Those who want to make a case for the richness of European cinema need not know about the new talent that has been thrust into the limelight at this year’s Seville European Film Festival. Last year, the festival launched a Rampa section for first and second feature films, and added short films to its lineup in 2025. Variety has featured seven feature films and five short films, with critical acclaim and unmistakable talent to watch.
“Anatomy of a Horse” (“La Anatomya de los Caballos”, Daniel Vidal Toche, Playa Chica Films, Sideral, Spain, Pioneros Producciones, Peru, Los Niños Films, Colombia, Mito Films, Promenades Films, France).
Adapted by Loco Films and supported by the Berlin Festival’s World Cinema Fund, it is a film about Peruvian history that is not far removed from the pessimism of “One Hundred Years of Solitude,” after EAVE’s Puentes, MRG Work, Ventana Sur’s Projecta, and Málaga’s Mafis. The revolution is not working and Peru is “caught in a never-ending cycle,” he told Variety. The style and content of the original film jumps from the 18th century to modern corporate deterioration.
“Dandelion’s Odyssey” (Momoko Seto, Miyu Productions, Ecce Films, Arte Cinéma, U Media, France, Belgium)
A boundary-pushing animated adventure that uses time-lapse, macro photography, robotics, periscopes, and drones to tell the story of four dandelion seed friends who blast off from nuclear war-ravaged Earth into space. This is Seto’s fifth work and first full-length work, and Cartoon Brew declares it “an experimental animation work unlike anything you’ve seen before.” Distributed by Indie Sales, winner of the Cannes International Critics Association Award and the Annecy Animation Festival.
“The Last One for the Road” (“Le Citta di Pianura”, Francesco Sossai, A Vivo Film, Rai Cinema, Maze Pictures, Italy)
Carlo Bianchi and Doriano, both in their fifties, chain-drink, give advice, bar-hop, swap stories and run from the police to get out of life. The Cannes “Un Certain Regard” cast had a more melancholic undercurrent, and Variety called it “a delightful Italian gem about drinking buddies, aging, and the bittersweet flavor of life.”
“My Father’s Shadow” (Element Pictures, Fotherland Productions, BBC Film, BFI, Crybaby, UK)
“Nigeria’s first Cannes Film Festival selection marks a miraculous jewel of autofiction,” Variety praised “In the Father’s Shadow.” “Akinola Davis Jr., in his feature film debut, declares himself a major player in the world of cinema,” he added. “A day in the life of two boys who travel with their father from a small village in rural Nigeria to the bustling capital of Lagos.” But the “intimate, well-observed drama” has an ending so devastating that it completely turns the film on its head, pushing it into a deeply humanistic story. ”
“A Year of School” (Laura Samani, Nefertiti Film, RAI Cinema, Tomsa Films, Arte France Cinéma, Italy).
This is Samani’s second feature, for which newcomer Giacomo Covi won Best Actor for this year’s Venice Horizons, and his first on the books in 800 years. Set in a Frisian community, “Small Body” is set in 2007, when Swedish Fred enrolls in an all-male fourth grade class at a technical high school in Trieste and quickly joins a group of three close male friends. “About desire” and “the way the world allows these desires to be expressed” differs from woman to woman,” Samani told Variety.
“Short Summer” (Nastia Korchia, Tamtam Film, Totem Atelier, Art & Popcorn, Germany, France, Serbia)
The film, which won this year’s Venice Lion of the Future and the Chicago New Director Award, is distributed by Totem Films and marks the debut feature film from Corchia, which is currently based in France and Germany. Set during the Second Chechen War, the drama focuses on eight-year-old Katya (Maia Pleshkevich), who spends her summer vacation at a country house with her grandparents. Shot with fixed camera shots, it focuses on documentary-like details of how war seeps into everyday life.
“We Believe You” (Charlotte DeVillers, Arnaud Dufayz, Mackintosh Films, Belgium)
It was widely distributed by The Party Sales in Germany, France, Spain, and most of Eastern Europe, and was described by Variety magazine as a “moving drama about family custody” and Berlin’s Perspectives magazine, where it won a special award. Myriem Akediou plays the extremely stressed mother, often in close-up, highlighting the best Belgium has to offer: a tough, informed social drama. “We meet victims of sexual assault, and some of them disclose incest to us,” says nurse Deblers.
short film
“Baile de Feria” (Rakia Films, Te Lo Garantizo Producciones, Spain)
Set in the atmosphere of Seville’s April Fair, “Baile de Feria”, which means fair dance, traces the bond between a father who has experienced cognitive impairment and a daughter who reconnects with her father through shared music, movement and ritual. This short film, directed by Bernabé Brunes, combines domestic scenes with an amusement park and its “Calle del Infierno”, depicting family ties intertwined in local traditions.
“Dad’s Not Home” (Szkoła Filmowa im. Krzysztofa Kieślowskiego, Poland)
Dad’s Not Home, which won the Student Academy Award for Best Short Story, is about two young brothers who hide their father’s frontotemporal dementia so they can live together after their mother’s death. Directed by Jan Sacek and produced at the Krzysztof Kieślowski Film School in Katowice, the film depicts the early adulthood imposed on young boys as they deal with caregiving, household chores, and the emotional strain of growing up.
“Eil” (Cartoon Saloon, HerStory, Ireland)
Directed by Giovanna Ferrari, this Iron Age mythical adventure tells the story of a young girl who journeys underground to restore her community’s water source, which has been stolen by magic. Featuring the voice work of Coco Teehan Roche, the film reflects BAFTA and Emmy Award-winning studio Cartoon Saloon’s interest in cultural folklore and environmental stewardship. Sold by Gkids in North America.
“A Good Day” (Portuguese film – Portugal)
Antonio wakes up to find his lifeless double floating in his family’s swimming pool. This discovery upsets the family, who try to move on with their lives while quietly grieving their unexplained existence. Questions arise as to who and what Antonio is. Directed by Tiago Rosa Rosso, the film is set in a gently absurd domestic scenario that hovers between comedy and anxiety, and unfolds like a theatrical chamber drama where logic slips and everything becomes questionable.
“Yonne” (Rita Productions, Norte Productions, Switzerland, France)
Set in mid-19th century Burgundy, “Yonne” follows two sisters who disguise themselves as men and join the crew of a timber raft. Their destination is Paris, where there will probably be hope for an improved life than they flee. The short, co-directed by Julieta Kobel and Jan Czyszewski, highlights the physical strain and vulnerability of the members of a fleet navigating an idyllic river route. Selected for Locarno’s Pardi di Domani and then featured in the Official Shorts of Seville, the film traces the liberation, concealment, and survival of the spirit through labor, movement, and bodily transformation.
