Meet the professionals who will decide on the best short films of the year, distribute awards, mentions and trophies and pave their international path.
Maryam Harandi is an Iranian filmmaker based in Asturias. She moved to Spain at the age of 18 and studied Film and Culture at the University of Córdoba. Her experience working in reception centres for refugees and minors has deeply influenced her approach to filmmaking and her interest in issues related to migration, identity, and intimate experience. Her first short film, La palmera, screened at festivals such as the Málaga Film Festival, ALCINE, the Gijón International Film Festival, and L’Alternativa, and received the Second Prize for Best Short Film at ALCINE.
Núria Gascón Bartomeu is a cinematographer who graduated from ESCAC in 2019. Her work on Animal Salvatge has received selections and recognition at festivals such as D’A, DocsBarcelona, IDFA, and Fipadoc, as well as a nomination for the Gaudí Awards. She has built her career through numerous fiction and documentary short films and feature-length documentaries such as Supernatural, Grup Natural, and Els Orrit, selected at festivals including HotDocs and DocsBarcelona. Alongside this, she develops personal projects as a director, including Ara Crema, which has received awards and selections at national and international festivals.
Peter Cerovšek is a filmmaker and curator active across the film and contemporary art landscape. He directs FeKK – Ljubljana Short Film Festival and the Center for Contemporary Arts SCCA-Ljubljana, where he also heads the DIVA Station Archive for video, film, and new media art. He founded and leads V-F-X Ljubljana, a festival dedicated to experimental film and audiovisual practices. He also co-curates the short film section of the Ljubljana International Film Festival (LIFFe). As a director, his short films have received international acclaim. He is a member of the Directors Guild of Slovenia and an alumnus of Berlinale Talents.
Lucía G. Romero is a director and screenwriter who graduated in directing from ESCAC. Her short film Cura Sana (2024) received more than 150 selections and 30 international awards, including the Crystal Bear at the Berlinale, the Feroz Cinema Jove Award, and a nomination for the Gaudí Awards. Her second short film, Casi Septiembre (2025), premiered in Berlinale Shorts and received recognition at Seminci and Clermont-Ferrand. She is currently developing her first feature film with Filmax, whose screenplay received an award at the Berlinale. Her cinema explores themes such as love, family relationships, and personal growth through an empathetic and sensitive perspective shaped by her experience as an Afro-Spanish and queer woman.
Gabriel Fieger is a film festival director and curator based in Regensburg, Germany. He studied Comparative Cultural Studies and Spanish Philology and has been working in the field of film and cinema since 2010 in (too) many different roles. His enthusiasm for (short) films grew through this work. He has worked at internationally renowned festivals such as Alcine - Festival de Alcalá de Henares in Spain (2017 - 2021), Hamburg Short Film Festival (since 2019), Internationale Hofer Filmtage (since 2023) and Filmfestival Max Ophüls Preis in Saarbrücken (since 2026).
Choche Hurtado is a designer, illustrator, animator, and filmmaker. His work combines humor, strangeness, and everyday and fantastical elements, creating a distinctive visual universe through traditional animation and experimental techniques. His short films have been selected at festivals such as Clermont-Ferrand, Pictoplasma, Animario, Weird Market, and Alcine, where he received the Best Short Film from the Community of Madrid Award in 2025. He is currently developing his project Kokuruga and new film projects.
Alcalá Film Jam
It is a historical outreach project about the Spanish capital, presented in a podcast format, which has over 50,000 followers. Its creators are Daniel Utrilla—a screenwriter and producer with an extensive background in the audiovisual and comic book industries—and Sara Velázquez (also known as Savelga), an urban artist from Madrid with an award-winning career in film and animation.
He is a specialist in creative technology and a filmmaker, as well as a pioneer in VR. He co-founded Future Lighthouse, produced the first VR episode of a series—El Ministerio del Tiempo (The Ministry of Time)—and has worked for major studios such as Sony and Disney. His work has garnered 54 awards and nominations at festivals including Venice, Tribeca, and Sitges. He currently serves as a Creative Director at Accenture Song.
He works in production coordination for fiction film shoots. He has been involved in projects with companies such as Filmax, Lastor Media, and K&S, among others. His work with the charitable platform Mundo Cero provided him with experience in developing low-budget projects and optimizing production resources.
Colectivo de Acción para el Juego y la Educación is a non-profit association that has been working since 1984 in favour of people at risk of social exclusion, especially young people and their families. In 2023 it was recognised with the City of Alcalá Arsenio Lope Huerta Civic Values Award.
For years it has formed a jury made up of children from District II of Alcalá de Henares, who are responsible for viewing and choosing the best short film in the ALCINE Kids section.
With more than 1,400 films received each year, it takes a large and dedicated team to watch them all and identify the potential hidden gems. These precious pieces are then carefully set into the 12 screenings that make up the festival’s competitive programs. The result is a thoughtfully balanced, gender-equal and intergenerational selection shaped by professionals from the worlds of film criticism, programming, and the industry, many of whom are closely connected to the festival itself or to the cultural life of Alcalá de Henares. Here you can discover their names:
Colectivo Alterno
Cristina Aparicio
Daniel de Partearroyo
Diane Malherbe
Gala Cubillo
Irene Castro
Jara Yáñez
Lola Mayo
María Juárez
Mediadistancia
Noah Benalal
Pablo Iglesias
Pelayo Sánchez
Pepe Martín
Roberto Huertas
ALCINE Kids, Youth, and Language Learning Program
Emma Tolosa Scholz
Pablo Iglesias
Annette Scholz
ESFAA Young Audience Work Group
