2024 INTERNATIONAL COMPETITION, INTERNATIONAL PANORAMA AND PIONEERS PROGRAM

We announce the 10 feature films that make up the International Competition of the 7th edition, the 8 films of the International Panorama and the Pioneers special, dedicated to the Japanese director Kinuyo Tanaka

Directors from all over the world such as Fernanda Valadez (Mexico), Michèle Jacob (Belgium), Caroline Ingvarsson (Sweden) and Anna van der Heide (The Netherlands) will present their films and dialogue with the audience

Since its inception, the Madrid Women's Film Festival has been committed to show and premiere in Madrid outstanding feature films from the international cinema that, in many cases, do not arrive – or take too long to arrive – to the city's commercial cinema theatres. Thus, over the festival’s editions, we are becoming an unmissable annual event to catch up with the best international films directed by women. 
 
Less than two weeks before the start of the 7th edition, we announce the careful selection of the 10 feature films of the International Competition, not yet released in Spain or Madrid, made between 2023 and 2024, which will compete for the 2024 Best International Film Award of the Madrid Film by Women Festival. Most of them have already been awarded at world-class festivals – such as Sundance, San Sebastian, Locarno and Busan. 
 
In addition, in the International Panorama sessions, several premieres of a selection of 8 recent films, out of competition, also awarded worldwide, will be screened. The audience will be transported on a tour around China, Denmark, India, Iran, the Netherlands, Poland and Tunisia. 
 
Finally, we will also present an ambitious programme co-organised with Filmoteca Española, the Spanish film archive, and Cine Doré, with the collaboration of the Japan Foundation, in which we will present the Pioneers special, a monograph on the filmography of Kinuyo Tanaka, a pioneer director in Japanese cinema.

INTERNATIONAL COMPETITION

Alemania, Bélgica, Francia, Italia, Rumanía, Suecia, Reino Unido, México, Canadá y Austria

Cine Estudio del Círculo de Bellas ArtesCalle del Marqués de Casa Riera nº 4 
Admission: €5.5 ticket - over 65 and Youth Card €4 - season ticket €3.6 - members €3.5
https://www.circulobellasartes.com/cine-estudio/

The International Competition – held at the Cine Estudio from the Círculo de Bellas Artes – is, without a doubt, a unique opportunity to enjoy a selection of the best international cinema, co-produced in the last two years by 14 different countries: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Mexico, Serbia, Sweden, Romania, Poland, United Kingdom and the USA. In many sessions, the audience will be able to listen live to the presentation by the film directors, such as Fernanda Valadez, Mexican, director of Sujo; Michèle Jacob, Belgian, director of Les enfants perdus (Lost Children); Caroline Ingvarsson, Swedish, director of Unmoored; Anna van der Heide, Dutch, director of Rocco & Sjuul. Their participation has been possible thanks to the collaboration of the Center for Mexican Studies UNAM-Spain, the Wallonia-Brussels General Delegation in Spain, the Embassy of Sweden in Spain, the Austrian Cultural Forum in Madrid and the Fundación Casa de México. The 2024 Award for Best International Film will be presented during the closing gala on November 9th at the Palacio de la Prensa. I will be awarded by the Festival's International Jury made up of Boris Izaguirre (Venezuela-Spain) journalist, television presenter, screenwriter and writer; Mariela Besuievsky (Uruguay), film producer and executive producer; and Marta Nieto (Spain), actress and director. The prize will consist of 4K color correction for 3 weeks in the Místika digital cinema of Free Your Mind, valued at €30,000, for the next feature film by the winning director; the creation of a DCP in original version subtitled in Spanish by the company Subtitula'm, valued at €1,000; and in the latest model of Xiaomi 14T mobile phone, courtesy of Xiaomi Iberia.
 
On Sunday, November 10th, at 5:00 p.m., the winning film of the International Competition will be screened at the Círculo de Bellas Artes, a last opportunity to see the winning feature film.

