This article is in a state of significant expansion or restructuring, and is not yet ready for use. You are welcome to assist in its construction by editing it as well. This template was placed by Chamarasca (talk · contribs). If this article has not been edited in several days , please remove this template and notify the editor who placed it, Chamarasca. If you are the editor who added this template and you are actively editing, please be sure to replace this template with {{ in use }} during the active editing session. Click on the link for template parameters to use. This article was last edited by Chamarasca (talk | contribs) 3 seconds ago. (Update timer) |
This article needs additional citations for verification .(September 2024) |
Location | Zaragoza |
---|---|
Founded | 2021 |
Most recent | 2024 |
Awards | Golden Dragon Silver Dragon. |
Hosted by | City Council of Zaragoza |
Artistic director | José Ángel Delgado |
Website | saraqustafilmfestival |
The Saraqusta Film Festival (SFF) is an annual film and television festival which has been organised by the City Council of Zaragoza since 2021 and that specialises in historical films. It is named after the denomination of the city of Zaragoza during the Arab rule. It is also known in a more descriptive way as the International Festival of Historical Films and Series of Zaragoza (Spanish:Festival Internacional de Zaragoza de Cine y Series de Historia). Its competitive section hands awards known as the ‘Golden Dragon’ (Dragón de Oro) and the ‘Silver Dragon’ (Dragón de Plata).
The Festival was created in 2021 as a result of an idea by filmmaker José Ángel Delgado, who was its director, to create a film festival specialised in historical films. [1] [2] The proposal was accepted by the City Council of Zaragoza, who had the support of the Provincial Council of Zaragoza and the Government of Aragon. The first edition, held in 2021, was negatively affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite that obstacle, the festival was held again the following year and it held its fourth edition in 2024, slowly gaining a foothold in the tight schedule of Spanish film festivals.
The official section includes the films that compete for the different awards. The films are divided into two types: fiction feature films and documentaries. The first ones must be at least 60 minutes long. Documentaries must be at least 45 minutes long. In both cases, they must have been made over a year and a half before the beginning of the festival and either take place during a past era or deal with a historical subject.
Two main awards called the ‘Golden Dragon’ (Spanish: Dragón de Oro) are given — one to the best fiction feature film and another one to the best documentary. In the fourth edition, they included an economic endowment of €6,000. Moreover, other minor awards known as the ‘Silver Dragon’ (Dragón de Plata) are given to the best actor, actress, director and script. The jury that grants the trophies is multidisciplinary and consists of film industry professionals, critics and historians. Finally, a ‘Youth Award’ is granted by a jury formed by young people. The minor awards were endowed with €1,000 in the fourth edition.
During the first editions, a non-competitive section dedicated to showing television series was organised. However, experience showed that the SFF could not compete against festivals explicitly focused on series, so the section was rearranged in the third edition as ‘Saraqusta Outlook’ (Spanish: Panorama Saraqusta), a non-competitive exhibition parallel to the official section.
An Aragonese Documentary section was added in the fourth edition, whose screening took place in the morning in the Caesaragusta Theatre Museum (Spanish: Museo del Teatro de Caesaraugusta). Its aim is to promote the work of regional professionals and it is not competitive either. Admission to the screenings is free until full capacity.
Lastly, special screenings outside the competition are done as part of the inauguration, the closing ceremony or as a homage to certain people receiving honorary awards. These screenings do not have to be of recently released films.
Besides the screenings of the different sections, they organise panel discussions of different topics related to audiovisual production, and there are daily press conferences to inform about the development of the festival. They also give what is known as the ‘Saraqusta Award’ (Spanish: Premio Saraqusta), an honorary award for audiovisual professionals whose trajectory has been related to historical themed films. Some of the honorees have been actors Rodolfo Sancho, Joaquim de Almeida and Fabio Testi, producer Andrés Vicente Gómez, and directors Agustí Villaronga and Antonio del Real.
Year | Category | Film | Country | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|
2021 | Fiction | Delicious | France | [3] |
Documentary | The Spanish Flu | France | ||
2022 | Fiction | The Electrical Life of Louis Wain | United Kingdom | [4] |
Documentary | The Kaiser of Atlantis | Argentina Spain | ||
2023 | Fiction | Il Boemo | Czech Republic | [5] |
Documentary | Urraca, cazador de rojos | Spain | ||
2024 | Fiction | Brothers | Czech Republic | [6] |
Documentary | Marisol, llámame Pepa | Spain | ||
Javier Cámara Rodríguez is a Spanish actor.
Aitana Sánchez-Gijón de Angelis is a Spanish and Italian film actress.
Fernando León de Aranoa is a Spanish screenwriter and film director.
Roberto Martínez Felipe, better known as Roberto Álamo, is a Spanish actor who has appeared in more than fifty films since 1996. Álamo won the Goya Award for Best Actor for his performance as Javier Alfaro in May God Save Us (2016).
Manuel Jesús Fernández Serrano, better known as Manolo Solo, is a Spanish actor.
Anna Castillo Ferré is a Spanish actress. Her film breakthrough came with the role of Alma in the drama The Olive Tree (2016) for which she won a Goya Award for Best New Actress.
Carla Simón Pipó is a Spanish film director. Both her 2017 debut feature Summer 1993 and her second feature, Alcarràs, were submitted to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to represent Spain for Best International Feature Film at the 90th and 95th Academy Awards, respectively.
The Good Boss is a 2021 Spanish comedy-drama film directed and written by Fernando León de Aranoa and starring Javier Bardem. A corporate satire, the plot tracks a charismatic and manipulative factory owner meddling in the lives of his employees.
Pilar Palomero is a Spanish film director and screenwriter.
The Seville European Film Festival is an annual film festival dedicated to European cinema held in November in Seville, Spain, since 2004.
Prison 77 is a 2022 Spanish historical thriller drama film directed by Alberto Rodríguez from a screenplay co-written with Rafael Cobos which stars Miguel Herrán and Javier Gutiérrez.
That Was Life is a 2020 Spanish drama film directed and written by David Martín de los Santos. It stars Petra Martínez and Anna Castillo as two Spanish immigrants who form a friendship after meeting in a hospital in Belgium.
Josephine is a 2021 Spanish-German drama film with comedy elements directed by Javier Marco which stars Emma Suárez and Roberto Álamo, also featuring Miguel Bernardeau, Manolo Solo, Simón Andreu, Pedro Casablanc and Olivia Delcán.
Lullaby is a 2022 Spanish drama film written and directed by Alauda Ruiz de Azúa. It stars Laia Costa and Susi Sánchez alongside Ramón Barea and Mikel Bustamante.
The Ariel Award for Best Breakthrough Performance is a recent award presented by the Academia Mexicana de Artes y Ciencias Cinematográficas (AMACC) in Mexico. It has been awarded since the 2019 edition, replacing both breakthrough gender-specific categories. It is awarded in honor of the performance of an acting artist in a breakthrough role.
Close Your Eyes is a 2023 Spanish-Argentine drama film directed by Víctor Erice from a screenplay by Erice and Michel Gaztambide which stars Manolo Solo, José Coronado, and Ana Torrent.
Foremost by Night is a 2023 neo-noir melodrama film directed by Víctor Iriarte which stars Lola Dueñas and Ana Torrent alongside Manuel Egozkue. It is a Spanish-Portuguese-French international co-production.