Once again this year, ALCINE, the Alcalá de Henares / Community of Madrid Film Festival, will offer its audiences a carefully curated selection for the most discerning palates seeking to experience the here and now of short films. Twenty-three works from all corners of Europe (France, Portugal, the United Kingdom, Belgium, Estonia, Italy, Slovakia, Bulgaria, Greece, and Hungary) in its international section, and another 24 shorts in its national section, will compete from November 6 to 16 for the ALCINE 54 Diamonds. The First Diamond of each competition will receive a prize of €5,000 and a trophy, as well as their Oscar® qualification.
With a balanced presence of fiction, animation, and documentary films, the European Short Film Competition will feature several national premieres and titles from top international festivals, such as Cannes, Berlin, and San Sebastián. The recent edition crowned the Portuguese film A solidão dos lagartos by Inês Nunes, one of the films that can be screened at the Corral de Comedias during the festival. As always, the films are grouped under suggestive titles such as: 'Lost Love Objects', 'The Mission', 'Mysteries of the Blurry Country', 'Stay Still', 'Stay Calm' and 'Put Yourself in My Place'.
As for the National Short Film Competition, viewers will be able to see 24 fiction, animation, and documentary films, selected from nearly 700 submissions and grouped under titles such as 'Instructions', 'Souvenirs', 'Ties', 'In the Air', 'Rage' and 'Illuminaria'
Among them will be new works by filmmakers such as Elena López Riera (Las novias del sur) and Gala Hernández (10k+), winners of the César in France; Goya winner Irene Moray (Pláncton); Jaume Claret Muxart (La nostra habitació), winner of an award at the last Venice Film Festival; and Lucía G. Romero (Casi septiembre), a Berlinale veteran and winner of two awards at the last edition of ALCINE with her debut, Cura sana. Specifically, among the first works are two animations: Puriykachay, by the celebrated digital creator and writer Rocío Quillahuaman, and Jervasio, the first foray into the medium by the production company Little Spain, founded by C. Tangana; as well as Adiós, the first foray into stop-motion by José Prats, winner of the Annie Award and a finalist at the BAFTA, as well as an ALCINE Kids award winner for Parapluies in 2020.
For those looking for familiar faces, Enric Auquer (The Prince) and two-time Goya nominee Nacho Sánchez (The Bats Have Left the Bell Tower) will be among the featured films in the fiction section. This latter short film, along with Alejandro Fertero's Soforem, is unique in that it was filmed in Alcalá de Henares, a showcase of the work of the Alcalá Film Office, which attracts not only major international series and feature films to our city, but also emerging young talent.
This strategy will be further strengthened this year with the launch of the CANTERA laboratory, aimed at first-time professional short films, with cash prizes worth €20,000. Applications will be open until Friday, October 24.
In parallel, ALCINE is launching new short film sections: A(L)UCINE, dedicated to fantasy and horror films, will become a two-day micro-festival at the festival gates, on October 29 and 30, coinciding with Halloween week; (J)ALCINE will do the same with humor, and both will be in collaboration with the General Foundation of the University of Alcalá, through CIMUART, and the Quevedo Institute of Humor Arts (IQH), which will also have its own cartoon exhibition.
