30/09/2021 - The event opened on 29 September, and will continue until 10 October in the Spanish capital; the theme for this 30th edition of the festival is “Everything for films”

The 30^th edition of the Madrid Film Festival -New Creators' Platform, with the slogan “Everything for films”, opened yesterday – Wednesday 29 September, and will run until 10 October in Madrid. The different competition categories (Official Short Film Section, Official PNR Short Film Section, Official Feature Film Section, PNR Feature Film Section and the Silent Film Section) have received high numbers of applicants. 80 entries (69 shorts and 11 features have been shortlisted from over 500. A further 25 entries will be taking part in the simultaneous sections and will be eligible for viewers’ awards.

In the Official Category; actress Verónica Echegui directs her short film Tótem Loba, produced by Félix Tusell Sánchez, Carmela Martínez Oliart, Arturo Valls and Álex García, in which she addresses the topic of gender equality among teenagers. Roberto Pérez Toledo, meanwhile, presents Antes de la erupción, a short film about social issues and homosexuality. This year, the International Section is led by Bolivia Lab, boiling pot of opportunities for Iberian-American film-makers with projects under development. As part of this section, as well as the screening of a number of films that have passed through this prestigious project laboratory, the Madrid Film Festival will present the rules for the first ever FCM-PNR pitching contest for projects under development. The winner of this event will receive direct selection for development at Bolivia Lab.

Other scheduled events include a Masterclass by film-maker Jaime Chávarri on how to make low-budget films, and another by director and scriptwriter Andrés Sanz, director of the documentary film El cuadro – nominated for the Goya Awards 2021–, on writing for experimental documentaries.

Due to the exceptional circumstances of the year 2020, this 30^th Madrid Film Festival (FCM-PNR) has added a new section: Our Pandemic Films, which includes a selection of the eight of the best entries submitted that deal with issues arising from this social and healthcare crisis. This will run alongside all the other parallel events of the festival: Femmes, focusing on female film-makers and which this year will includes eight pieces (including the short by Lluvia Rojo Nos miran, in full rejection of animal cruelty and starring actresses Carolina Yuste, Verónica Echegui, Irene Visedo, Nathalie Poza, Sara Sálamo and Nuria Gago, among others); and the Cool Film event, for younger audiences, with seven entries.

The 30^th Edition of the Madrid Film Festival (FCM-PNR) aims to become a new showcase for animation film, very prolific in Spain, and will also include the first FCM-PNR Animation Conference in collaboration with the Regional Government of Madrid and Pixel Cluster Madrid: this event will offer exclusive shotes and previews of a number of projects co-produced in Spain and Portugal, including the latest film by Fernando Trueba and Mariscal, They Shot the Piano Player. In addition, a rich selection of animation shorts will be screened before the feature length films in the Official Section.

The FCM-PNR Festival is organised by the New Creators’ Platform, a national not-for-profit association founded in 1987 in order to create a public space for new professionals to screen and promoted their short films and as a springboard to their first feature films.

(Translated from Spanish by Alexandra Stephens)