From 17 to 25 November, a total of 76 Spanish films will be screened at the Gijón International Film Festival, 25 more than last year. The 61st FICX thus increases the national representation in most of its sections and offers support to works which, for the most part, do not have guaranteed commercial distribution in our country.
Asturian representation in the Official Selection
Ten Spanish films will be presented in the Official Selection. Three of them are world premieres by Asturian filmmakers. In Retueyos, Samu Fuentes approaches a way of life in danger of extinction with Los últimos pastores, and Elisa Cepedal reflects the character of an entire people with El cine, 5. In the Official Short Film Section, Celia Viada Caso portrays in Gregoria a ninety-year-old woman who dedicated her days to working the land.
Emerging talent in the Official Selection
Three other Spanish films will be presented in the Official Selection after having received support from FICX in their development stages. This is the case of O auto das ánimas, the debut feature by Galician Pablo Lago Dantas, which received support from the Festival in 2020 during the PUSH PLAY Work-in-Progress sessions, and which accompanies the filmmaker on his return to a home that dissolves amidst fog, rituals and customs. On the other hand, and after being awarded twice during the last edition of FICXPro and SEMILLERU Lab, Los restos del pasar, by Luis (Soto) Muñoz Cubillo & Alfredo Picazo, is presented in the Official Section Tierres en Trance as an intimate portrait about the traditions of Easter Week; and Héctor Herce, who received the Movistar Plus+ Short Film Project Award during FICX in 2022 for Largo viaje, shows his adventure about a young hero in the Official Short Film Section.
Another directorial debut that can be seen in the Tierres en Trance Official Selection is that of Galician Carlos Martínez-Peñalver Mas. In À procura da estrela, the filmmaker invites us to lose ourselves in the sound of a mysterious melody on the highest mountain in Portugal, Serra da Estrela.
Spanish cinema in Esbilla
More than half of the films programmed in the Esbilla Section are Spanish. In addition to the usual categories within the Esbilla section, Espectru (for gems from other competitions) and Equí n’otru tiempu (for non-fiction), two new categories have been created in 2023: Generación mutante, dedicated to auteur genre films; and a fourth section that only includes absolute premieres in Spain: Esbilla Premiere. In this recent addition, two feature films from Asturias will have their world premieres: Literato, by Carlos Navarro, written by and starring Maxi Rodríguez, which tells, with autobiographical overtones, the story of an actor who returns from Madrid to his hometown in Las Cuencas Mineras; and Flores del cemento, by Luismi Pantiga, a neo-quinquiesque thriller filmed in Gijón.
Flores del cemento by Luismi Pantiga
The Espectru category, which includes debut films and fiction works by established filmmakers, will show the animated film by Pablo Berger, Robot Dreams, Audience Award at Sitges and recently nominated for the European Film Academy Awards; Samsara, by Lois Patiño, Special Jury Award in the Encounters Section at the Berlin Festival; Notas sobre un verano, by the Asturian Diego Llorente, premiered in the Official Selection at the Rotterdam Festival; Las tierras del cielo, the first feature film by the Madrid director Pablo García Canga (who also presents the French-produced short film Tu trembleras pour moi in the Official Selection); Alicia fai cousas, by the Galician filmmaker Ángel Santos Touza, who accompanies an aspiring actress as she confronts her dissatisfaction with life; Un sol radiant, in which Mònica Cambra & Ariadna Fortuny reflect a tense situation under an apparent calm; and the medium-length film by José Mata, Crónicas de un viaje, which looks at the figure of the photographer García de Marina from Gijón.
