This 69th edition will be featuring 29 films, 19 in the International Official Section and 10 in the ‘Spanish Short Film Official Section’

SEMINCI will present in its Short Films Section the directorial debut of Eduard Fernández and the titles produced by Cate Blanchett, Sienna Miller and Spike Lee

The Valladolid International Film Festival premieres in its 69th edition the Short Films Section, which will have its own jury comprising the International Official Section and the Spanish Short Films Official Section, under the heading ‘La noche del corto español’ (The Night of the Spanish Shorts). Among the 29 short films selected are the world premieres of El otro, Eduard Fernández‘s directorial debut; O, by Icelandic director Rúnar Rúnarsson; Bad for a Moment, Special Jury Mention at the Cannes Festival; Percebes, winner of the Annecy Festival, and Marion, produced by Cate Blanchett and Sienna Miller.

Among the major themes addressed by the films competing in the International Official Section are the environment and the relationship with nature, tourism and gentrification, feminism and toxic masculinity, paternal and filial relationships, motherhood, disability and stress, alcoholism and compulsive gambling, indigenous culture and colonialism, relationships and sexuality, and savage capitalism, politics and the media, all from a variety of different styles and points of view.

SEMINCI will premiere in Spain some titles from the official section of the Cannes Festival, including Bad for a Moment, for which the Portuguese director Daniel Soares won a Special Jury Mention, as well as On the Way, by Kosovar filmmaker Samir Karahoda. The Filmmakers Fortnight also programmed Immaculata, a German production by Kim Lêa Sakkal, and My Senses Are All I Have to Offer, by Portuguese director Isadora Neves Marques.

Cate Blanchett, Sienna Miller, Spike Lee, Rúnar Rúnarsson…

SEMINCI has also selected the film Marion, by British directors Joe Weiland and Finn Constantine, produced by actresses Cate Blanchett and Sienna Miller; the short film O, by Icelandic director Rúnar Rúnarsson (Sparrows), winner of the Best Director Award at the 64th SEMINCI for Echo. Filmmaker Spike Lee figures as executive producer of Punter, by South African Jason Adam Maselle, which premiered at the Locarno Festival, as well as 400 Cassettes, by Greek screenwriter and director Thelyia Petraki, nominated for the EFA Awards in 2021.

There will be four Spanish fictions directed by female directors competing in the International Official Selection: A Midsummer Night’s Tale, produced by Avalon, directed by María Herrera and starring Olivia Delcán (Beautiful Island) with Nacho Sánchez (Manticore); Lluna de sal, an ESCAC production directed by Mariona Martínez; Nens, by Anna Martí Domingo produced by Malmo Pictures and Nocturna Pictures (Cork) – these three films will be making their world premieres at SEMINCI; and El cambio de rueda, an animated film by Bego Aróstegui produced by Ferdydurke Films and El Gesto Cinematográfico.

Animation, in fact, plays a prominent role in the Official Section through four other titles, two of whose authors previously earned awards at SEMINCI: Le loup, a Canadian production directed by Theodore Ushev, Golden Spike for Best Short Film at the 63rd edition; and Percebes, by Alexandra Ramires and Laura Gonçalves, winner of the Meeting Point Award for Best International Short Film at the 67th edition. Percebes won the Annecy Crystal for Best Short Film and has also been shortlisted for an Oscar in this category. Also belonging to the animation genre are the films Vegan Mayo, by Hungarian director Luca Tóth, and Pacific Vein, a non-fiction film directed by German director Ulu Braun.

The Belgian shorts Baldilocks, by Marthe Peters, premiered at the Berlin Festival, and White Cloud, by Emmanuel Van der Auwera, created in part with the help of Artificial Intelligence, also fit into the non-fiction category. The Official Short Film Section is completed by Vox Humana, by Filipino filmmaker Don Josephus Raphael Eblahan, winner of the Grand Prix at the Sundance Film Festival.

This year’s Short Film Official Section will grant one Golden Spike and, as novelty this year, two Silver Spikes, as well as the EFA Award for the Best European Short Film, which will also be eligible to compete for the European Film Academy Award. The festival will allocate a total of 11,000 euros in cash prizes in this competition.

The Night Of The Spanish Shorts

‘The Night of the Spanish Shorts’ will screen ten films, eight of them being world premieres. The selection includes El otro, directed by and starring Eduard Fernández in his first time behind the camera; De sucre, a Lastor Media production (They Will Be Dust, The Teacher Who Promised the Sea) directed by Clàudia Cedó; and Fuiste París, the debut film by director Claudia Barral Magaz with actress Greta Fernández (A Thief’s Daughter, Unicorns, Teresa) and Àlex Monner (The Next Skin, Mediterráneo).

The section will also showcase the new works of two filmmakers who have already participated in previous editions of SEMINCI, such as Àlex Sardá (DOC. España Award at the 67th SEMINCI for Hafreiat) with El Príncep, starring Enric Auquer (Eye for an Eye, The Teacher Who Promised the Sea) and Mona Martínez (Ana by Day, Bye); as well as Rafa Alberola, who presented his medium-length film In Praise of the Horizon last year, and this year premieres At Night We Walk Alone.   

Lucía Forner Segarra will premiere Berta, starring Nerea Barros (Goya Award for Best New Actress for Marshland); Una cabeza en la pared (Head On The Wall), by Manuel Manrique, with Nacho Sánchez (Manticore) and Ángela Cervantes (Girlfriends, Motherhood). Animation will also be present with Mater Benefacta, by Marc Riba and Anna Solanas, a creative couple whose animated pieces with dolls have been selected in more than 1,500 festivals all over the world, including the Official Competition of the 2013 (Canis) and 2016 (Dead horses) editions of SEMINCI.

The selection is completed with two non-fiction pieces: Futuro, a Spanish-Cuban production directed by Amanda Cots and Ángel Suárez Ávila; and They Send Word, an experimental piece directed by Spanish director Mariano Schoendorff. The Spanish Short Films Official Section will award a specific prize of 3,000 euros to the director of the winning film.