Bueu, August 25, 2025 – 14 Galician premieres and 5 Spanish ones in the Official Section will bring to the public the latest works by filmmakers from countries such as Sweden, Lebanon, Argentina, Germany, Brazil, Greece or Colombia, in an edition in which Ibero-American cinema takes center stage and genres such as animation, documentary, and comedy gain presence.
The Official Section of the 18th edition of FICBUEU presents a heterogeneous selection of 28 films with a strong authorial character.
The range of perspectives that make up this selection reflect many of the most pressing issues in today’s society, presenting a diverse panorama both geographically and in the protagonists of each film. It is a selection of the most outstanding films of the year, 5 of which will be seen for the first time in Spain and 14 for the first time in Galicia.
The Galician premieres will be: 2006, by Gabriella Choueifaty (France, Lebanon); EN HJÄLTES DÖD, by Karin Franz Körlof (Sweden); ESTE NO ES TIEMPO PARA CARNAVAL, by Tadeo Pestaña Caro and Kevin Havas (Argentina); ROSE, by Annika Mayer (Germany); O, by Rúnar Rúnarsson (Iceland, Sweden); THE CAR THAT CAME BACK FROM THE SEA, by Jadwiga Kowalska (Switzerland); HELLO STRANGER, by Amélie Hardy (Canada); THE EGGREGORES’ THEORY, by Andrea Gatopoulos (Italy); AMARELA, by André Hayato Saito (Brazil); DOMINGO FAMILIAR, by Gerardo Del Razo (Mexico); FURIA, by Fran Moreno Blanco and Santi Pujol Amat (Spain); BAD FOR A MOMENT, by Daniel Soares (Portugal); 400 CASSETTES, by Thelyia Petraki (Greece, Germany) and EL BANNER, by Tomás Terzano (Argentina, Spain).
Meanwhile, the Spanish premieres will be: HOUSEWARMING, by Liam White (United Kingdom); MOON LAKE, by Jeannie Sui Wonders (United States); 1 HIJO & 1 PADRE, by Andrés Ramírez Pulido (Colombia, France); LINNUD LÄINUD, by Anu-Laura Tuttelberg (Estonia, Lithuania); and HIMMEL WIE SEIDE. VOLLER ORANGEN, by Betina Kuntzsch (Germany).
The short films that make up the Official Section of this edition include three Galician filmmakers: ABELLÓN, by Fon Cortizo; HIPPOCAMPUS, by Xaime Miranda; and PATIOS DE LUZ, by Fran Rodríguez, all three positioning themselves as the best short-format cinema of the last year at an international level.
In the GZ_OO Section you can enjoy emerging Galician audiovisuals
Through 6 films we will present a diverse and stimulating panorama of what new creators from the Galician audiovisual scene are doing.
In O CORPIÑO, Blanca Navarrete and Antía Rodeiro use archival footage to show us the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Corpiño (Santa Baia de Losón, Lalín), popularly known as the “sanctuary of exorcisms,” one of the most visited in inland Galicia. Diego R. Aballe narrates in MONSTERA the argument unleashed by a neglected plant during a business trip; and in HOLDSWORTH Xosé Dopazo will immerse the audience in a non-stop action piece. DELINCUENTE, by Alba Domínguez and Nuria Vil, presents La Maradona, leader of a youth delinquency gang in 1980s Vigo, in a visual piece that rescues the city’s working-class history and contemporary literature. BOCA DE ASNO, by Carlos Calvar, shows how an unfortunate stumble can change your future, and Paula Pereira addresses in ALGO NOVO QUE CONTAR, which will have its world premiere at FICBUEU, the difficulties of progressing in relationships.
