Last June, I published a post to prepare the national short film premiere strategy. The three festivals were Gijón, Valladolid, and Sitges, all of which have sections requiring a premiere in Spain.
These festivals feature some of the year’s most outstanding short films, which are sure to have a significant festival run.
Taking advantage of the fact that the Gijón Film Festival closed on November 26, I have listed the short films that premiered in these sections, in order of their celebration:
#1 Sitges International Fantastic Film Festival of Catalonia – Sitges 2016
At the Sitges Festival, we have the Official Section for fiction short films and for animation. National titles compete in an international section, therefore, they are considered to have premiered worldwide and internationally. This must be taken into account, as they would not be able to participate in festivals with this requirement, even if held outside of Spain.
Official Fantastic
- Einstein-Rosen, by Olaga Osorio
- Nuestra amiga la luna, by Velasco Broca
- Wolves, by Àlvaro Rodriguez Areny
- La vuelta, by Emilio Martínez-Borso
Animat
- Darrel, Marc Briones, Alan Carabantes
The festival was held from October 7 to 16, and the awards went to the Spanish short film Darrel, for animation, and the Australian short film Curve, by Tim Egan.
#2 Valladolid International Film Week – Seminci
At Seminci, we find two competitive premiere sections: the Official Section and The Night of Spanish Short Films, which is part of Meeting Point. In the first case, it is an international section, as is the case in Sitges. In the second case, it is a national section, so these short films still have their international premiere pending.
Official Section
- Caballos muertos, by Marc Riba and Anna Solanas
- Queimafobia, by Daniel Sánchez Arévalo
Meeting Point. The Night of Spanish Short Films.
- El andar del borracho, by Pol Armengol Baigorri
- Extraños en la carretera, by Carlos Solano
- La puta y el cliente, by Hammudi Al-Rahmoun
- Renovable, by Jon Garaño and Jose Mari Goenaga
- The App, by Julián Merino
Seminci was held from October 22 to 29. The awards went to Queimafobia and The App.
#3 Gijón International Film Festival
In Gijón, the Official Section also has an international scope, similar to the Seminci Official Section and the Sitges Official Fantastic. A total of 5 short films have premiered, which are now beginning their festival run.
- Ainhoa, by Iván Sáinz-Pardo
- Esperanza, Álvaro Longoria
- El hombre de agua dulce, Álvaro Ron
- Vampiro, Álex Montoya
- Vernon Walks, Santiago Zannou
The festival was held from November 19 to 26. The award went to the Canadian short film Oh What a Wonderful Feeling by François Jaros.
Things to consider
Participation in national competitions still allows for selection in Class A festivals, except for those requiring a world premiere, such as Venice. For the international distribution of these short films, this post on the strategy for Class A festivals may be helpful.
In the case of the race for the Goya Awards, short films should have already applied for their qualification license before the festivals take place. I analyzed the strategy to follow in this other post about the national strategy for the Goya Awards.
The awards won by Darrel and Queimafobia directly qualify them for the Goyas. In the case of The App, The Night of Spanish Short Films does not currently qualify (unless there are new changes to the rules).
Keep a close eye on these 17 short films, which we are sure to see at many other festivals throughout 2017.