The decision, argued this Saturday before the spectators in an open and transparent manner, is already a hallmark of the Lanzarote Film Festival, and in this 13th edition, the jury valued the ability of 'Malqueridas' to "move and excite in a balanced, respectful, dignified way, legitimizing the lives that these people share with us in their stories, offering a suggestive and generous space for the spectators to inhabit this reality in the most empathetic way possible."
As for the special mention, it was for 'Do Not Expect Too Much from the End of the World', by Romanian Radu Jude, since according to the Jury itself, "we are faced with an extraordinary filmmaker, with a fascinating plastic and expressive freedom, a great connoisseur of cinema and its possibilities, who also demonstrates a strong commitment to the human, by establishing a fertile dialogue between individuals and society, and whose exploration of the territory, with a geographical base in Bucharest, manages to transcend its border and summon from the cinematographic narrative a space of universal thought."
The winning Canarian short film was 'Bloom', which talks about San Borondón, a mythical island that appears and disappears. Throughout history, it has been located on maps near the Canary Islands. During the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries, the legend of the island of San Borondón became so strong that expeditions were organized to discover and conquer it. After centuries of oblivion, it has finally been found. For the Jury of the Festival, "it is an audiovisual piece that constructs through hypnotic images, for its beauty and aesthetic treatment, a geography in flight. A submerged land that emerges only from time to time, and that tries to be registered and organized through the curious gaze of the human gesture that collects to tell the spectators how that imagined territory is configured and inhabited."
The Jury of the Lanzarote Film Festival that has made this decision is made up of: María Abenia, filmmaker, professor, screenwriter and programmer, the latter for five years at the MiradasDoc International Documentary Film Festival. Garbiñe Ortega, specialized in experimental and non-fiction cinema, her practice focuses on curating and programming. Her curatorial work has been shown internationally. And the third component, Irina Raffo, filmmaker, photographer and producer. She has acted as a jury member and mentor in several festivals and has been a guest lecturer at the International Film and TV School of San Antonio de los Baños, among many others.
The 13th Lanzarote Film Festival is organized by the non-profit association Tenique Cultural and is sponsored by the Cabildo de Lanzarote, the Lanzarote Foreign Promotion Society through its product brand Lanzarote Film Commission, the Art, Culture and Tourism Centers and the Institute of Cinematography and Audiovisual Arts of Spain.
