With more than 140 screenings ahead until 15 November, alongside Q&As, industry events, music and other activities, ALCINE, the Alcalá de Henares / Community of Madrid Film Festival, officially gets underway this Friday 6 November. The day will mark the launch of its National and European Competitions and its Opening Gala, where Enrique Gato, creator of Tadeo Jones, will receive the 55th edition’s Piedra Angular Award.
ALCINE, organised by the Department of Culture of Alcalá de Henares City Council and the Community of Madrid, will honour a leading figure in Spanish animation who, 25 years ago, created in his short films a character who would become one of Spanish cinema’s most popular and successful box-office stars. The award recognises filmmakers whose pioneering work has made them an inspiration to new generations of creators and who, like Gato, took part in ALCINE early in their careers.
Enrique Gato, an adopted son of Alcalá, will receive the Piedra Angular Award at ALCINE’s Opening Gala (Friday 6 November, 7.00 pm, Teatro Salón Cervantes). He will meet the audience and discuss his career with the festival director, tracing the development of Tadeo Jones from his earliest short films to the recently released fourth feature, Tadeo Jones y la lámpara maravillosa, which reached number one at the box office.
The gala will feature music by Racalmuto, the jazz band whose main inspiration is Raymond Scott, an electronic music pioneer whose compositions inspired the music of Looney Tunes. Admission is free, with tickets available for collection from the Teatro Salón Cervantes box office from 5.00 pm.
Following the official opening, audiences can enjoy ALCINE’s first screenings from 8.00 pm. First come three beautiful pieces rarely shown in Spain: the three shorts premiered at Cannes that make up Spain, Where Talent Ignites, a project created to promote Spanish creative talent internationally. They are Flamenco, the latest work by Carla Simón; La Tarara, by Nicolás Méndez, produced by CANADA and featuring a cast that includes Ingrid García-Jonsson, Bárbara Lennie, Rossy de Palma, Miguel Bernardeau, Arón Piper and Malena Smit; and La llama, directed by the creative duo Turbo, with music by Yerai Cortés and La Tania.
At 9.00 pm, these will be followed by the first, out-of-competition screening in Pantalla Abierta, the section dedicated to debut features by directors who previously took part in ALCINE: Anoche conquisté Tebas, by Gabriel Azorín. The screening will be followed by a walking discussion through some of Alcalá de Henares’ historic sites. Azorín himself, playwright Celso Giménez and thinker Martin Pawley will discuss the night and its mysteries as part of the Los Buenos Augurios series.
Tickets for Spain, Where Talent Ignites and Anoche conquisté Tebas can be purchased online or from the Teatro Salón Cervantes box office. The walking discussion afterwards is free, but tickets must be collected from the box office in advance.
ALCINE 55’s programme opens this Thursday 5 November with two panel discussions at the Antiguo Hospital de Santa María la Rica, featuring an outstanding line-up of guests. The first, at 5.00 pm, organised with Madrid Film Region, will explore How to Produce Animation in the Madrid Region, with Ottom Ideas and The Cathedral Media. The second, Robot Dreams: From Page to Screen, organised with AMAE, will feature Pablo Berger, the film’s director; Fernando Franco, its editor; Macarena Gil, responsible for the storyboard and the film’s initial visual concept; and Sara Varon, author of the original graphic novel.
ALCINE audiences can also warm up on Thursday 5 November with a concert presented by Teatro Salón Cervantes, featuring the sardonic, surrealist and well-known film enthusiast Ángel Stanich, who will explore the most cinematic side of his repertoire.
On Friday 6 November, ALCINE 55 switches on its projectors to launch its National and European Competitions, bringing the 46 selected short films into competition. They will be screened over the weekend in 12 sessions, grouped under titles such as So Quietly, Woof!, Olympic Spirit, Machines and A False Step, at Teatro Salón Cervantes for the National Competition and Corral de Comedias de Alcalá for the European Competition. Every screening will feature appearances by some of the filmmakers, including Olivia Delcán and Nacho Sánchez, Teresa Bellón, Natalia Marín and Christian Avilés.
Among the shorts, ALCINE audiences will discover two world premieres—I will try to find you in the new system, by Gabriele Biasi and Alberto Moscone, and El santo que vestí, by María Monreal—and nine European films receiving their Spanish premieres: Trio, 2:love, Son, Ce qui n’existe pas n’existe pas, The tuners, Beneath the night, If only, Cacciatori d’uranio and Bär Bär.
The 46 shorts—21 in the National Competition and 25 in the European Competition—will compete in their respective sections for the Golden Diamonds for Best Director and Best Film, with the latter also providing qualification for the Oscars® and the Goya Awards. Tickets can be purchased online or from the relevant venue’s box office.
Madrid para rodar: Alcalá de Henares
ALCINE 55’s first weekend also offers more music, more cinema and other activities for film lovers and curious visitors alike.
Short Music, the festival’s section dedicated to music and experimentation, presents three short concerts at the Corral de Comedias. This edition brings together sound artist and cartoonist Paco Alcázar, who will premiere Truenos futuristas, a piece created exclusively for ALCINE 55; the enigmatic avant-pop duo Damoridemort; and Enrique del Castillo’s Umbráfono, which transforms light into sound.
ALCINE Igualdad, organised by Alcalá de Henares City Council’s Department of Equality, returns for its second edition with six shorts exploring equality, care, sexuality, masculinities and other contemporary perspectives. The audience will act as the jury at the screening on Sunday 8 November at 8.30 pm at the Corral de Comedias.
This weekend also offers the opportunity to visit Madrid para rodar: Alcalá de Henares, an exhibition exploring the history of cinema and the World Heritage City through painting and audiovisual material. Alcalá has hosted productions including Spartacus, The Walking Dead, The Room Next Door and Cuéntame. Through a series of original large-scale paintings by muralist and street artist Sara Velázquez (Savelga) and Daniel Utrilla—the creators of the social media project Madrid para llevar—visitors can explore some of its most remarkable filming locations without leaving Santa María La Rica.
Madrid para rodar: Alcalá de Henares forms part of LIFT (Location Industry Film Tourism), a series of screen tourism events organised by Alcalá Film Office, part of Alcalá de Henares City Council’s Department of Tourism, in collaboration with Film Madrid Region and with the support of Spain Film Commission, AEDAA and ALOMAD. The exhibition runs from 6 November to 8 December at the Antiguo Hospital de Santa María la Rica, with free admission.
Animation will be present in every corner of ALCINE 55. The exhibition An Animated Quarter: Spanish Animated Short Films (2001–2025), on display from 5 to 29 November at Capilla del Oidor, explores the techniques and artistry of Spanish animated shorts during the first quarter of the 21st century. It features more than 200 pieces on loan from 37 leading creators, some of whom will attend the exhibition opening.
Other highlights of the festival’s opening days, alongside its training activities, include Alcalá Film Jam, the marathon for very short films shot in Alcalá de Henares; the ALCINE Kids workshops; the alternative poster exhibition; and the 4th Video Mapping Showcase. The latter two feature work by students from Alcalá de Henares’ Alberto Corazón School of Art.
