KATHMANDU:

Films from Down Under are being screened at the Australian Film Roadshow that started on September 2. Films like Radiance, Love Serenade and Floating Life have already been screened as part of the roadshow at the Russian Culture Centre.

La Spagnola will be screened on September 5, which according to critic David Stratton is “a refreshingly different look at ‘new Australins’ in the early 60s”.

The year is 1960. Lola (Lola Marceli), a Spaniard (La Spagnola), is abandoned by her Italian husband Ricardo, Simon Palamares for an Australian woman. He leaves her pregnant and without nay visible means of support, expcept for her daughter Lucia (Alice Ansara). Her bitterness knows no bounds. She hounds Ricardo for money, mainly through Lucia, who idolises her father. Lucia begins to hate her mother but then life imporves with the arrival of her aunt, Manola (Lourdes Bartolome).

Actor Steve Jacobs’ directional debut, La Spagnola is elevated enormously by Jacobs’ visual flair and by the exuberant performances of many of the cast, most notably Marceli and Barolome.

Free passes for the screening avaiable at the Australian embassy, Himalayan Java and Jeans Café. Show starts at 5:30 pm.