The films selected for the International Competition are:

1. L’Homme d’ argile (The dreamer), Anaïs Tellenne, France, 2023.
2. Vena, Chiara Fleischhacker, Germany, 2024. 
3. Les enfants perdus (Lost Children), Michèle Jacob, Belgium, 2023.
4. Horia, Ana-Maria Comanescu, Romania, 2023.
5. Unmoored, Caroline Ingvarsson, Sweden, 2023.
6. Sujo, Astrid Rondero/Fernanda Valadez, México, 2023.
7. Hunting Daze, Annick Blanc, Canadá, 2024.
8. Bird, Andrea Arnold, United Kingdom, 2024.
9. Mond (Moon), Kurdwin Ayub, Austria, 2024.
10. Samia, Yasemin Samdereli, Italy, 2024.

INTERNATIONAL COMPETITION SCREENINGS 

Friday, Nov. 1st. 7.30 pm.
L'Homme d'Argyle (The Dreamer)
Opening Session.
Anaïs Tellenne (France)
Fiction, 1 hour 34 minutes
Production: France, 2023
 
Raphaël takes care of a mansion where no one lives until the night when the heiress of the estate returns. Nothing will ever be the same.
 
Selected at the Venice Film Festival, BAFICI, TIFF, Transylvania, D'A. Audience Award in Busan.
Premiere in Madrid
Presentation by the festival directors.

Friday, Nov. 1st. 9:30 p.m.
Vena
Chiara Fleischhacker (Alemania)
Fiction, 1 hour 56 minutes
Production: Germany, 2024
 
Jenny and her boyfriend share meth and a baby. Jenny must face her situation, but the solution will not be in her hands.
 
Selected at the Hamburg Film Festival.
Premiere in Spain
Presentation by the festival directors.

Saturday, Nov. 2nd.7:30 p.m.
Les enfants perdus (Lost Children)
Michèle Jacob (Belgium)
Fiction, 1 hour 23 minutes
Production: Belgium, 2023
 
Audrey and her siblings are abandoned in a house when their father disappears. They want to leave, but the forest will prevent it. Then the nightmares begin.
 
Selected at the Sao Paulo, Montpellier and Brussels Film Festivals
Premiere in Spain
Presentation by a representative of the Wallonia-Brussels General Delegation in Spain, the film director of the film and the festival directors.
Subsequent dialogue with its director.
With the collaboration of the Wallonia-Brussels General Delegation in Spain.

Saturday, Nov. 2nd. 9:30 p.m.
Horia
Ana-Maria Comanescu (Romania)
Fiction, 1 hour 48 minutes
Production: Romania, Bulgaria, Serbia, 2023 Horia, a restless teenager, takes his father's motorcycle and escapes to reunite with his sweetheart. Along the way he will experience unexpected encounters.
Selected at the Sofia and Transylvania festivals.
Premiere in Spain
Presentation by the festival directors.

Sunday, Nov. 3rd. 5:00 p.m.
Unmoored
Caroline Ingvarsson (Sweden)
Fiction, 1 hour 33 minutes
Production: Sweden, UK, Poland, 2023
 
A TV presenter's life falls apart when she confronts her husband. Escape will lead to a chain of lies and paranoia in this shocking thriller.
 
Selected at the Tällinn Film Festival
Premiere in Spain
Presentation by a representative of the Swedish Embassy, the director of the film and the festival directors.
Subsequent dialogue with the director.
With the collaboration of the Embassy of Sweden.

Sunday, Nov. 3rd. 7:30 p.m.
Sujo
Astrid Rondero/Fernanda Valadez (Mexico)
Fiction, 2 hours 1 minute
Production: Mexico, USA, France, 2023
 
When his father, a hitman, is murdered, Sujo grows up under the shadow of violence.
 
Grand Jury Prize at Sundance, awarded in Toulouse, Sofia (Bulgaria), San Sebastian. Candidate for the Oscar and the Goya for Mexico.
Premiere in Madrid.
Presentation and subsequent dialogue by its co-director Fernanda Valadez and the festival directors.
With the collaboration of UNAM-Spain and the Fundación Casa de México in Spain.
 

Friday, Nov. 8th. 7:30 p.m.
Hunting Daze
Annick Blanc (Canada)
Fiction, 1 hour 19 minutes
Production: Canada, 2024 In this thriller, Nina joins a group of hunters in the woods, a male microsociety whose balance will be threatened by the arrival of a stranger. Audience Award at the Fantasia Film Festival in Quebec.
Premiere in Spain.
Presentation by the festival directors.

