The International Film Festival of Palencia has announced this morning that a total of 2,149 films from 87 countries choose to be part of the National and International Short Film Contests that it calls for its thirtieth edition and that will take place between February 26 and on March 6, 2021. Over the next few weeks, a selection committee will determine the works that will finally enter the competition and will communicate its decision to the chosen filmmakers.
The Friends of Cinema Association and the Popular University of Palencia, organizers of the film event, have specified that a total of 1,033 are the national proposals submitted to competition this year. Madrid, Barcelona, the Basque Country, Extremadura, the Canary Islands and Galicia lead the contributions. Once again, the works sent from the ECAM (School of Cinematography and Audiovisual of the Community of Madrid), the ESCAC (Higher School of Cinema and Audiovisuals of Catalonia) and Kimuak (Selection of Basque Short Films) stand out.
Regarding the International Short Film Competition, the figure rises to 1,116 films, 48 more than in the 2020 edition. The candidate works bear the seal of 87 different countries, including France (which leads the list of papers presented), Argentina, Iran, Brazil, Italy, Chile, Colombia, China or the United States.
Of the 2,149 proposals received, 1,527 correspond to the genre of fiction (785 in National and 742 in International), while 229 are animation (52 in the section dedicated to Spanish production and 177 in that of foreign shorts). The documentary
It is also very present, with a total of 363 films presented, divided into 189 national ones and 174 international ones. Likewise, 7 experimental films choose to participate in the National Competition and another 19 in the International, while there are 4 video clips presented in the International Competition.
Awards from the Palencia Film Festival
It should be remembered that the MCIP has been included for the first time in the list of qualifying festivals for the Goya 2021 Awards, which is organized annually by the Academy of Cinematographic Arts and Sciences of Spain. Thus, the winner of the ‘Milagros Alcalde’ Jury Prize for Best Short Film will automatically be classified in the race for the aforementioned awards in their corresponding category. This seal is added to the certification obtained by the Palencia competition by the Spanish Short Film Industry Association (AIC), an entity that recognizes the work of those festivals that perform an exemplary role in the dissemination, protection and professionalization of cinema and its industry, and especially the short film.
The MCIP will distribute a total of 14,800 euros in prizes and that is because all the films chosen to participate in the National Short Film Competition will be able to compete for the Milagros Mayor of the Jury Prize (endowed with 4,000 euros); the Audience Award (2,000 euros); the Jury Award for Best Screenplay (1,000 euros) and the La Moraleja Penitentiary Center Audience Award (1,000 euros), to which are added the Jury Award for Best Director (1,000 euros) and the Jury Award for Best Performance (1,000 euros). In addition, works that stand out for their educational content may be awarded the Children’s Audience Award, a distinction that will report to its author or authors an amount of 1,000 euros. The Best Soundtrack will not be left without recognition, a chapter in which a limited number of shorts selected by a specialized jury will compete according to their musical content. Components of the organization of the Palencia Sonora festival will be the ones who ultimately decide the name of the recipient of this Javier Santos Award and its corresponding financial contribution (800 euros). As a novelty in this edition, the winner of the ‘Milagros Alcalde’ will go directly to the official list of the selected works of the 2021 International Short Film Competition of the Leiria Film Festival (Portugal).
As for the International Short Film Competition, the selected films will also compete for the Audience Award (1,000 euros), the Young Jury Award (1,000 euros) and the Children’s Audience Award (1,000 euros).
Short films, documentary proposals, independent cinema, works for children, music or exhibitions make up, every year, the program of the contest that, organized by the Asociación Amigos del Cine and the Universidad Popular de Palencia, has the collaboration of the City Council of Palencia, Through its Department of Culture, Tourism and Festivities, the Palencia Provincial Council and the Junta de Castilla y León, as well as with the private sponsorship of Toyota Palencia.
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