Junio Valverde Movies

2008  
 
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A distinguished and openly gay chef from Madrid is forced to reevaluate his own morals and values when the children from his former marriage suddenly come knocking on his door and a handsome ex-football player from Argentina moves in next door. Maxi owns one of the most popular restaurants in the gay-friendly neighborhood of Chueca. But while Maxi is currently out of the closet, that doesn't mean that he doesn't have anything to hide. Years ago, Maxi fathered several children while involved in a sham marriage. Now Maxi's children want to get better acquainted with their long-lost father, but in order to truly connect with his kids Maxi will first have to come clean about his new lifestyle. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

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Starring:
Javier CamáraLola Dueñas, (more)
 
2008  
 
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A teenage boy who suffers from acute sensitivity to sunlight becomes the prime suspect in a horrific murder case after moving to a small village located in the mountainous region of northern Spain. Santi is a 16-year-old boy who lives in Barcelona with his mother, Julia. But while most folks who live in Barcelona love to bask in the golden rays of the sun, Santi has a rare genetic disease that causes him to suffer severe sunburn and eye irritation within minutes of exposure to ultraviolet light. Ideally, Santi would like to move to the shadowed town of Laponia in northern Sweden, but funds are tight and his mother cannot afford to make such a move. After a heartfelt discussion between mother and son, Julia agrees to move to Arrozas de Valdeon -- a remote village shaded by the high mountains on all sides. But strange things are happening in Arrozas de Valdeon; animals are disappearing, and rumors are circulating that something in the woods is responsible. One day, Santi witnesses the killing of a young boy. No one else was around at the time the murder occurred, making Santi the prime suspect in the eyes of the villagers. In order to avoid any further problems, local policeman Antonio asks Julia to keep an especially tight leash on Santi as an investigation gets under way. But Santi is determined to prove his innocence, and after making friends with a local girl named Angela, the pair sets out to locate the mysterious creature rumored to stalk the local woods. What Santi and Angela discover over the course of their investigation can only be described as tragic. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

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Starring:
Junio ValverdeMar Sodupe, (more)
 
2005  
 
Helmer Santiago Tabernero's coming-of-ager Life in Color (AKA Vida y Color, 2005) paints an enduring, vivid portrait of life in a Spanish village in the late summer of 1975 - at a juncture when color televisions were on the verge of appearing in middle-class homes, and the lives of citizenry on the verge of dramatically improving thanks to the impending death of fascist Francisco Franco. Tabernero filters his tender, nostalgic story through the eyes of a thirteen-year-old boy, Fede (Junio Valverde), who lives in the hamlet of Las Islas with his sister Bego (Silvia Abascal), his mother Sole (Ana Wagener), his father Angel (Adolfo Fernandez) and his grandfather (portrayed by Joan Dalmau) - a man who saves a bottle of champagne to gear up for the ensuing celebration of Franco's death. The sweet-natured Fede must contend with almost constant bullying by the punk Benito, and spends the majority of his extracurricular time with two friends: the quiet, introverted Sara (Nadia de Santiago) and her Down's-afflicted sister, Ramona (Natalia Abascal) - both victims of a mentally unstable, issue-ridden father. Tabernero sets about interweaving several stories of life in the village - the most intense of which involves the mysterious disappearance of a young girl from Las Islas. As lensed by ace cinematographer Jose Luis Alcane, the picture expressionistically projects the aesthetic overtones (bright, intense colors) of Fede's imagination onto the film's settings. ~ Nathan Southern, Rovi

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Starring:
Junio ValverdeSilvia Abascal, (more)