New project sees five short films developed in a week to be screened at Cerdanya film festival

Thirty people aged between 18 and 40 will take part in the first Audiovisual Creation Laboratory, a contest as part of the 10th Cerdanya Film Festival that will see five new short films developed during the week and screened at the festival next Friday.

The project will be carried out in the Cal Caló de Cortariu colonial house, in northern Catalonia. This is where participants, from different technical and artistic profiles, will develop each phase of their various film projects. 

With the launch of this new space, the aim of the initiative is to encourage these people to use their skills in a secluded mountain environment that will serve as a stimulus to enhance their creativity. Love, exile, and the reunion of friends are some of the themes that will be explored in the five short films.

About thirty people, divided into several teams which were selected prior to their stay, are in charge of developing these cinematographic projects, from Monday, in a large country house located in the surroundings of the Natural Park from Cadí-Moixeró.

Communication and “non-competitive” spirit

The objective of the project is to share experiences and encourage the learning of new knowledge among its participants, and as a whole, according to its organizer, Maria Cuennet, with a "non-competitive" spirit. 

For his part, the director of the festival, Jordi Forcada, believes that it was necessary to find a meeting space where professionals "could develop their skills and, at the same time, enjoy the surroundings of the region."

The idea is inspired by the international Kino Kabaret movement and it also exists in other events dedicated to cinema. The average age of the participants is around 25 years, and their professional profiles are all very different. 

Gisela Ysas is an actress and from the Alt Penedès county and in interested in how the idea will encourage communication between people with different interests and education. Meanwhile, Núria Sanz, a journalist from Barcelona, views the program with "total freedom" where "very little hierarchy" exists between the various members that make up each of the teams.

Filmmaking in northern Catalonia

The Audiovisual Creation Laboratory wants to be one more step forward in promoting the area as a territory to develop cinematographic projects. The director of the Cerdanya Film Festival explains that in these ten years of the contest, there has been an exponential growth of productions that have been made in the region, from one or two, just decades ago, to 47 films made in 2018. 

The 10th Cerdanya Film Festival, which began last Saturday, has programmed a total of 180 films, which have been selected from the 3,000 submissions received. More than fifty screening sessions include short films, unpublished films, locally and internationally produced feature films, documentaries, and augmented reality short films. 

Although the bulk of the program takes place at the Cerdà Museum in Puigcerdà, some of the screening are taking place in the outdoor setting of Parc dels Búnquers de Martinet and Torre Bernat de So de Llívia.