More than 50 Catalan films presenting at 27th edition of Malaga Film Festival
Record number of films includes shorts, animation, documentaries, and features
On Friday, the 27th edition of the Malaga Film Festival kicked off in southern Spain, and this year, a record number of Catalan films will be presented.
Although Catalan films have always had a strong presence at the festival, this year’s edition breaks all records with around 50 films.
The festival opens with the animated fantasy film ‘Dragonkeeper’, directed by Catalan filmmaker Salvador Simó with Li Jianping, which is part of the official selection of feature films in the competition.
In the running for the Golden Biznaga, the award for best feature film, are the latest films by Catalan filmmakers Celia Rico with 'Little Loves' (‘Los pequeños amores’), Antonio Chavarrías with 'The Abess' (‘La Abadesa’), Isaki Lacuesta as co-director of 'Saturn Return' (‘Segundo Premio’), Pau Durà with ‘Pájaros’, and Andrea Jaurrieta with the film ‘Nina’.
The Spanish festival will also present eight feature films produced by Catalan production teams, such as ‘Disco, Ibiza, Locomía’, by Kike Maíllo; ‘Yo no soy esa’, by Maria Ripoll; ‘Calladita’, by Miguel Faus; 'The Sleeping Woman' (‘La mujer dormida’), by Laura Alvea; ‘Por tus muertos’, by Sayago Ayuso; ‘La bandera’, by Martín Cuervo; ‘Invasión’, by David Martín-Porras, and 'Jumping the Fence' (‘El salto’), by Benito Zambrano.
In the documentary category, four Catalan films are in the running for Best Documentary Feature: 'The Caravan' (‘La caravana’), by Nuria Clavero and Aitor Palacios, ‘Pepi Fandango’, by Lucija Stojevic, ‘Artefacto 71’, by Carlos Essmann, and ‘Salvaxe, Salvaxe’ by Emilio Fonseca.
There are 12 Catalan productions in the fiction and animation categories, including ‘Apartamentos Paradiso’, by Andreu Garcia Antolí and Víctor Jiménez Lafuente as well as ‘Cura sana’, by Lucía G. Romero.
As for documentary shorts, this year’s selection includes five Catalan productions are part of this year’s selection, including ‘Corre o vento’, by Paula Fuentes and Guillermo Carrera and ‘El soldao’, by Alejandro Cabrera.
Screenings of Catalan films
The 27th edition of the festival will also screen a large number of Catalan films that are not part of the competition, including culinary, shorts, and animated films.
As part of the Special Sessions, the two Catalan films 'Things I Never Told You' (‘Cosas que nunca te dije’), by Isabel Coixet, and 'In a Glass Cage' (‘Tras el cristal’) by Agustí Villaronga will be shown in versions restored by the Catalan Cinemateque, FilmoTeca de Catalunya.
Furthermore, four Catalan productions will be screened in the festival’s Asserting Women’s Rights category.
The festival will be held from March 1 to 10.