Notas sobre un verano by Diego Llorente
In Esbilla – Equí y n’otru tiempo, ten of the eleven non-fiction films programmed are Spanish: Il Mulín, by Álex Galán from Aviles, takes an attentive look at a people in their brotherhood, resistance and demands; Cigarreres, by Alejandro Nafría & Pablo A. Quiroga Prendes, takes a close look at the last workers of the century-old La Tabacalera factory in Gijón; Muyeres, by Marta Lallana from Zaragoza, which will be presented in collaboration with the Gijón Cultural Society, explores regional Asturian song with the musician Raúl Refree as the protagonist and author of the soundtrack; the Austro-Spanish production Anqa, by Helin Çelik, delicately approaches three Jordanian women traumatised by gender violence; La estafa del amor, by Virginia García del Pino, reflects collectively on falling in love and relationships; La muerte después, by Anna Halbleib, Lucas Zacarías, Mateo Villalustre, Paula Hierro & José Julián Morales, a short film produced by the Master in Documentary Film at the Autonomous University of Barcelona, focuses on two funeral orators at secular ceremonies. The list of Spanish films at Esbilla – Equí y n’otru tiempo, is completed by the Asturian films Hinterland, by Manuel García Postigo; El amigo de todos, by José Antonio Quirós, which will be presented in collaboration with the Sociedad Cultural GESTO; and La vida a través de Vega, by José Riveiro.
Muyeres by Marta Lallana
In Esbilla – Generación Mutante, FICX has two transgressive Spanish films that redefine the contemporary genre: Mamántula, by Ion de Sosa, a B-series story in co-production with Germany that follows the trail of a strange murderer; and On the Go, by María Gisèle Royo & Julia de Castro, a surrealist and punk road movie with motherhood as a background question that was recognised at the last Locarno Festival and that FICX presents in collaboration with XEGA.
On the Go by María Gisèle Royo & Julia de Castro
Boosting Spanish cinema in collaboration with other festivals
FICX is committed to the sustainability of resources and the visibility of auteur cinema and renews its collaborations with festivals such as San Sebastian or ZINEBI. Thus, Crossroads – Zinemaldia | FICX will offer two Spanish films that won awards at the San Sebastian event; El sueño de la sultana is an animation by Isabel Herguera about a world governed by women that will be shown in Gijón in collaboration with MUSOC (Asturias Social Film and Human Rights Festival), and the second feature film by Javier Macipe, La estrella azul, revolves around the duo formed by a famous rocker and an elderly musician.
For its part, and in collaboration with the Bilbao International Documentary and Short Film Festival ZINEBI, the FICX presents Blow! by Neus Ballús, an approach to the biggest animal in the world, and also shares two premieres with the Bilbao event: In a Nearby Field, in which the beauty of the everyday takes centre stage through the eyes of Laida Lertxundi & Ren Ebel; and Betiko Gaua, an allegorical road movie by Goya-winning actor and debutant director Eneko Sagardoy.
The Night of the Spanish Short Film and the FICX Special Passes
The Night of the Spanish Short Film offers five films, all of them signed by female directors, in this 61st edition of the FICX. With a presence at the Cannes Critics’ Week and the San Sebastian Film Festival, Contadores, by Irati Gorostidi, deals with the process of fragmentation of the workers’ movement during the Transition period; Al borde del agua, by Maria Elorza, rescues some reels by the recently deceased Donostia-born video artist Iñigo Salaberria, which remained in the shadows for decades; Ballenas aplastadas por el hielo, by Andrea Jaurrieta, shows a youth full of artistic ambitions that, hit by the economic crisis of 2008, is forced to survive with precarious jobs without giving up their dreams; Anxos Fazáns presents Habitar, a short film about the construction of identity through the portrait of transgender and non-binary people in Galicia; and María Abenia shows in Sísifo how men and machines break, push and crush the rocks of the new bad country after the eruption of the Tajogaite volcano on the island of La Palma.
Ballenas aplastadas por el hielo by Andrea Jaurrieta
In Special Screenings, the Festival will screen La importancia de llamarse Ernesto y la gilipollez de llamarse Eric, a portrait by filmmaker César Martínez Herrada of the eventful life of the drummer of Los Planetas and Lagartija Nick; Incierta gloria, the film by Agustí Villaronga, winner of a Goya for Best Adapted Screenplay in 2017, which will be presented in collaboration with the association XEGA; and La mano de madera, a feature film by Augusto M. Torres, begun in 1966 and recently completed, which will have its world premiere as a complete work at the 61st FICX. Torres started in 1966 and recently completed, which will have its world premiere as a complete work at the 61st FICX by the Filmoteca Española and whose premiere will be attended by the writer Vicente Molina Foix.
