Golden Bear Award-winning director Carla Simón (Alcaraz) will direct a short film titled “Flamenco” as part of the “Where Talent Ignites” campaign organized by Audiovisual from Spain, the international promotional brand for Spain’s audiovisual sector.
The short film was announced during the Rotterdam International Film Festival’s campaign showcase, and Simon also announced the Cannes Film Festival competition title “Romelia.”
Flamenco, the first of three new works commissioned by the campaign, “offers a contemporary and profound cinematic perspective on flamenco as a living cultural expression, shaped by the tension between tradition and change,” the description says. Speaking at the event, Simón said he wanted to move into “new territory” after making three “hyper-personal films” – Summer 1993, Alcarràs and Romería.
“Flamenco has an emotional connection with the audience that is very direct and powerful,” she added. “It’s been explored in movies, but it’s also something that hasn’t happened in a long time. There are a lot of documentaries about flamenco, but when you think about flamenco music in movies, it seems a little conservative because it was made during the Franco dictatorship. I think it would be interesting to reimagine it in a modern way.”
Simon’s short film is part of a deeper and larger study of flamenco traditions, which will also influence her next film, currently only described as a “flamenco musical.” The feature is currently in the early stages of development, and the short film is scheduled to premiere at the Cannes Film Festival Film Marche in May.
“I’m starting to prepare a film about how flamenco has evolved so much musically, but not so much cinematically,” she said of the future. “When I had this opportunity to make a film promoting Spain, I decided to explore flamenco, because flamenco lives between tradition and change. I’m interested in this tension that I feel about the elements, where I feel like we’re making flamenco too modern, or that it might disappear (completely).
Regarding the production of the short, Simon said that she and her team are currently casting flamenco artists to appear in the film. “It’s not a black-and-white subject and it’s very complex because contemporary artists borrow a lot from traditional flamenco. At the moment the script is too long and I’m trying to shorten it, but it’s difficult,” she said with a laugh.
‘Romelia’, the third part of Carla Simon’s ‘ultra-personal’ film trilogy
The director also briefly mentioned the temperature of the film industry in his home country, saying that he feels “very lucky to be part of this moment in Spanish cinema.” Spain is currently in the running for this year’s international feature Oscar for director Oliver Lacks’ Silato, which was entered in competition at Cannes in 2025 along with Romelia.
“A whole new generation is speaking with their own voices,” Simón said of this new wave of Spanish cinema. “We’re all doing different searches. I feel like we’re trying things out, experimenting, and taking risks with our films.”
The filmmaker said that Spanish cinema now has something that has been “missing for a while” and that it is “coming into the spotlight a little bit.” “Our film is touring festivals now. I remember thinking when we screened ‘Alcaraz’ in Berlin: This is not a one-off. It’s been going strong ever since. Every year there’s a new director and it’s so exciting to see it come to fruition.”
Regarding the rise in co-productions in Spain, Simón said it was great that there was finally a sense of “reciprocity” within the domestic industry. “I remember that at the time of ‘Summer 1993’ there wasn’t much co-production in Spain. We weren’t a country with this kind of exchange. Now things have changed a lot. We also help other countries make films, so it’s a very rich exchange.” Co-production is also essential for Spanish films to “travel and be marketed”, she concluded.
This year in Rotterdam, important Spanish works are on display, including Gala Hernández López’s Like Moths to the Light, Carlos Casas’ Krakatoa, and Lois Patiño’s latest project Adarna as part of Cinemart.
Bea Lema’s animated debut, El Cuerpo de Cristo, produced by Iván Miñambres and Chelo Loureiro and featuring fully embroidered backgrounds and digitally animated characters, is also making waves. The film was exhibited in Rotterdam last weekend in the short and medium length category and was sold by Miyu Distribution.
The Rotterdam International Film Festival will be held from January 29th to February 8th.
