03/06/2025 - The film festival will dedicate a cycle to Bertrand Bonello and will screen the latest works by filmmakers such as Ludwig Wüst, Willy Hans, Aura Satz, Deniz Eroglu and Yuri Semashko, among others

Filmadrid has confirmed the programme for its 11th edition, which will take place from 10 to 15 June in the Spanish capital. In collaboration with ECAM Forum (read more), which is also taking place that week, it will focus on French director Bertrand Bonello, with screenings of his films Tiresia (2003), House of Tolerance [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Adèle Haenel
film profile] (2011) and Zombi Child [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Bertrand Bonello
film profile] (2019). Bonello will also lead a seminar on international co-production during his visit.

The Official Section will feature eight titles in competition: Germany's Helena Wittmann, who won the 2018 edition with Drift [+see also:
trailer
interview: Helena Wittmann and Theresa…
film profile], returns with the short film A Thousand Waves Away, a multisensory experience that premiered at the most recent edition of the IFFR; and Austria's Ludwig Wüst, winner of the 9th edition with I Am Here! [+see also:
trailer
film profile], also returns to Madrid to present its follow-up #Love. Joining them is fellow German filmmaker Willy Hans, competing with his debut film Skill Issue [+see also:
film review
interview: Willy Hans
film profile], and Catalan director Aura Satz is presenting her latest work, the documentary Preemptive Listening.

Among the new names at Filmadrid are Danish-Turkish director Deniz Eroglu, who is presenting his unclassifiable feature debut The Shipwreck Triptych; Belarusian Yuri Semashko with his entertaining odyssey The Swan Song of Fedor Ozerov [+see also:
film review
interview: Yuri Semashko
film profile], which premiered at the Berlinale Forum; Swiss-Iraqi filmmaker Tabarak Allah Abbas, participating with the political anime short My Homeland (Mawtini); and Korean Kang Mi-ja with her second feature Spring Night.

Among the festival’s parallel activities, the Vanguardias Live section stands out, where cinema engages with other art forms to transcend the boundaries of theatre. In Bailar la muerte, filmmaker Luis E. Parés and choreographer Julio Ruiz present a piece that blends fragments of an unfinished film with readings by the director and improvisation by the dancer. Meanwhile, Chema García Ibarra and art director Leonor Díaz (both known for The Sacred Spirit [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Chema García Ibarra
film profile]) present Wallapop Videowars: a battle of home videos in a festive, television-inspired format that unleashes a kitsch imagination.

New Passages/New Visions, a programme dedicated to showcasing emerging and innovative voices in the current European animation scene, includes the following titles: Flatastic by Alice Saey (France); I Would Rather Be a Stone by Ana Husman (Croatia); Anima Natura by Andrea Gudiño (Estonia/Mexico); Everythingness by Julia Jesionek (Germany); and Portales by Elena Duque (Spain), a short film that had its world premiere at the Forum Expanded section at the last Berlinale.

Filmadrid also renews its collaboration with the Mubi platform for the section The Video Essay, which presents a selection of previously unseen video essays by contemporary filmmakers such as Hong Sang-soo: Gravity and Grace by Oh Jinwoo (South Korea); O Gesto by Carlos Natálio and Francisco Dias (Portugal); The Woman in the Yellow Dress by Russell Banfield (United Kingdom); and Houses We Can Own by Susana Bessas (Portugal).

Finally, the SMART7 network (read more) will present the third edition of its film competition programme, supported by the EU's Creative Europe MEDIA Programme. Established in 2023, it consists of the film festivals: New Horizons (Poland), IndieLisboa (Portugal), Thessaloniki (Greece), Transilvania (Romania), Reykjavik (Iceland), Vilnius (Lithuania) and Filmadrid. 

(Translated from Spanish)