International Mecal Short-film Festival screens 350 works throughout Barcelona

Barcelona (CNA) - The 16^th International Festival of Short Films and Animation of Catalonia started with an opening gala in the Fàbrica Moritz in Barcelona. The Festival director Roberto Barrueco presented the new edition which will offer 350 short films to be screened in 47 sessions over 80 hours of programming. Mecal is a festival held annually during the months of March or April in the Catalan capital. The festival is a review of short films and animations which takes place at different places in Barcelona, such as the Centre de Cultura Contemporània de Barcelona (CCCB), the Institut Français, the Cinemes Girona movie theatre, l’Antic Teatre cafeteria, Arts Santa Monica cultural centre and the Fàbrica Moritz gastronomic space.

As festival director Roberto Barrueco made clear at the opening ceremony, this year the festival will offer a program of 80 hours distributed between 47 sessions, four more than last year. For the event, the organization has received 5,300 short films from 110 different countries, 3% more than last year. Of all the films received, 350 have been selected, but only 123 will participate in competitions.

A sample of the festival at the opening ceremony

The presentation of the festival was held at the Fàbrica Moritz brewery in Barcelona, where guests were offered free beer by the brand. The event began with a speech by festival director Roberto Barrueco, who explained the organization of this year’s event and presented a sample of seven short films from Japan, Slovenia, United States, the Netherlands and France. A short projection presented the themes of the festival, such as animated short films from Japan or documentaries from the guest country, the Netherlands.

After forty-five minutes of viewing the films, canapés were handed out while music played. Guests were able to talk to different representatives from the films, and festival director Roberto Barrueco.

Four competitions for four weekends

This year the festival aims to provide a clear programme and to group practitioners by theme, and the competitions will be divided into four weekends. In parallel, the festival provides a programme in which short films on various themes and genres, such as Terror, Western, Sex, or Children's will be screened.

Roberto Barrueco told CNA that subsidies are becoming smaller and more difficult to obtain, but the spirit of creating an internationally established festival allows them to keep going. For the public, the entries will be more affordable this year. Entry costs 4.5 euros and allows access to all sessions on the same day. Last year that amount was paid for each of the sections. Furthermore, for movie lovers there is a 25 euro ticket which lasts all month.

Special sections for the sixteenth edition of the Festival

The Netherlands are the special guest country invited to the festival this year. Dutch representatives offered a sample of their country today and a special programme made for schools by The Netherlands Film and Television Academy.

This year Mecal presents a special collection of four short films by French filmmaker Jacques Demy. The festival will also pay homage to the great horror character Frankenstein and it will project some documentaries on the theme. Moreover, the event will innovate with a section devoted to cats and another to bicycles, which will join last year’s sections, such as Spanish and Catalan directors and filmmakers from Spain and Catalonia.

Mecal will offer an extensive programme until March 30^th. The closing ceremony of the festival will be held on Saturday 29^th at the Institut Français. The awards ceremony will also be held on the last day of competition at nine in the evening.