Incierta gloria by Agustí Villaronga
The Gijón event is also dedicating one of its focuses to the Catalan filmmaker Elena Martín Gimeno with the screening of her two feature films, Júlia Ist and her most recent, Creatura, which can be seen in Gijón in collaboration with MUSOC after its successful screening at the Cannes Film Festival.
FICXPro and SEMILLERU: industry workshops, training and support for film projects
For the seventh year, the Gijón/Xixón International Film Festival, in co-production with the Asturias Paraíso Natural Film Commission, is organising the FICXPro conference for film industry professionals, which will take place from 20 to 24 November at the Centro de Cultura Antiguo Instituto. This year, FICXPro‘s programme of contents will focus on distribution, national and European co-production, and sustainability in the film industry, and will be divided into different sessions that will include talks on grants, alliances, strategic internationalisation, masterclasses on distribution and workshops on sustainable certification, among others. The deadline for accreditation for the FICXPro professional conferences will run from 27 October to 10 November and can be done by filling in a simple form that will be published on the Festival’s website.
For its part, SEMILLERU, with its second edition, is a space for the nurturing and care of film projects and professionals with the aim of generating an environment that respects creative times. All this, through its two programmes, SEMILLERU Campus Cinematográfico (SCampus) and SEMILLERU Lab (SLab) that will take place in two venues, Centro de Cultura Antiguo Instituto and LABoral Ciudad de la Cultura.
SEMILLERU Campus Cinematográfico is a comprehensive educational programme for filmmakers who are taking their first steps in the audiovisual field, combining theoretical training with the development of creative audiovisual projects. This intensive training will take place from 2 to 25 November, for three and a half weeks, the second part of which will run parallel to the FICX. Some of the professionals from the sector who will share their knowledge and experience with the participants are Mikel Gurrea, Samu Fuentes, Ramón Lluis Bande, Meritxell Colell, Andrea Jaurrieta, Silvia Lobo and Lisandro Alonso.
In addition, the FICX industry days are a space in which to get to know the projects selected in SEMILLERU Lab, the laboratory for projects in the development and post-production phase focused on works of a markedly authorial nature in line with the FICX programme and philosophy, which is committed to new perspectives and ways of making films. This programme will take place from 20 to 24 November.
Selected projects in SEMILLERU Lab
Five feature films have been selected in the development modality of this year’s edition, and four feature films and one short film have been selected in the post-production modality.
Selected projects in the development modality:
As Defensas | Direction: Lucía Estévez | Producer: Nati Juncal (Cósmica Producións)
Donde estés será mi hogar | Director: Lionel Braverman | Produced by: Florencia de Mugica
HAPPY GEN | Direction: Bárbara Brailovsky and Elisa Gagliano | Production: GUALICHO
Los fines de semana | Direction: Alicia Moncholí | Production: Antonio Chavarrías and Alba Bosch (Oberon Media)
San dai shi guang (Tres edades) | Director: Jaijie Yu Yan | César Esteban (Solita Films)
Selected projects in the post-production category:
AUSPICIA* | Direction: María Royo | Production: María Royo (Jur Jur Productions)
Deuses de pedra | Direction: Iván Castiñeiras | Production: Ángel Santos (Amateurfilms)
El exilio del viento | Direction: Andreu Corberà | Production: Celia Mira (Miracor Films)
Estados Generales | Direction: Mauricio Freyre | Production: Mauricio Freyre
Leandro Flores | Directed by: Mateo Kesselman | Produced by: Mateo Kesselman and Andrew Sala (Nevada Cine)
The ten selected projects will be assessed by a jury and mentors specialising in each call, including names such as the director of the Black Canvas Festival in Mexico Claudio Zilleruelo, the director of FIDLab at FIDMarseille Fabienne Moris, the sales agent Patra Spanou, the head of Industry at the New Horizons Festival Weronika Czołnowska, the Talent Manager of the Rotterdam International Film Festival Facundo Lema and the producer Ada Solomon.
Collaboration of Acción Cultural Española (AC/E)
It should be noted that Acción Cultural Española (AC/E) has made public its decision on the PICE Visitors programme for 2023, in which the evaluation committee has awarded FICX the second highest financial allocation in its call for applications in cinema (€10,208.75), behind only the San Sebastian International Film Festival.
