20/02/2024 - Between 23rd February and 3rd March, Ibiza will be filled with the most alternative and daring cinema in feature, medium and short-length films

The Eivissa International Independent Film Festival – Ibizacinefest reaches its eighth edition from 23 February to 3 March, staying faithful to its commitment to auteur works and creative freedom. This year, the selection committee has chosen 131 national and international titles (110 short films, 20 feature films and one medium-length film) that will be screened in five municipalities on the island and will maintain their online version on the Filmin platform.

Short films will once again be the protagonist of Ibizacinefest, a qualifying event for the Goya Awards 2024 by the Film Academy. A hundred short films will be presented in the different competitive sections (National Short, International Short, Fem-Cine and Eivissa Cinema) and non-competitive (Be Blue, ¿Y ESO? CineKids and the Shortfilms On Tour programme); with the latest works by filmmakers such as Neus Ballús, Maria Abenia, Maddi Barber, Marina Rodríguez Colás, Ana Amado and Lois Patiño, Koldo Almandoz, Jiajie Yu Yan, Àlex Lora and Eneko Sagardoy.

The film Light Falls Vertical [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile], by Efthymia Zymvragaki, will open this eighth edition. The ten days will include screenings of national and international titles that have never before been shown on the island, activities aimed at professionals, short film script competitions and educational activities with special screenings for students and children.

As for feature films, Ibizacinefest will have numerous premieres in its eighth edition. In its official competitive section Panorama, highlights include Radiant, Konrad Kultys’ debut, one of the most interesting emerging filmmakers in Polish cinema; Light Falls [+see also:
film review
interview: Phedon Papamichael
film profile], the fifth feature film (produced between companies from Georgia, Greece, Albania and Germany) by one of Hollywood’s most acclaimed cinematographers, Phedon Papamichael; Photophobia [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Ivan Ostrochovský, Pavol Pe…
film profile], the latest film from the Slovak filmmaking duo Ivan Ostrochovský and Pavol Pekarčík, who represented their country at the Oscars; Patagonia [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Simone Bozzelli
film profile], the promising debut film selected in competition at Locarno by Simone Bozzelli, one of the new talents of Italian cinema; and the film that will close this festival, Vista Mare [+see also:
film review
film profile] (Austria/Italy), the result of a journey that filmmakers Julia Gutweniger and Florian Kofler took to the heart of tourism in the Italian Adriatic.

Spanish cinema will have a strong presence at the Balearic film festival: Panorama will feature An Inhabited Volcano [+see also:
film review
film profile], by David Pantaleón and José Víctor Fuentes; Red Rooster, by Enrique García Vázquez; Domingo Domingo [+see also:
interview: Laura García Andreu
film profile], by Laura García Andreu; Unicorns [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile], by Álex Lora; and Remember My Name [+see also:
film review
film profile], by Elena Molina, all with their directors in attendance. Out of competition and in special screenings will be the animation film The Permanent Picture [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Laura Ferrés
film profile], by Laura Ferrés, which won at the last Seminci; Sultana's Dream [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Isabel Herguera
film profile], by Isabel Herguera; and the amazing (and amazed) medium-length film Mamántula, by Ion de Sosa.

The festival’s director, Xavi Herrero, noted a few days ago during the festival’s presentation, "its growth in all aspects, such as the number of films scheduled, premieres in Spain and the number of guests", and emphasised "the complete institutional support, with five municipalities, the Ibiza Island Council and the Government of the Balearic Islands” backing the event.

(Translated from Spanish by Vicky York)