When visiting Montreal, a French-speaking city, it’s apropos to see a Spanish-language film with English subtitles, right?

I’m officially here to cover the Festival International de Jazz de Montreal for a magazine, but on a free afternoon I walked over to Cinema du Parc, a gem of a 3-screen hub for arthouse fare. The theater, located underground in the Les Galeries du Parc shopping complex, offers adventurous films from around the world, comfortable seating, and a popcorn stand that also features coffee and sweet treats. All that and an art gallery on the mezzanine.

I caught “Official Competition,” a movie about movie making, with riotous, sharp performances by Penelope Cruz as a wacky, pretentious, self-styled “edgy” filmmaker and Antonio Banderas as a vain, arrogant actor. Are there any other kind?

It’s all big fun, with a smart and very funny script, and some sly commentary about the art and commerce of movie making, ably directed by Mariano Cohn and Gastón Duprat. I’ll return later with a full review.

And who doesn’t love a movie theater with a mission statement? Here it is: “As a social economy company, Cinema du Parc makes sure to select the best international films, bringing its favourite discoveries to its bilingual community of cinephiles from the Greater Montreal region.”

If I lived nearby, I’d be a frequent visitor. If/when I come back to Montreal, I plan to visit Cinema du Parc again.