The short film scene set in Orihuela comes from the director based in San Vicente del Raspeig, as the latest work joins the Curts Valencia Community 2023 program. The initiative from the Valencia Institute of Culture showcases selected shorts in three cities and brings new voices to both national and international film festivals, highlighting the vitality of contemporary audiovisual production.
This new 14-minute fiction centers on Teresa Royal, a single mother who lives in a rural home with her daughter and extended family. While the director prefers not to reveal further plot details, he emphasizes that the story holds a personal resonance. It honors working women who balance family life with professional responsibilities, living out life both inside and outside the workplace.
In this case, the San Vicente creator focused on a cast and wardrobe crafted to feel authentic. The wardrobe designer Nicol Cerda describes a practical journey: he drove to Orihuela to register his family, and that experience became a touchstone for the film. The director’s previous work, a feature documentary about life and aging, found its roots in a tragicomic narrative centered on his 94-year-old great-aunt.
The filmmaker explains that the short was kept deliberately lean, driven by the need to retell a family story even if the stakes seem modest. He feels comfortable sharing intimate moments about close people and, in this instance, with residents of the countryside far from the city, where daily life unfolds differently. This real-life texture adds drama and depth to the story as the project progresses over a few weeks of shooting, without artificial constraints.
The endless story, which some might loosely connect to titles like The NeverEnding Story or even to classic cinema by Michael Endo or Wolfgang Petersen, remains distinct from those references. The filmmaker describes the title as a guiding thread that helps audiences close the short film with clarity about what they have witnessed and what he intends to convey as a director.
6 out of 34 proposals were selected
The short film received funding from the Town Hall of San Vicente del Raspeig and stood out as one of six works chosen for the Curts Valencian Community catalog. The Valencia Institute of Culture has overseen the program since 2008, publishing new rounds twice a year to expand the pool of short films and broaden their reach for a full year of promotion. This entry was part of the initial volume out of 34 offers, and Valero’s work stood alone from Alicante alongside Adriana forgotten, Elena Piquer, Small Desert by Emilio Seagull Lopez, Natural Environment by Elena Escura, Everything is Lost by Carla Pereira and Juan Fran Jacinto, and Not Alone by Doriam Alonso.
The catalog will next premiere at the Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival, a premier event in France that takes place at the end of January and is revered for showcasing top-tier short film work from around the world.