TUESDAY, MARCH 29

On Screen: 4:30pm or 7:30pm (You Pick!)

Reading Town Square Cinemas, Auditoriums 14 & 8

Cinema Chat and Introduction begins 30 minutes prior to screenings

Discussion follows screenings

Academy Award Shortlist, Best Foreign Language Film

Oscar Submission from Ireland

VIVA

An Irish film shot in Cuba, in Spanish, this rousing cross-cultural crowd-pleaser is set in Havana, in what one character aptly calls "the most beautiful slum in the world." In a drag club in the city, we meet impoverished 18-year-old hairdresser Jesus (Héctor Medina), who helps with the wigs of the drag performers, and dreams of taking the stage himself. His first performance is disrupted by a rugged, unruly man in the audience—Jesus' father, an ex-boxer just out of prison, whom he hasn't seen for 15 years.

The macho, homophobic father insists on moving in with his effeminate, abandoned son, and thus begins a remarkable father and son story; stirring, tender and unexpected. Paddy Breathnach's irresistible movie was the surprise hit of the Telluride Film Festival. In Héctor Medina, he has discovered an extraordinary talent, while the father is played by veteran Jorge Perugorría, who starred in the groundbreaking Cuban classic Strawberry and Chocolate more than 20 years ago.

"A genuine crowd-pleaser. All of the performances... are pitch perfect." Stephen Farber, Hollywood Reporter

Running Time: 100 Minutes. Rated R for language throughout, sexual content and brief graphic nudity

PLEASE NOTE: VIVA is in Spanish with English Subtitles

ALSO PLEASE NOTE: The film contains strong language and some sexually graphic images.