The films in Festival of New Spanish Cinema take an unblinking look at the lives of today’s Spaniards, complete with terrorist attacks, isolation, violence, love and humor. In Jose Luis Guerin’s In Sylvia’s City/En la Ciudad de Silvia, it’s desire vs. reality. The mostly silent film focuses on a man who sees a beautiful woman he once knew pass him on the street. He begins following her. She’s unaware of him, but he becomes more and more agitated, caught up in his own fantasies. When the two finally meet, the exchange isn’t what he had hoped for. Along with Sylvia’s City, more than a dozen films will be screened during the festival, including Daniel Sanchez’s tragicomedy Traumatology, and Carlota Coronado’s short film Libra. In Sylvia’s City screens today at 7 p.m. The festival continues through Sunday. For information, including screen times for individual films, call 713-348-4853 or visit www.ricecinema.rice.edu. $5 to $6.


Thu., Jan. 22, 7 p.m., 2009

This article appears in Jan 22-28, 2009.