FICBUEU returns in September with 89 short films from around 30 countries

BUEU (Pontevedra). 10.08.2023. FICBUEU is back. During the sixteenth edition of the Festival, which every year from the Pontevedra town of Bueu shows the new tendencies of cinematographic creation and auteur cinema, 89 short films and one feature film will be screened. The films come from around thirty countries from the five continents. It will take place from 8 to 23 September. A total of 28 short films are taking part in the official section of the Festival. They can be seen from the 11th to the 16th of September at the Auditorium of the Centro Social do Mar in Bueu. The films in competition will be screened in two sessions at 19.30 –including a talk with the filmmakers– and at 21.30. (You can check the programme at this link).

The social commitment to groups at risk of exclusion, the promotion of values such as respect and equality, and the attachment to the territory, to Bueu, will again be differential elements of FICBUEU.
The poster for the 16th edition of the Festival has been designed by the illustrator Natalia Umpiérrez. A multidisciplinary artist who completed her training in illustration and animation at the University of Vigo, Umpiérrez also participates in groups linked to the dissemination of culture such as the Liceo Mutante de Pontevedra. She is co-author of children’s works such as Cando Ana adoptou a Perico and Imaxinar animais imaxinarios.

From China to Mongolia via Somalia or Iceland
The films in competition are produced or co-produced in 21 countries on 5 continents. Many of them have won awards in recent months at the world’s most important festivals. This is the case of the documentary Will you look at me?, by the Chinese director Shuli Huang, winner of awards at Cannes, Sundance and Melbourne; the film Snow in September, by the Mongolian director Lkhagvadulam Purev-Ochir, which won the prize for best short film at Venice and Toronto, and the animated short The Flying Sailor, by the Canadians Wendy Tilby and Amanda Forbis, also distinguished at Sundance. FICBUEU will also be showing other short film «gems» from places such as India, Somalia, Iceland, Costa Rica, Mexico and Australia.

Galicia shows its cinema
And there will be no shortage of Galician representation. This year, FICBUEU has chosen four short films produced or directed in the region –Ulises, by Félix Brixel; the documentary Ruovesi, by Andrea Zapata-Girau; Alicia fai cousas, by Ángel Santos; and Sandwich Cat, an animated short by David Fidalgo– to compete in the official section. 

The programme also includes half a dozen short films by new creators from Galicia in the space called «GZ_00», which can be seen on Sunday 10th together with the works selected for the «Escolas Internacionais» and «Descubertas» sections. «We are a window from which to get to know the new international auteur cinema without forgetting our own identity», say the organisers of the event.
This year, the FICBUEU Galician Cinema Award will go to the actress Luisa Merelas from A Coruña. She receives it «for her important career in television, theatre and cinema, and for her commitment to Galician productions and culture», according to the organisers. Merelas has participated in series such as Pratos Combinados, Mareas Vivas or Fariña and in films such as Los lunes al sol or As bestas.

Parallel activities
One of the objectives of FICBUEU is the dissemination of culture, especially cinematographic culture. That is why the Festival programme is also based on activities such as the «II Xornadas Cinematográficas». Or the «Retrospective» section, dedicated in this edition to the Dutch filmmaker Joris Ivens (1898-1989). The director, known for his contribution to documentary filmmaking in the field of short films, was a direct witness to the main historical events of the 20th century, from the Vietnam War and the Indochina uprisings to the demonstrations in Belgium. Joris Ivens is also the subject of this year’s FICBUEU Notebook #4. Its author, Severiano Casalderrey, will be in Bueu to present the publication.

Future generations of film spectators continue to be of vital importance to the Festival. The MiniFIC, the programme aimed at children, will return in the final stretch of the festival. There will be special activities for children and screenings for schoolchildren from Monday 18 to Friday 22.
Residency with the screenwriter Isabel Peña and live podcast

The programme is completed with an important new feature: the «1st FICBUEU Residency», which will be presented on Monday 11th. This is the Festival’s commitment to training, dialogue and teamwork through a creative programme based on strengthening scriptwriting projects with professionals in order to promote short films by new authors. The residency will take place on the Illa de Ons from 9 to 15 October and will be tutored by Isabel Peña, screenwriter of films such as As bestas and El reino.

The Festival is once again committed to radio as a means of cultural dissemination. Five podcasts specialising in film will visit the Festival to broadcast their programmes live and with an audience. From Bueu to the world. «Café Derby 21» will open, followed by «Kinótico», «El Cine de LQYTD», «Cine Divergente» and «Saltos de Eje». The podcasts will take place live at 18.00 at the Festival’s Meeting Point and admission will be free until full capacity is reached.

FICBUEU is one of the most important film festivals in Galicia. Its commitment to auteur cinema, its links with Bueu and O Morrazo area, and its support for values such as equality, integration and solidarity, make it a different kind of event marked by its commitment to cinema, culture and people.