21/11/2022 - The 12th edition of the Madrilenian event includes a slew of titles – and not just Ibero-American ones – as well as prizes for France’s Alain Guiraudie and Spaniard Elena López Riera

The Márgenes International Film Festival is holding its 12^th edition between 22 and 27 November in Madrid, adding an international scope to its programme: in line with this, French filmmaker Alain Guiraudie (whose recent Nobody’s Hero [+see also:
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interview: Alain Guiraudie
film profile] will get an airing) will be the first non-Ibero-American auteur to receive the Márgenes Special Award at the opening ceremony, where the 2022 Márgenes Futura Award will also be handed to Elena López Riera (El agua [+see also:
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interview: Elena López Riera
film profile]). This prize acknowledges the talents of a rising star of Spanish film who has demonstrated a high degree of talent and originality (furthermore, the short films made by both auteurs can be seen, free of charge, on the festival’s website).

Fairytale [+see also:
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film profile] by Ulrich Seidl, Coma [+see also:
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interview: Bertrand Bonello
film profile] by Bertrand Bonello and Yann Gonzalez’s short film Hideous will be screened in Madrid as part of the non-competitive El Presente section, homing in on the most prominent names in the international film landscape, such as duo Tizza Covi and Rainer Frimmel (who will be presenting Vera [+see also:
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interview: Tizza Covi, Rainer Frimmel
film profile]), and Alice Diop (with her award-festooned Saint Omer [+see also:
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interview: Alice Diop
interview: Kayije Kagame
film profile]).

To coincide with the Spanish theatrical release of his latest movie, French actor and filmmaker Mathieu Almalric will be in the Spanish capital and will pay a visit to Márgenes to introduce Hold Me Tight [+see also:
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film profile]. His fellow countrywoman Patricia Mazuy, who is virtually unknown to Spanish audiences but who has built up a solid reputation thanks to her forceful and personal cinematic vision, characterised by creative freedom, transgression and a determination to go against the grain, will premiere her latest film, Saturn Bowling [+see also:
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interview: Patricia Mazuy
film profile], in Madrid, as part of the auteur’s first retrospective in Spain, together with the one on the programme of the Gijón Film Festival.

The festival’s Official Section (which will be judged by jury members Nacho Sánchez, Isabel Peña and Nicole Brenez) is also opening up internationally, as proven by the inclusion of Anhell69 [+see also:
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interview: Theo Montoya
film profile], the feature debut by Theo Montoya; De humani corporis fabrica [+see also:
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interview: Véréna Paravel, Lucien Cast…
film profile], a film helmed by Verena Paravel and Lucien Castaing-Taylor; La mala familia [+see also:
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interview: Nacho A Villar and Luis Rojo
film profile], a documentary by Nacho A Villar and Luis Rojo; La niña mártir, a short film by Extremadura-born director María Pérez Sanz; Runner [+see also:
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film profile] by Marian Mathias; Tobacco Barns [+see also:
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interview: Rocío Mesa
film profile], the feature debut by Andalusian filmmaker Rocío Mesa; the medium-length flick Sóc vertical però m’agradaria ser horitzontal by María Antón Cabot, who was born in Benidorm, the same place where the action of the film takes place; the short Alegrías Riojanas by Velasco Broca; Subtotals, a short by Mohammadreza Farzad; The Spiral, another short by María Silvia Esteve; The Cathedral by US director Ricky D’Ambrose; and the German production Piaffe [+see also:
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interview: Ann Oren
film profile] by Ann Oren.

In addition, special screenings will be on the agenda for H [+see also:
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interview: Carlos Pardo Ros
film profile] by Carlos Pardo Ros, The Super-8 Years [+see also:
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interview: Annie Ernaux and David Erna…
film profile] by winner of the 2022 Nobel Prize in Literature Annie Ernaux, and the queer musical Will-o’-the-Wisp [+see also:
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interview: João Pedro Rodrigues
film profile] by Portugal’s Joao Pedro Rodrigues, among other titles.

It’s also worth pointing out that Márgenes includes a number of performance sessions perched at the crossroads between sound art and visual art, by names of the calibre of musician Artur M Puga, visual artist Shoeg, Myriam Bleau, Alex Augier, Holy Other, Pedro Maia and Enrique del Castillo.

Last but not least, MRGente is the section dedicated to new talents, training the spotlight on Spanish artists. This selection combines screenings of finished works, films in progress and presentations of audiovisual projects of an experimental nature, as well as works linked to other visual arts that were not initially intended to be shown in a movie theatre. The list of these 14 works can be viewed by clicking here.

(Translated from Spanish)