A string of adjectives culminates in ‘
short filmmaker’, the word that best defines
ALCINE, as promoted on one of the official posters of the
Alcalá de Henares / Madrid Region Film Festival. For another year, the festival will provide a showcase for a select representation of
national and international short films.
From the 5th to the 13th of November more than a hundred films in a range of sections will be screened at the
fortieth ALCINE festival. The traditional sections, the mainstays of the event, are here again; the
National Competition, and its now well-established
European Counterpart. The other side of the triangle of competitive sections is taken up by
Open Screen for the New Directors, in which seven debut films by Spanish filmmakers will be presented.
And as per normal in recent years,
ALCINE is making space in its programme to
discover the film industry of another country. Countries invited in previous years include Ireland, Brazil and the Nordic countries. This time round, the guest film industry is
Poland, renowned for famous names in cinema such as Andrzej Wajda, Roman Polanski and Krzysztof Kieslowski. On
Friday the 12th screenings are scheduled of fictional and documentary short films and a debut work (‘
Galerianki’) all produced in Poland. The day will be brought to a close with a concert given by
Aldona Nowowiejska in the
Corral de Comedias at 21:30 (free entry); this year’s offering from the
Alsonic section.
ALCINE40 will be off to a flying start. Straight after the
inauguration ceremony on Friday the 5th in the
Teatro Salón Cervantes, the National and European Competitions will get underway. The third competitive section of the festival,
Open Screen for New Directors, will enter the arena on Monday the 7
th. The following films can be seen in this section, and will be voted for by the public: ‘
María y yo’, ’
80 egunean’, ‘
Agallas’, ‘
Siempre hay tiempo’, ‘
Hierro’, ‘
El idioma imposible’ and ‘
Caracremada’.
Accessible Cinema,
Late Nights Out,
A Measure in Time,
Cutting Close to the Bone,
Short Matters,
Hitchcock without Hitchcock,
Language in Short Film and a selection of the best short films of the decade comprise the other sections to be held from the 5
th to the 13
th of November in the
Teatro Salón Cervantes and
Multicines Cisneros movie theatres. Some have been part of ALCINE’s programme for many years now.
Shortlatino, the European and Latin American short film market is back for its second year. Other sections are premiering this year: for example
Hitchcock without Hitchcock, a presentation of work directly linked to this famous filmmaker. And this year the festival is publishing ‘
A Measure in Time. Spanish Short Film in the Decade of 2000’, a work coordinated by Jara Yánez, which reviews the development of this format over the last ten years.
The ‘40 Years is Nothing’ exhibition and workshops for kids. As for parallel activities, there’s the ’
40 Years is Nothing’
exhibition, a commemoration looking back at the history of the event. The exhibit can be visited until the
14th of November in the Former Hospital of Santa María la Rica. There will also be
street screenings, the
1st Workshops on Low Cost Cinema and New Technologies and two
animated film workshops for kids (on the 6
th and 13
th of November) in Santa María la Rica.
