The Riurau Film Festival marks its eleventh edition after a decade of activity, running from August 20 to September 11 across several venues in High Marina. This year’s showcase highlights a curated selection of short films, presented in Denia, Xàbia, Jesús Pobre, and La Xara. A total of fifty short films were chosen from a pool of four hundred sixty submissions raised from twenty-six countries, all released without pandemic restrictions this time around.
Screenings are held outdoors with free admission and no prior reservation required. Each evening features a one hundred minute program starting at 9:30 p.m., with a daily intermission. The festival awards prize money totaling €3,800, with the main honors split between best fiction short and best director, each category carrying a €700 prize.
The festival kicks off this weekend, August 20 and 21, inside the Riurau d’Or and Jesús with Riurau Express Shooting Marathon. The marathon invites both professionals and amateurs to shoot a short film in a single day and to complete editing the following day. The results will be shown as part of the event on September 3.
The competition program features forty-four short films, and one week later the Valencia leg begins with a focus on fiction, social fiction, and environment, presented at the Plaça del Cinema in Xara on August 26. The Valencian-language fiction works take center stage on August 27, while social fiction continues in Denia at Parc de Torrecremada on August 27 and continues through August 28 in the same venue.
On the third weekend, September 2 and 3, the Great Riurau of Jesús hosts a festival highlight: on the first day the fiction program, and on the second day three distinct sections will be screened. These include Escola de Cinema Riurau, featuring student shorts; works shot during the Marathon; and the Dance Film section. Also presented are the Song Engaged non-competition program, created in collaboration with the Riurau school, Dénia City Council Cultural department, and festival partners.
In Xàbia, screenings arrive on September 9 and 10, including a documentary session at Riurau d’Arnauada Almadrabos. The program includes environmental selections alongside additional fiction titles.
The eleventh edition concludes with a formal awards ceremony on September 11 at 10:30 p.m. at the Dénia Social Center Supervisor. The evening features the presentation of a short-form selection of winners by running time, followed by a panel discussion about cinema, the industry, and financing. Filmmakers present at the gala will attend the event in person.
Shorts in the competition:
FOR DYING — Nahd Bashier (Israel)
ORDER! — Reza Zarringol (Iran)
FOR THE WINNER — Mahdi Mahaei (Iran)
AQUESTA NIT — Pere Girbau
BABYLON — Alejandro San Martin
CEMENT AND STEEL — Oriol Villar
LIKE HOME — Honorato Ruiz and Joel Adam
TYPICAL DEVIATION — Paco Ruiz
LOVE THREATENED — Hector Herce
CHIMERA’S BOSC — Roberto A. Fernandez
UMBRELLA — Christopher Sanchez
THE CLOCK OF MEU PARE — Francesc Palau Biel
OPPOSITE — Carlos Moriana and Raul Cerezo
ELLIE — Fernando Bonelli
ELSA — Albert Carbo
JANUARY 66 — Jaime Garcia
THORNS — Ivan Sainz-Pardo
BOUNDARY — Anatael Perez
GAÏA — Maximilien Saint-Cast
THREAD — Beatrice Abad
I AM LINA — Juli Suarez
FINAL PROCESS — Salva Ferrando
BIKE — Antonio Oliete
TORN — Maria Trenor
KARANTAMAUL TALE — Miguel Puga and Alberto Rey
ENDLESS GAME — Jose Colmenarejo and Nacho Nava
LAMENT — Ruben Sanchez
AMADRABOS — Pablo Almanza
TODAY’S ECONOMIC INDICATORS — Juan Esteban Angel
LIGHT BETWEEN THE DARK — Fernando Lazzarini
MASARU — Rubén Navarro
MINDANAO — Borja Soler
NAMASTE — Laura Candela
PLEIN AIR — Raúl Herrera
WHY I DON’T LIKE STRAWBERRY ICE CREAM — Inés Pintor Sierra and Pablo Santidrián
ROSE — Ferran Navarro
SHARK — Nash Edgerton
TEARS OF BUHARA — Markel Goikoetxea Markaida
TEO — Belén Abarza
TRUITA OF TARONGE — Santiago Gatto
UN MON SANS CRISIS — Ted Hardy-Carnac
A PARELL DE CANÇONS DESPRESS — Jaume Carrió
ONLY — Alessandro Marzullo
I NO LONGER SEE YOU — Carles Gomez
Fiction jury
The fiction jury comprises José Maria Fraguas de Pablo, Alberto Ubeda Portuguese, Ignatius Estrada, and Christian J Costa. The secretary, without vote, is Elizabeth Bilbao.
Other activities
Beyond the screenings, the festival features a slate of complementary activities. A cinema and gender-identity dialogue titled I am not binary is presented by Carlos Lamm and supported by José Valero and Charly on September 3 in Jesús Pobre. A Youth shooting and editing workshop runs September 6 and 7 in Denia. A session with Salvador Aldeguer, an actor, teacher, and dubbing director, explores Movie Sounds: Dubbing history and anecdotes on the other side of the screen on September 9 in Xàbia. The Dance Film Seminar, a festival staple for eight years, returns this year with a focus on Song and Cinematographic creation from motion in Denia on September 10.