THE OVERALL NUMBER OF WORKS AND REPRESENTED COUNTRIES IN THIS SUBMISSION PROCESS MARKS THE THIRD HISTORICAL FIGURE OF THE COMPETITION.
SPAIN, FRANCE (THE HONORED COUNTRY THIS EDITION), GERMANY, MEXICO, BRAZIL, ARGENTINA, AND COLOMBIA ARE THE TERRITORIES WITH THE HIGHEST NUMBER OF PRODUCTIONS.
SHORT FILMS THAT GET OVER THIS PROCESS WILL ENTER THE RACE FOR THE DANZANTE AWARD, WHICH GRANTS DIRECT PRESELECTION FOR THE HOLLYWOOD OSCARS.
Danzante Award.
The Huesca International Film Festival has received 2,049 short films for the registration process of its 52nd edition. The works come from 91 countries across five continents, a figure representing nearly half of the states recognized by the United Nations worldwide. Both figures mark the third best record in the historical series, with this symbolic “bronze” medal confirming the sustained growth of the festival and certifying that the best records have all been achieved in the last decade. “An upward trend is consolidated, catapulting Huesca as a cultural reference in the film industry on all five continents,” affirms Estela Rasal, director of the pioneering event of the seventh art in Aragon.
The total number of works is distributed among the three competitive sections of the festival: 908 entries have been received for the Ibero-American competition, 785 for the international one, and 350 for the documentary section. In terms of country distribution, Spain stands out in first place with 755 productions, followed closely by France with 215 (the French territory has also been designated as the “Country of Honor” for this 2024 edition), and completing the podium is Germany, also surpassing the hundred mark (103).
The American continent similarly stands out for its response to the call; Mexico (73), Brazil (70), Argentina (60), Colombia (53), and Chile (43) follow in a ranking that includes other countries such as South Korea, the United States, China, Turkey, India, or Morocco. The vast geographical expansion is evident with films sent from such remote locations as the Cocos Islands, East Timor, Guadeloupe, Uzbekistan, or Uganda.
The emerging voices of the audiovisual sector continue to be a hallmark of the festival, with more than a quarter of the total feature films (586) and 319 short films coming from schools. The Huesca festival is considered by the industry as one of the largest showcases for the genre, having launched the careers of award-winning filmmakers such as the Mexican Michel Franco, the Spaniard Claudia Costafreda, or the sadly departed Fabián Bielinsky, who in 2006 left Argentine cinema without one of its great pillars.
The preselection committee is already reviewing the 32,168 minutes of footage (over 536 hours) to configure the three competitions that make up the official section. Three groups of specialized professionals are analyzing and debating to establish a selection of between 75-95 works that will be screened from June 7 to 15 at the Teatro Olimpia.
The Huesca International Film Festival is one of the six in Spanish film contests that serve as preselection for the Academy Awards of Hollywood, a first step towards the mecca of the seventh art that only the three films awarded in the final lineup with the Danzante Award can reach; additionally, this trophy is endowed with €5,000 in cash for its director and also counts as an endorsement for the Goya Awards of the Academy of Arts and Cinematographic Sciences of Spain.
