The Lanzarote International Film Festival kicks off its key week between May 5th and May 13th. On the occasion of its celebration, the festival director, Ismael Curbelo, attends us and invites citizens to attend a festival "where there is always a seat for every type of viewer."
The beginnings of this exhibition come from the 90s. Before being one of the pre-selecting festivals of the prestigious Goya Awards, the Lanzarote International Film Festival "began as a small film exhibition that lasted a week and was called Cine Primavera," narrates Ismael Curbelo.
"Art has to be lived in community," he now reflects on the role of culture as a method of expression and its role in the form of social protest. The ambition to bring cinema to the island when there was not so much cultural offer or digital platforms was the engine that drove the germ of what the FICL is now. "Then there was very little offer, so films and colloquium talks were brought to contribute a little to the island." These talks that still remain at the Lanzarote International Film Festival are for Curbelo a reflection that "when the film ends and you can sit down to talk with the director, the cinema continues."
This initiative began in 1996 and lasted for six years until there was a break.
In 2007 it was reactivated with a new edition and it was from the following year when they began their commitment to the short film format. Since then, this International Film Festival has been growing and reaching more parts of the world. In its greatest record, this event received more than 4,000 short film proposals from 112 different countries. It also has "some feature films that have not reached the islands, which have been shot in Lanzarote, in the Canary Islands, and that may be of interest to society."
The prestige of this festival, which was born on the island of rabbits, is not only reflected in being one of the pre-selectors for the Documentary and National Fiction Section of the Goya Awards, but also this year alone they received more than 2,100 works from a total of 90 different countries to participate in the short film competition.
Why short films?
When asked why the short format has been chosen, the director of the Lanzarote Film Festival points out that it is a "free" means of expression, and that also "it does not respond to interests, as happens in a feature film, where the producers only want to know if they are going to recover money, if they are going to win and they look at the target or target audience of that film."
"We have recovered the rhythm, we have increased a little since the pandemic, which well, the productions were decreasing," said Ismael Curbelo during an interview with La Voz.
They also have their attendees assured. "We worry from the little ones, from three or four years old we already make projections in the El Salinero Theater and the schools come to see short films according to age, we also plan projections for the elderly," explains the director. Curbelo says that they take the residents of the residence to the Civic Center, which is the space that has no architectural barriers. "From school, boys and girls can also participate in a tailor-made contest.
This key week of screenings is added to the various activities proposed by the festival organization. From workshops dedicated to professionals and people who want to start in this world, such as the express short film workshop or the introduction to cinematographic language, to shop window competitions and a film mural contest.
"The best story is the one you have told and not the one that remains untold," says director Ismael Curbelo
Express Shorts Section
For Ismael Curbelo, the Express Shorts section is one of the most fun moments. This section is named in honor of the director Roberto Pérez Toledo, who had as a philosophy of life that "the best story is the one you have told and not the one that remains untold." This proposal consists of giving the participants a theme in the first week of the festival, they have to work on it and shoot it in 48 hours and then, on Sunday, May 7, they are screened in the Theater Hall of Multicines Atlántida and in that same place the awards are given.
The Lanzarote International Film Festival is also recommended by different countries, including the French and Swiss Film Academies. "The word has spread that we treat short films with care, we do not skimp on effort, it is always difficult to please everyone, but let's say that our effort always goes into respecting the audiovisual work."
The theme of the short films that have been presented this year is varied. "There are heavyweight actors who lend themselves to short films, most of the time they don't charge, but they believe in the story and make their bet." In addition, among the candidates for international sections there are short films nominated for the Oscars, winning works from the Cannes Film Festival or the San Sebastián Film Festival, that is, from the most important festivals.
"There are years when we receive many more French short films than Spanish ones. It fills us with pride to receive those works, of such quality and from so many distant countries that sometimes do not even have the means to register on the platform. This festival has received works from Iran, Iraq, Cuba or China. "Four or five years ago a Korean short film won in the international section. You realize that from such a small place in the outermost periphery of Europe on a remote island there are people who, being in such a distant country, decide to participate in the festival."
"We have been receiving proposals from the five continents for years, receiving everything, every year you are surprised by what we receive."
*Check the schedule on the official website of the Lanzarote International Film Festival*