The Discoveries Section will bring us avant-garde pieces
Time for short films dedicated to showcasing the most daring and innovative works, with a certain experimental character. Screenings will include PERFECTLY A STRANGENESS, by Alison McAlpine (Canada), a sensorial and cinematic exploration of what a story can be; APOCALYPSE, by Méry Benoit (France), in which at a gigantic metal festival, music gradually takes over the metalheads; NEUN TAGE IM AUGUST, by Ella Knorz (Germany), the story of a father concerned for his daughter; ON HOLD, by Delia Hess (Switzerland), an episodic and surreal short about the absurdity of urban life and the frustration of being stuck; and [S], by Mario Radev (United Kingdom, Poland, Bulgaria), a film that delves into an immersive loop of organic forms, reflecting on the entangled nature of life and art.
In addition, FICBUEU will host creations produced in film schools, both Galician and international, as well as in Galician educational centers.
The directors who will showcase their works in Galician film schools are Agustín Segura Prado, Mara Varela, Pablo Goirigolzarri, Xoán Vázquez, and Aira Portos, from the University of Santiago de Compostela; and Miguel R. Berride, from the University of Vigo.
Agustín Segura Prado will participate in this section with El que no se agache (2025), a piece that, starting from a personal narrative together with experiences of other people, creates a portrait of different LGBT childhoods and adolescences. Mara Varela, Xoán Vázquez, and Pablo Goirigolzarri co-direct Alén da estrada (2025), where they follow the “Ruta do Grelo” along the N-550 road, from Sigüeiro to Ordes. This road trip is the guiding thread that will introduce us to the stories of the women who sell their surplus harvest by the roadside. Aira Portos presents Praza do punto (2025), her first documentary short, dealing with the story of Viriato, a key company for the town of Ordes that has always been part of the collective imagination and where more than three hundred women from the town worked. To complete the section, Miguel R. Berride will present Ancora (2024), his second short film. In it, he shows the problems of a couple when fear, control, and the past are present.
Meanwhile, in the International film schools section, the works — all premiering in Galicia — of Carolina Cruz (Germany/Chile), Agne Girsaite (Lithuania), Yohann Abdelnour (Lebanon), Amie Song (United States), Mansi Maheshwari (United Kingdom) and Mariona Martínez (Spain) can be seen.
While in Recordari, Carolina Cruz takes us to Santiago de Chile in 1985 with two girls whose stories are marked by the horrors of Pinochet’s military dictatorship, in Closeout, Agne Girsaite delves into a family story about the sale of a house after the grandfather’s death. The Lebanese Yohann Abdelnour brings the audience into the forest in Crow man. There lives a girl who wants to fight a strange creature that intends to go after her grandfather after his death. Three, by Amie Song, is full of secrets that a woman wants to hide from her new friends, and Bunnyhood, by Mansi Maheshwari, also focuses on secrets, in this case those revealed during a last-minute trip to a hospital. To close the section, Mariona Martínez tells us in Lluna de sal about the conflict Gala faces as she is torn between two very different worlds: that of her best friend, who is autistic, and that of her new, older companions with new interests.
The festival also announced the pieces that will be part of the Educational centers section, thus continuing its line of work of providing a space in the festival for the entire educational stage, from kindergarten to university. Finalists in this section are CEIP Xesús Golmar, CEIP Torre de Hércules, CEIP da Torre-Cela, IES de Chapela, IES de Arzúa, and IES Ramón Cabanillas.
In the category of “Special education, kindergarten, and primary” CEIP Xesús Gomar will present at FICBUEU its short film Árbores no camiño; CEIP Torre de Hércules, its piece Misterio en San Xoán; and CEIP da Torre-Cela, O Capitán Chocalleiro. The themes that guide their creations are the environment, the fight against pollution, and the magic of Galician traditions.
Meanwhile, in the “Secondary education” category, IES de Chapela created Coma lobos, a piece based on the homonymous story by Carlos Casares, narrating in flashback the story of an arrest and its tragic outcome. IES de Arzúa denounces the indifference of part of society towards the current situation in Palestine in its short film Está pasando agora; while IES Ramón Cabanillas created Mariñeira to pay tribute to all the families who lost someone at sea.
FICBUEU, as a measure of protest against the genocide in Gaza and for the second consecutive year, decided to exclude Israeli shorts funded by the Israeli government from the selection process.
