To Die (Or Not)

The eroticism exudes in the eleven interconnected stories that recount difficult relationships and violent sexuality

Spanish director Ventura Pons returns to documentary filmmaking with this study of world-renowned museum expert Ignasi Millet. HIV-positive yet promiscuous, accustomed to opulence yet now struggling to endure Spain’s economic crisis, Ignasi is a fascinating set of contradictions — and Pons’ film is a portrait of both the man and his times.

The lower part of Barcelona’s best district is a quiet and stately neighbourhood. The House of Columns hides many secrets, and has witnessed many events. The Catalan capital’s multiculturalism has a lot to offer. It’s better to laugh than to cry!

A family seen at two different periods, some 40 years having passed between the two. A dysfunctional family marked by what used to be called an ugly illness, cancer and death. The characters quarrel, hate each other, and refuse to accept in their predecessors what they will eventually, inevitably repeat in themselves. A family marked by relations of rejection, love and hate of the other, the upstairs neighbors, those strangers from a far-off land, Andalusia in the 1960s, Morocco at present, who will also form part of this repetitive game that is life. To what point is everything a metaphor or symbol of our society? Are we really strangers to ourselves?

This film evokes Valencia illegal gaming back in the seventies. A young peasant -Ferran- plays cards not much to make a living but as a distraction of his daily routine. Ferran meets a larger-than-life character -el chino- who happens to play cards for a living. This other guy is depicted as a Toni Manero look alike but his charisma an arrogance lead the innocent Ferran to join him in his schemes to make money to end up betting all on the next card table. At some point the action moves to Madrid and Ferran steps down losing track of El chino who takes on more dangerous games making a living out of Russian Roulette until the round gets loaded. Based on real events this is no Hollywood epic but it captures the desperation of the characters very effectively.

Young aspiring pianist attracts attention of famous musicians. Chance encounters bring them together but expectations must be managed by all.

Berenguer wants to be an actor. He fights with all his strength, but it’s not an easy profession for youngsters. His grandfather, an authoritarian patriarch, is against Berenguer's "misguided passion": he only enjoys bringing home young mulato girls. An accident will knock him down. In Los Angeles, Berenguer will search for a secret buried during many years. Will this trip change his fate, his way of understanding the world and the land where he was born, and his own life? It will be a short and powerful emotional journey full of smiles and some tears.

Based on a work of Josep Maria Benet i Jornet entitled "Testament", the film tells the story of an aging professor of medieval literature with the dilemma of deciding who will inherit his essay on "The Book of friend and loved" by Ramon Llull. Feeling near death as a result of illness, he discovers that the ideal person is a young and intelligent student he is in love with and who is dedicated to male prostitution.

The film takes on a trip through a lively metropolis on the eve of a major holiday, witnessing the love lives, family situations, gender confusion and even a diamond traffic ring uniting some 14 different characters. They all have something in common - they're after love, money, live in or visit the same luxury apartment building, and speak Catalan, in the pulsating and hallucinating Barcelona of the 1990s.

A swim instructor dealing with a child terrified of the water is accused of inappropriate behavior -- but the stories offered don't line up, leaving parents suspicious and doubtful.