The international short film

Another noteworthy aspect of Alcine are the international sections that - since their beginning in 1983 - present short and animated films from all over the world as well as retrospectives of directors and cineastes that are renowned in those fields. In 1984 a screening of new films from Nicaragua took place. In the following year Alcine presented a retrospective of the works by the Canadian Norman McLaren and the 1987 edition was dedicated to the Yugoslavian director Dusan Vukotic, accompanied by a screening of animated films with marionettes from Czechoslovakia.

The Belgian Geral Frydman and a screening of documentaries from Latin-American directors marked the 1988 edition and in 1989 Alcine paid tribute to 50 years of the Canadian National Film Board together with a homage to the documentary film maker Joris Ivens. The 20th festival was celebrated with an exhaustive screening of Spanish short films of the 1980's, accompanied by a presentation of Brazilian short films and a retrospective of animated films from China.

While Alcine paid homage to the Checeslovakian Jan Svankmajer and commemorated the photographer Robert Mapplethorpe in the 1991 festival, the edition of the following year presented a retrospective of the works of the pioneer of American animation Winsor McCay, short films produced in the Basque Country and paid tribute to the director of photography Néstor Almendros.

In 1993 the attention was focussed on British and Cuban animation cinema with a retrospective of the works of the Aardman Animations group and the International Film School San Antonio de los Baños. Due to the company's 10th anniversary, the works of Doble A Films, one of the few Spanish short film distributors, were the centre of interest in the 1994 edition, accompanied by a retrospective of the Italian Animated film.

The 25th edition celebrated cinema's 100th anniversary with the screening of 100 short films of all times, accompanied by a entertaining homage to cinema via 'Animated stars' - animation films starring caricatures and drawings of famous actors and actresses.

While in the 27th edition it was the turn of the Belgian master Raoul Servais and the Polish animation cinema, the 28th edition featured a retrospective of the works of the director Bill Plymton and in 2000 Alcine presented animation films with puppets. In 2001 the attention was focussed on short film and comedy - an anthology of the most hilarious short films in the history of cinema starring the masters of the genre. At the same time the festival took a closer look at the recent German short film. The last edition, on the other hand, was focused on animated short films and the most outstanding short films from France.