa has been staying at the hospital with him, but the doctor tells her to leave before she falls ill herself. María takes Rosa to stay with her in the rundown suburban apartment where she lives.

Zambrano won the Goya award for best new director and best screenplay. The movie won the Audience Award in the Berlin Film Festival in 1999 and Best European Film at the Brussels International Film Festival in 2000.

“Un Novio para Yasmina,” a film directed by Irene Cardona in 2008, is a romantic comedy. Lola, whose marriage is on the rocks, speculates that her husband Jorge has fallen for Yasmina, a Moroccan immigrant who is in need of a visa to stay in Spain. Yasmina is in a rush to marry a policeman, Javier, but he is proving to be frustratingly slow at fixing a date. Meanwhile, Alfredo would be happy to marry … for love or for money? The film won the Audience Award in the 2008 Malaga Film Festival.

Directed by Mar Coll in 2009, “Tres Días con la Familia” is about Lea, who is compelled to return unexpectedly to Gerona (Spain) as her grandfather has recently passed away. There, she will meet up with her family, whom she hasn’t seen since she left to go abroad. The death of the patriarch of the family is the catalyst to force his descendants to get along.

“Familia” opened in Iloilo. It will continue in Davao (Dec. 11-14) and Zamboanga (Dec. 26-20).

All films will be shown in their original version in Spanish with English subtitles. Entrance is free but on a first-come, first-served basis. For further information, log on to www.manila.cervantes.es or www.facebook.com/InstitutoCervantesManila, or call 5261482.