Four features and eleven short films will be screened at the Canarias Cinema competitive section

• Ramón Saldías’ El camino dorado, the first Canarian film internationally distributed, shall have a special screening due to the 40th anniversary of its release
• Among the short films, and out of competition, the Festival will screen, too, Las otras camas, by Jonay García

Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Monday, 11 February 2019. Four features and eleven short films will compete for the Richard Leacock Awards of this Las Palmas de Gran Canaria International Film Festival’s 19th edition. The selection committee has decided so after assessing the forty pieces submitted to the Canarias Cinema section, which gathers works related to the Archipelago, either by authorship, theme or location.

Canarias Cinema shall also show, out of competition, Jonay García’s Las otras Camas / The Beds of Others (2018, 15 min.) and, as a special screening on the fortieth anniversary of its release, Ramón Saldías’ El camino dorado (1979, 110 min.), the first Canarian film internationally distributed.

The Canarian competition will take place during the first weekend of the Festival for the third consecutive year, leaving a significant spot within the program for the four features and the two groups of short films. And, once again, this section’s awards will be the first ones granted by the Festival after the jury ―made up of three industry professionals― makes her decision.

The selection committee has emphasized from the final selection the evolution of some filmmakers who have been connected to the Festival for years. Thus, they point out that some of these works have already been at important international festivals such as the IDFA or the Berlinale. They are pieces made by experienced directors whose first works were part of the Festival’s Canarian section and who are now producing and directing films that compete with other international works within the festival circuit. Incidentally, this same committee points out that all the features but one are documentaries; whereas, out of the twelve short films, eleven are fiction and only one a documentary.

The feature films competing for the Richard Leacock Award are En busca del Óscar / Searching for Oscar, by Octavio Guerra (2018, 72 min), La ciudad oculta / The Hidden City, by Víctor Moreno (2018, 80 min.), Milagros, by David Baute (2018, 77 min.) and Platón, by Iván López (2018, 121 min.).

On the other hand, the short films competing in this section are 300 All Expenses Included, by Pablo Fajardo (2019, 14 min.); Abrazo / Hug, by Shelma Zebensuí (2018, 14 min.); El Sueño Beato / The Blessed’s Dream, by David Pantaleón (2018, 4 min.); En esas Tierras / In Those Lands, by Nayra Sanz Fuentes (2018, 12 min.); Hitchcock Schamann, by Jacobo Santiago Sánchez (2018, 4 min.); La Noria, by Carlos Baena (2018, 12 min.); Lo vívido y lo vivido, by Sara Álvarez ( 2019, 6 min.); Mi Profesora de Salsa / My Salsa Teacher, by Rafael Navarro Miñón (2019, 11 min.); Quemar las Naves / Burning the Boats, by Macu Machín (2018, 12 min.); REM, by Tomas Alejo Wilhelm (2018, 4 min.); Teatro de Sombras / Shadow Theather, by Jose Manuel Vilageliu Ponsa (2018, 20 min.).