The IFI is hosting the ¡Viva! Spanish Film Festival between 19th and 30th of March, and Gael’s film “Déficit” will be shown Thursday 20th March, 6.15pm, here’s the resume made for the movie:

Mexican star Gael García Bernal makes his initial foray into directing with Déficit, a seemingly straightforward story about a house party held just outside Mexico City. Taking his cue from films like Alfonso Cuarón’s Y tu mamá también (in which he co-starred), García Bernal examines the differences between the classes in Mexico.

Hip-hop-loving rich kid Cristobal (García Bernal) is having his pals over for a barbecue at his parents’ weekend home. His younger sister and her hippie, pill-popping friends are also staying at the house, and the clash between the two groups of friends is comic yet intense.

A terrible case of wanting to have one’s cake and eat it too is at the heart of Déficit’s social criticism. At first, our hero doesn’t seem so appealing. But what makes the film intriguing is its refusal to moralise. Cristobal is not so bad, really; just completely lost. An honest, sincere film, Defecit showcases a new facet of one of Latin America’s most inspiring young talents.

—Diana Sanchez.mexico • 2007 • subtitled • colour • dolby digital stereo
79 mins

The Campo Viejo Spanish Film Festival runs at the Irish Film Institute, at 6 Eustace Street, in Dublin’s Temple Bar district, from Wednesday 19th until Sunday 30th March. For more info or advance bookings, log on to www.spanishfilmfestival.ie / www.irishfilm.ie

There will be also a screening of Déficit Tuesday 25th March, click here for more information.