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Chico & Rita (Chico & Rita)

Fernando Trueba & Javier Mariscal
Spain, Great Britain / 2010 / 90 min / Spanish & English with English subtitles

Vibrant animation, passionate Latin storytelling and music from the greatest period of creativity in Cuban-American jazz meld to chronicle the musical romance between  Chico, a handsome piano player, and the beautiful Rita, an enchanting singer in 1948 Havana. But Chico and Rita’s love affair  sparks heartache and longing across the decades, as rum-soaked evenings lead to drastic decisions for the star-crossed pair, traversing the glamourous jazz clubs of New York City, Paris, Hollywood and Las Vegas. With animation design by Barcelona artists Javier Mariscal and Tono Errando and music orchestrated by Cuban pianist, bandleader, and composer Bebo Valdés, the film also features spirited re-recordings of standards by Nat King Cole, Charlie Parker, Chano Pozo, Dizzy Gillespie, and more, from a range of contemporary singers such as Idania Valdés, Carlos Sarduy, Horacio Hernández, Rolando Luna, Germán Velazco and Jorge Reyes.

Chico & Rita is one of the many films included in the catalogue of Spanish Film Club.

Fernando Trueba was  first a cinema critic for the newspaper 'El País', and also founded the journal "Casablanca". At the movies his first success was Opera Prima (1980) following the style of the "comedia madrileña". He had major success with Se Infiel y No Mires Con Quién (1985). In 1994 he recieved Oscar ® for Best Foreign Film with Belle Epoque (1992). After Oscar ® success in 1995 he surprised everyone with a Hollywood Comedy Two Much. He is well known as a music lover and he produced and directed some of most mesmerizing documentaries about Latin Jazz as Calle 54. With The Miracle of Candeal won the Goya ® for Best Documentary. In 2010, collaborating with Barcelona based graphic artist Javier Mariscal won the Goya for Best Feature Animation with Chico and Rita.

Goya ® Award Winner 
- Best animated featured film 

European Film Awards
- Best Animation Film

Anima Festival at Brussels 
- Best Feature Length Film

18th Stuttgart Festival of Animated FIlm

Quotes

"Sexy, sunny and sweet-natured, this lovely animation by filmmaker Fernando Trueba and artist and designer Javier Mariscal is a 1940s love story with all the brassy passion of a Barry Manilow number, set in the nightclubs of Havana and New York." -Peter Bradshaw, THE GUARDIAN.

"The year's best musica and one of the year's finest animated films, this utterly delightful Spanish movie is an affecting, funny, historically accurate and at times pleasingly erotic story of the on-again, off-again love affair " -Philip French, THE OBSERVER.

"The drawing is magnificent, with ravishing, detailed cityscapes of Havana, New York and Las Vegas." -Sukhdev Sandhu, THE TELEGRAPH

"A delightful blend of hand-drawn animation and CG style that'll be soul food for hopeless romantics everywhere." -Helen O'Hara, EMPIRE