ImageOut on Campus: Maspalomas

Register

Join the Paul J. Burgett Intercultural Center, the Student Activities Board, and ImageOut for a film screening of Maspalomas. Doors open at 8:30 PM and the movie will begin at 8:45 PM. Enjoy free popcorn, and a cookie reception prior to the movie. Don't forget to join us earlier for a screening of Patty is Such a Girly Name at 6:00 PM.

Get Free Tickets
All University of Rochester students, faculty, and staff are eligible for free tickets. Visit https://l.ead.me/maspalomasmoviescreening, click on "order tickets", and choose the bottom most ticket option.

About the Film

On the surface, Vicente (José Ramón Soroiz Ormazabal) has a comfortable life. He is an openly gay man with friends and, despite a recent breakup, a comfortable life in the tourist resort of Maspalomas on the island of Gran Canaria. He meets men for casual sex. Being seventy-six years old does not seem to have slowed him down much. And yet, one day a stroke changes the trajectory of his life. 

As a result, Vicente is moved to a nursing home in his hometown of San Sebastián, in Northern Spain. His daughter Neara (Nagore Aranburu) has chosen to place her father in the nursing home, attempting to get him care despite his abandonment of her and mother years earlier.  He finds the nursing home stifling and conservative. He will not tell the other residents about his life. He believes they will not be understanding, but the staff might be different. This is in line with his approach of not explaining anything to anyone. This effectively puts him back in the closet.

Now that father and daughter are in the same town, Vicente must contend with that familial dynamic. This includes a grandson he did not know about. Also looming on the horizon and a few months away is the Covid outbreak. All these elements eventually combine to force Vicente to choose which path to take. Does he rebuild his life, or does he stay sullen and alone in his room, metaphorically and otherwise. 

Maspalomas is a touching yet resolute portrayal of aging, sexuality, and acceptance. In addition, it deals with isolation, self-imposed and from outside one’s control. Directed by Jose Mari Goenaga and Aitor Arregi, and an award-winning performance by Ormazabal, whose eyes in the film are their own narrator. The film shows that self-reinvention occurs not at one certain age, but continuously throughout life.  

Paul J. Burgett Intercultural Center | Website | View More Events
Co-hosted with: Student Activities Board