Friday, Nov. 8th. 9:30 p.m.
Bird
Andrea Arnold (UK)
Fiction, 1 hour 59 minutes
Production: UK, 2024 Bailey is approaching puberty and lives in a busy house with his brother and father. Because of the lack of attention, Bailey will seek for adventures on his own. Selected at the Cannes Film Festival and awarded at the Hamburg Film Festival.
Premiere in Madrid.
Presentation by the festival directors.
With the participation of the Another Way Film Festival.

Saturday, Nov. 9th. 7:30 p.m.
Mond (Moon)
Kurdwin Ayub (Iraq / Austria)
Fiction, 1 hour 32 minutes
Production: Austria, 2024
 
Sarah leaves Austria to train three sisters in the Middle East who, isolated and under surveillance, do not seem to be interested in sports. What has she been hired for?
 
Winner of the Grand Jury Prize and 2 other awards at the Locarno festival.
Premiere in Madrid.
Presentation by the festival directors.
Film from the Focus Austria 2024 program.
With the collaboration of the Austrian Cultural Forum in Madrid.
 

Saturday, Nov. 9th.  9:30 p.m.
Samia
Yasemin Samdereli (Germany)
Fiction, 1 hour 42 minutes
Production: Italy, Germany, Belgium, 2024
 
Samia defies taboos by running through the streets of Mogadishu, Somalia, where a woman is not supposed to do it. Her passion will take her to the Olympic Games.
 
Audience Award at the Munich Festival and awarded at the Tribeca Festival.
Premiere in Spain.
Presentation by the festival directors.
 

INTERNATIONAL PANORAMA

China (2 feature films), Denmark, India, Iran, the Netherlands, Poland and Tunisia

Cineteca Madrid Plaza de Legazpi nº 8
Admission: €5.00
www.cinetecamadrid.com

Find below a list of all the selected films:

1. All we imagine as light (La Luz que imaginamos), Payal Kapadia, India, 2024 
2. Rocco & Sjuul, Anna van der Heide, The Netherlands, 2023.
3. Ahe Sard (Cold Sigh), Nahid Sehig, Iran, 2023.
4. Mé el Aïn (Who Do I Belong To), Meryam Joobeur, Tunisia, 2024.
5. Globomanía (Balomanía), Sissel Morell Dargis, Denmark, Spain, 2024.
6. San gui qing shi (Flaming Cloud), Siyi Liu, China, 2023.
7. Jezioro Slone (Salt Lake), Katarzina Roslaniec, Poland, 2022.
8. Fly Me To The Moon, Sasha Chuk, China, 2023.

INTERNATIONAL PANORAMA SCREENINGS

KINUYO TANAKA MONOGRAPHIC
PIONEERS SPECIAL

Cine Doré-Filmoteca Española Calle Santa Isabel nº 3
Admission: €3 (€2 for students)
www.culturaydeporte.gob.es/cultura/areas/cine/mc/fe/portada.htm

Ogin-sama (Love under the crucifix) Kinuyo Tanaka 1962A monographic special made up of 5 films from Kinuyo Tanaka, a pioneer of Japanese cinema. Already a celebrated actress in films by Ozu, Mizoguchi, Kurosawa, Naruse and others, Tanaka explores, as a director, the representation of the female body, sexual desire, motherhood and the problems of women in post-war Japanese society.
 
With the collaboration of the Japan Foundation.

Saturday, Nov. 2nd. 9.00 p.m.
Chibusa yo eien nare (The Eternal breasts)
Opening Session.
Kinuyo Tanaka (Japan)
Fiction, 1 hour 50 minutes
Production: Japan, 1955
 
A film about divorce, literary creation and breast cancer. A melodrama with a feminist heart, one of the first films written and directed by a Japanese woman. Presentation by Valeria Camporesi, Director of Filmoteca Española, the Spanish Film Archive; Keiko Morito (Director) and Alejandro Rodríguez (Coordinator of Art and Culture) of the Japan Foundation; and the festival directors.

Wednesday, Nov. 6th. 5.30 p.m.
Ruten no ôhi. (The Wandering Princess)
Kinuyo Tanaka (Japan)
Fiction, 1hour 42 minutes
Production: Japan, 1960
 
A young woman of aristocratic origin receives a marriage proposal from the brother of the puppet emperor of Manchuria, occupied by Japanese military forces.