Why not short films?
Short films, an experimental medium par excellence, have a long tradition in the history of contemporary art and cinema. They have their own language and a format that offers greater freedom and possibilities for experimentation in the audiovisual medium. The many festivals dedicated exclusively to short films serve as witness to their clout and individual identity.
Since the 1950s, the International Short Film Festival Oberhausen has provided a stage for short films aspiring to break the rules established by the world of cinema. In Spain, where attention to short films is a more recent phenomenon, events like Documenta Madrid, Zinebi, Cortogenia and Almería en Corto, among other film exhibitions and festivals, have proliferated over the last few years. This programme, which is divided into three categories (fiction, documentary and animation), presents some of the most award-winning short films from the last few years, such as Alumbramiento (2007) by Eduardo Chapero Jackson (Madrid, 1971) and Traumatología (2007) by Daniel Sánchez Arévalo (Madrid, 1970), both of which won awards at the Malaga Film Festival and other competitions. The programme also includes documentaries like Eût-elle été criminelle... (2006) by Jean-Gabriel Périot (Bellac, 1974) and El cerco (Ricardo Íscar and Nacho Martín, 2005). From the always-dazzling world of animation come Señor Trapo (Raúl Díez, 2003), Fast Film (Virgil Widrich, 2003) and El enigma del chico croqueta (Pablo Llorens, 2005).
The series includes a roundtable moderated by Óscar de Julián, a scriptwriter and the director of the ‘Almería en Corto’ International Short Film Festival, on the current state and future of short films at a time when possibilities for images are growing and the means to make a short film are within everyone’s reach. The project analyst Guadalupe Arensburg, veteran short filmmaker Jorge Dorado and Antonio Delgado Liz, director of the Madrid Documenta International Documentary Festival analyse the various aspects of the world of short films today.