In short
The official competition of the 12th Sol Film Festival had 24 short films: mostly Spanish, plus a French film and several international co-productions. The categories were fiction, animation and documentary, up to 59 minutes long. A separate Sol Torrevieja award went to films from the Valencian Community. The prize fund was €3,000.
How the screenings worked
The main competition screenings took place on 10 and 11 July at 4 p.m. at the NEOCINE cinema in the Paseo del Mar leisure centre by the port. After each block, the films were presented by their directors and actors, and the audience could ask questions. According to the festival’s ticket page, both NEOCINE sessions were full, so extra screenings were added on the same days and at the same time at the Virgen del Carmen cultural centre.
On 11 July at 6.30 p.m. the feature film Tesoro de Torrevieja was screened out of competition at Virgen del Carmen, presented by its actors. Entry to the opening and all screenings was free with an invitation from the festival website.
Festival guests
This year’s festival godmother (madrina) was the Spanish actress, director and photographer Eulalia Ramón. Films were presented by the actor Juan José Ballesta, the director Rodrigo Marini and the producer Gerardo de las Morenas (Dopamina Zero), Álvaro G. Company (Por dentro), Rubén Guindo (Montecarlo 67, winner of eight Fugaz Awards 2026), Anna Saura (Sophia), Rubén Bautista (Condolenc-ias), Jandro (El revisor), the Torrevieja filmmaker Carlos Mures (No tengo nada que perder), the screenwriter Francisco Villegas (Interferencias), Lucía Forner from Elche (Berta, more than 25 awards) and Alex Rey (Pobre marciano).
Who chose the winners
The winners were chosen by a professional jury: the film director José María Flores, Carmen López-San Segundo, who teaches audiovisual studies at the University of Salamanca, and the filmmaker Carlos Escolano, who teaches film at UNED and Miguel Hernández University (UMH). The audience voted separately for the UNED Torrevieja Audience Award.
Our impressions
We went to the screenings, and our impression of the organisation is the very best. Short films are a handy way to discover new Spanish cinema: in one session you see several stories and can then talk to the people who made them. For Torrevieja, with so many residents from different countries, a festival with English subtitles and free entry is a great reason to go to the cinema.
Photos: Olga Rumyantseva (ORAI Global Media), official photographer of the SOL International Film Festival