The lineup from the Javier Feser collection and Goya, including Flowers for the Shell (documentary) and Mabel Lozano, alongside Langies by Juan Manuel Montill, features among the 85 short films announced for screening by the Fundación Mediterráneo in the official section of the Elche International Film Festival, which will open its 45th edition next Friday. Eight feature films are included in the program.
The festival also includes five short films by filmmakers from or shot in Alicante. This animated phonorama program highlights films such as Alex King’s Gabia, Adam Aliaga’s Cake, Jose Miguel Santacreu Cortes’s half past seventeen, Andrea Alborch Martinez’s They no longer die for love, Ines Campello Gomez’s work from Elche, and Valencian creators Kevin Castellano and Edu Hirschfeld, shot in Busot.
The short films compete in the official section with screenings taking place in Istanbul from Sunday, July 17 to Thursday, July 21, with showings at Arenales Beach and Hort del Xocolater starting at 22:00. On Friday, July 22, the closing gala will present the awards.
The 85 shorts on offer give a broad view of both national and international cinema, totaling roughly 1,000 minutes across five sessions.
The fiction category features the largest slate with 36 finalists, followed by Animation with 8 entries and Documentary with 7. Six shorts celebrate productions from the Valencian Community or created with mobile devices.
Projection minutes by category are as follows: Editing, 584 minutes; Animation, 122 minutes; Documentary, 112 minutes; Novel Writer, 106 minutes; Fes Curt, 32 minutes; Mobile Filmmaker, 35 minutes.
Origin of the shorts leans heavily toward Spain with 63 titles; other participating countries include the United States, Brazil, France, Germany, Israel, Estonia, Chile, Iran, Argentina, Italy, the Dominican Republic, Singapore, Iceland, and Switzerland.
upcoming movies
This year features eight feature films in competition, available daily from Friday, July 8 to Friday, July 15 at Odeon Cinemas. After each screening at 20:30, a Q&A session with all directors will allow the audience to discuss the shooting experiences and pose questions to the creators.
Elche Film Festival has selected eight films for competition in its new feature film section
Featured in the feature competition are Visitor by Alberto Gospel; Canine Tooth by Jose Luis Estan; Oliver’s Universe by Alexis Morante; Triple by Pau Calpe; The Last Salt by Nando Caballero; Traveller by Raúl Cerezo and Fernando González Gómez; Wizard by Rubén Sainz; and Boss by Fran Torres. Each film contends for a 2,000 euro prize.
The president of the Mediterranean Foundation noted that selecting shorts for the competition is demanding given the growing quality of submissions each year. He praised the festival team and the Luis Buñuel Cinema Club for supporting the event and reaffirmed the foundation’s commitment to the region as the festival expands.
The jury’s criteria for inclusion in the Official Sections will be announced in June.
Awards
The jury, composed of cinema and media professionals, will reveal its selections during the closing ceremony on Friday, July 22. The trophies and prizes to be awarded include:
- MEDITERRANEAN FOUNDATION AWARD FOR BEST SHORT FILM in any category and from any nationality, 3,000 euros and a Lady Trophy.
- CIUTAT D’ELX AWARD for Fiction, 2,000 euros and a Lady Trophy.
- ANIMATION AWARD, any nationality, 2,000 euros and a Lady Trophy.
- DOCUMENTARY AWARD, any nationality, 2,000 euros and a Lady Trophy.
- EUROPEAN AWARD in any category outside Spain, 1,000 euros and a Lady Trophy.
- IBEROAMERICAN AWARD, in any category from Latin America or Brazil, 1,000 euros and a Lady Trophy.
- FES BADEQuipped with 500 euros and a Lady Trophy, eligible for Valencian Community authors or production companies based there, preferably in Valencian or with subtitles in that language.
- CINECLUB LUIS BUÑUEL AWARDED NOVEL AUTHOR, 500 euros and a Lady Trophy, open to Spanish and international writers with at least three short films.
- ÓPERA PRIMA National Award for Best Feature Film from the Mediterráneo Foundation, 2,000 euros and a Lady Trophy.
- MOBILE FILMMAKER AWARD, 500 euros and a Lady Trophy, for fiction or documentary shorts produced with a mobile device by Spanish or international authors.
- PUBLIC HORT DEL XOCOLATER AWARD, 500 euros and a Lady Trophy, chosen by the audience attending Hort del Xocolater screenings from 15 to 21 July.
- FICIE ORIGINALS WEB SERIES PROJECT AWARD and the Shortest Day prize announced on 21 December 2022, awarding 1,000 euros for projects submitted by Miguel Hernández University of Elche students.
Closing on July 22 will also reveal additional recognition awards:
- HUMAN RIGHTS SHORT FILM AWARD across all categories in collaboration with SocialMed Valencia – Mediterranean Human Rights Festival, 1,000 euros and a Lady Trophy.
- The Association of Women Filmmakers and Audiovisual Media (CIMA) will present the CIMA Award for Best Filmmaker, including a statuette and a one-year membership.
- The Mobile Filmmaker Award winner will gain direct entry to the 2022 Cinephone Smartphone Film Festival as a finalist, and vice versa.
- At the judges’ discretion, one or more Spanish shorts from the Official Section may be selected as finalists for related festivals, and vice versa.