Nineteen short films from Spain and Portugal will compete at the 23rd Iberian Festival of Badajoz

At the festival, which will take place from July 19 to 23, 429 films have been submitted to the competition, 394 Spanish and 25 Portuguese, of which 19 have been selected to be screened on the terrace of the López de Ayala theater in Badajoz, in Olivenza and this year for the first time in San Vicente de Alcántara.

A total of 19 short films by Spanish and Portuguese filmmakers will compete at the 23rd Badajoz Iberian Film Festival, a benchmark for cinema in the Iberian Peninsula that will be held at the López de Ayala theater from July 19 to 23. These works have been selected among the 429 that have been submitted to the competition, of which 25 are Portuguese and 10 from Extremadura.

The selection committee has highlighted the great variety of genres and themes that the short films presented deal with, the vast majority of them linked to the most current reality. Topics such as Islam, ecology, immigrant workers, the elderly or gender violence are addressed from very different points of view, from intimacy to comedy. There are unconventional love stories and very original points of view about relationships between people and those created by new technologies.
Another aspect that the selection committee has highlighted is the impetus of animation productions made with various techniques and coming from Portugal.

The director of the Iberian Film Festival, Alejandro Pachón, believes that “this year's selection is more commercial than in previous years, in the sense that it is designed for a majority audience, although the level of technical and narrative invoice continues to predominate in the selection committee above any thematic or current considerations.”

The 19 short films that have made it to the official section, 15 from Spain and 4 from Portugal, will compete for the Onofre Award for Best Short Film, worth 3,000 euros, as well as the Badajoz, Olivenza and San Vicente de Alcántara Audience Awards, worth 800 euros each. This last municipality is incorporated for the first time as an extension of the Festival. This year, the Awards for the Best Male and Female Performance are provided with a financial amount, thanks to the sponsorship of the AISGE Foundation (Performing Artists, Management Society), for which the winners will receive 500 euros.

In the rest of the modalities, such as best director, best script, original music and photography or the Festival's Young Jury Prize, made up of university students, they will receive a statuette.

In addition to the official sessions, the festival program includes screenings of out-of-competition films, a film creation workshop for young people in collaboration with the Extremeños Center for Studies and Cooperation with Ibero-America (CEXECI) and other parallel activities in different spaces in the city, such as the Caja Badajoz University Residence (RUCAB), headquarters of the

Young Jury and Film Workshop

The deadline to be part of the Young Jury of the Iberian Film Festival remains open until June 15. This jury, which will decide the CEXECI Award for this contest, will be made up of university students. This is an initiative promoted for the eighth consecutive year by the Extremadura Center for Studies and Cooperation with Ibero-America (CEXECI).

Students between the ages of 18 and 30, from the University of Extremadura, as well as from any university in Portugal, may participate in the selection to be a member of this jury, regardless of the studies they pursue.

The members of the Young Jury will receive an accreditation certificate and will have the right and obligation to attend all the official sessions of short films in competition that will take place at the López de Ayala Theater.

Those interested must send their registration request to the address info@festivaldecine.com until June 15, indicating their personal information, studies they are pursuing and their location of residence.

The deadline to participate in the Cinematographic Creation Workshop for young people between 14 and 17 years old will also remain open until July 10. This is another of the activities offered by the festival, also in collaboration with CEXECI. The workshop is free and lasts 25 hours (in person and practical). It will take place from July 17 to 21 at the Tragaluz Training Center (Muñoz Torrero Street, number 22, Badajoz). The number of places is limited to 15. The selection will be made in strict order of registration

Competition cuts

Spanish
AINHOA (18’) by Iván Sáinz-Pardo (ESP)
DAWN (13’) by Daniel León Lacave (ESP)
AUSTRALIA (14’) by Lino Escalera (ESP)
THE FRESHWATER MAN (18’) by Álvaro Ron (ESP)
SEE YOU LATER, HONEY (12’) by Antonello Novellino (ESP)
LETHE (20’) by Eric Romero (ESP)
RAWAN 16/07 (13’) by Miguel Parra (ESP)
BE WHAT YOU WANT (10’) by Marisa Crespo and Moisés Romera (ESP)
ULISES (17’) by Aitor Gutierrez (ESP)
ZONE-84 (20’) by Lonan García (ESP)
VAMPIRO (20’) by Álex Montoya (ESP)
WORKING (17’) by Alejandro Marín (ESP)
17 YEARS TOGETHER (14’) by Javier Fesser (ESP)
THE COWS OF WISCONSIN (15’) by Sara Traba (ESP)
THE APP (16’) by Julián Merino

Portuguese
SHARTS (18') by José Miguel Ribeiro (PORT)
END OF LINE (11') by Paulo D'Alva and António Pinto (PORT)
GIRL (15’) by Simâo Cayatte (PORT)
FINAL CALL (14’) by Sara Barbas (PORT)
The short films from Extremadura selected for the Filmoteca de Extremadura Award:
NERO (17’) by Rubi Stein (Badajoz)
EL ESCONDITE (5’) by Ismael Chaka (Badajoz)
DUELS (9’) by Yolanda Román (Navalmoral)
*STORY OF A MAUTHAUSEN ESCAPE (29’), documentary by Diego González Pérez. Out of competition, but it will be screened for its quality and the interest of the story it tells.