Alcarràs sailed through the selection for best foreign language film, a nod that echoed across the Oscar race this year. Alongside titles like Argentina, 1985, The Decision to Leave, All Quiet on the Western Front, Rebel Empress, and a slate of eleven other feature films, a shortlist of fifteen contenders for shorts winnowed down to a final five. Four Spanish productions stood out in this early phase, signaling a strong national presence in the run toward the ceremony.
That first cut proved formidable, and the filmmakers behind the four short entries already felt a tangible sense of victory. Among them, El limpiaparabrisas shone particularly bright, especially given that a Spanish director, Alberto Mielgo, previously claimed the best animated short statuette in a recent Oscar edition even when the project had United States backing. This momentum underscored the strength of Spain’s short-form storytelling on the international stage.
One of the shorts explores a building’s elevator replacement project that gradually evolves into a broader debate about the boundaries and tensions of shared living. This is part of the short list featuring fifteen titles, including We Vote directed by Santiago Requejo. It marks his third foray into the world of short cinema and features performances by Raúl Fernández and Miriam Díaz de Aroca. The film runs just under twelve minutes and competed in the latest Goya Awards for best fiction short film, signaling strong reception within Spain before crossing into the international spotlight.
Also clocking in at twelve minutes is Tula by Bea de Silva. The drama centers on a school janitor who must confront a difficult moment when the headmaster’s daughter comes face to face with a pregnant young woman who harbors doubts and fears about the future. This piece showcases Silva’s directorial debut in the feature project Akelarre, expanding a promising résumé with a quiet, intimate storytelling approach.
Josep Pozo brings a rich filmmaking background to the table. He directed the animated feature The Legend of El Cid in 2003 and later pivoted to the Don Quixote story from the donkey’s perspective in Donkey Xote in 2007. In 2016, he produced the rural thriller 73 and the teen drama Nick, a project shot in Andorra. His short Plastic Killer, a 20-minute comedy with absurd overtones, also joined the competition. Pozo’s varied career reveals a filmmaker who moves across genres with a steady poise, from animation to live action to satirical comedy, reflecting a broad spectrum of Spanish cinema’s creative ambitions. This is one of the fifteen titles that entered the race with momentum and personality, challenging expectations of what a short can achieve on the world stage.
The fourth and final entry in this compact lineup is The Cure, a nine-minute work directed by Alvaro Carmona. The film draws on the texture of conversations, a hallmark of the series Gente Hablando from 2018, and stitches together dialogue between two characters. Actors such as Miki Esparbé, Verónica Echegui, Juanra Bonet, and Berto Romero contribute to the ensemble, lending a lived-in feel that anchors the storytelling. Behind The Cure lies a theatrical sensibility translated to the screen, as the piece uses black comedy to illuminate a man seeking a solution at a clinic for a serious problem. With a resume of more than sixty awards across international and national festivals, this short demonstrates how brisk, witty exchanges can carry substantial emotional weight in a compact runtime.