The festival awarded its Cornerstone Prize to Álex de la Iglesia, selected the first winning project of CANTERA and launched the new sections ALC(U)CINE, (J)ALCINE and ALCINE IGUALDAD with great public support
ALCINE, the Alcalá de Henares Film Festival in the Community of Madrid, continues to grow in programming, standards, and audience. Following its 54th edition, the Feature Film Showcase, and the Shortest Day event, and as the year draws to a close, the region's oldest film festival takes stock, revealing a promising outlook for the future: it attracted 35,609 viewers, 25,609 of whom attended in person, an 8% increase over the previous year. An additional 10,000 people were able to watch the short films in competition online via the Filmin platform.
Its official sections —the National Competition and the European Short Film Competition, as well as Open Screen, dedicated to the first feature films by directors who previously screened their short films at ALCINE—were seen by more than 3,700 people; 6,200 spectators attended screenings in its official program, and nearly 9,000 schoolchildren and teachers participated in one of the ALCINE Education screenings.
In addition, the Álex de la Iglesia retrospective exhibition at the Capilla del Oidor welcomed more than 3,000 visitors, and the festival's new sections —(J)ALCINE, ALCINE IGUALDAD, and AL(U)CINE—attracted 772 new spectators from diverse backgrounds.
“The 54th edition of ALCINE has confirmed the festival's capacity for organic growth, diversifying its content, reaching diverse audiences throughout the region and beyond, and strengthening its industrial and cultural impact,” says Pedro Toro, ALCINE's artistic director.
Beyond the numbers, the 54th edition of ALCINE was marked by the presentation of the Cornerstone Award to director Álex de la Iglesia, in recognition of a fundamental figure in Spanish cinema who began his career at the Alcalá de Henares Film Festival 35 years ago with Mirindas Asesinas. It also saw the first edition of CANTERA, the short film development lab of the Alcalá Film Office.
The screening of Sorda, winner of the Open Screen Award, the premiere of Olivia y el terremoto invisible (Olivia and the Invisible Earthquake) by Irene Iborra, and the preview screening of La Virgen de la Tosquera (The Virgin of Tosquera) by Laura Casabé, based on the novels by Mariana Enríquez, were among the festival's other successes. The festival also enjoyed a visit from actor Álvaro Cervantes to present Esmorza amb mí (Breakfast with Me) by Iván Morales, and reunions with directors whose short films had won awards in previous editions, such as Gerard Oms and Enrique Buleo.
The festival's awards bolstered emerging careers, such as that of Gala Hernández, winner of the National Competition with her documentary +10K, “a tender and honest portrait of a precarious generation, full of uncertainty and unattainable dreams”, in the words of the jury. The festival also uncovered precious pieces, such as Elena López Riera’s Las novias del sur (The Brides of the South), “a powerful, sincere, and personal film essay” that “centers on the experiences of our mothers, our grandmothers, our role models”. And true diamonds in the rough, like digital creator Rocío Quillahuaman, who in her first short film, Puriykachay, “takes us by the hand through the city of Rome to talk to us, playfully and honestly, about her past and her experience as a migrant”.
For its part, the jury of the European competition awarded “the courage of the director” of Feu Fantôme, Morgane Ambre, in portraying sexual violence from the always complex perspective of reparation, as well as “the very funny way in which the nature of cinema is shown” by Guil Sela in Montsuris and the “terrifyingly hypnotic and unexpected narrative” of Dieu Est Timide, by Jocelyn Charles.
With its first Diamond award under its belt, +10K, by Gala Hernández, secured its Goya nomination, and Dieu Est Timide, by Jocelyn Charles, earned its Oscar nomination in the animated short film category. This track record already includes El fantasma de la Quinta, by James A. Castillo, winner of AL(U)CINE; and the European Audience Award nominee Two People Exchanging Saliva, by Alexandre Singh and Natalie Musteata. Both are on the Oscar shortlist and demonstrate the gems that can also be found in ALCINE's parallel sections.
Sirat, by Oliver Laxe, has already traveled much of that road and made history. The feature film chosen to present the 54th edition of the festival at the ALCINE Club, and shortlisted by the Academy in five categories, has also made its mark. The film has already garnered recognition by winning the Jury Prize at the Cannes Film Festival, a distinction that places Laxe in a small and distinguished group of Spanish filmmakers awarded at the festival, alongside Buñuel, Saura, Erice, and Almodóvar.
Sirat surpasses the milestone achieved by Juan Antonio Bayona's Society of the Snow, which was shortlisted in four Oscar categories, and on January 22nd, barring any unforeseen circumstances, it will enter the list of nominees for the awards.
