The short film “The Body of Christ”, by Galician director Bea Lerma, won the award for best short film at the 37 Aguilar Film Festival (AFF). The work – an adaptation of the graphic novel of the same name which won the National Prize … from Comic 2024 – tells the story of Adela, a woman whom the devil haunts and harasses. This brings him to the psychiatrist’s office, where medication is touted as the absolute cure for all his problems. But she needs someone to listen to what is really happening to her and the only place where her reality has a place is in religion and popular rituals.
The prize (awarded by a jury composed of programmer Mari Liis Keevallik, journalist and director Paloma Concejero, director and screenwriter Esteban Crespo, actress Silma López and Polish programmer Michał Matuszewski) places this Spanish animated short film as the big winner of the 2025 edition of the AFF for “bring a vision full of tenderness and lyricism to an issue as delicate as the mental health of women in times of dictatorshipand do so without subtracting one iota of depth and symbolism from a technique, like embroidery, which in many cases occupied much of that generation’s free time,” says Ical.
The person responsible for collecting the prize was its producer Chelo Loureiro, winner of four Goya prizes, one of the great figures of Spanish animation, campaigner for the recognition of women in the audiovisual field and regular at the AFF, where she has visited on numerous occasions.
In addition, the judges gave a special mention to the work ‘The flowers stand silently, witnesses’, by the Greek Theo Panagopoulosin which a Palestinian filmmaker discovers forgotten archives of flowers collected in Palestine at the beginning of the 20th century. A film which was nominated in the Best Short Film category at the BAFTA Awards 2025 and at the 38th EFA European Film Awards 2025.
Compared to other award-winning works, it stands out the Ramón Margareto Prize for best Spanish short film, awarded to “La desesperaciò de la pell”, by Mireia Vilapuig, a documentary premiered in Aguilar de Campoo throughout the country that invites us to return to the images of early adolescence to tell the testimony of moments relegated to silence. An emotional journey, of dialogue between two stories and reflection on the importance of collective memory.
The prize for best animated short film went to “The diva, my grandmother and me”, by the Asturian Inés Aparicio. Premiered at Seminci this year, the film already has recognitions such as the Fausto Rossano Prize 2025 in Italy or the MemoriJove Prize of the Reus International Film Festival, Memorimage 2025; It is a journey through time in which wonderful characters, free women, dreams without borders and unforgettable melodies appear.
Nausica Serra, for “Dissecting an incoherence in crisis”won the best director award. This Catalan director trained in the Official Diploma in Cinematography from ESCAC was interested in new perspectives of directing and developed new creative ideas.
The best female performance went to Belén Ponce de León for “California” by Emmanuel Medinaa Spanish fiction film in which she plays Maribel, a heartbroken guest who tries to cope with her pain with Cipri while life at Hostal California continues.
The work of Tomáš Čapek in “Dog and Wolf”, by Terézia Halamováwas awarded the prize for best male performance. Čapek plays a 25-year-old stripper who has opted for a life of constant partying and lack of dreams.
Another prize was that of Best screenplay for David Pinheiro for ‘Os Caçadores’, a Franco-Portuguese fiction co-production which tells the story of a bourgeois family still immersed in its bubble of power who spend their holidays in a country house, in the 70s, while the end of an era of repression approaches.
The price for Best photography went to Ilya Sapeha for ‘Majonezë’, by Giulia Grandinetti, an Italian short fiction film set in a remote mountain village in Albania. Likewise, the official jury rewarded as Best Editing to Maxime Jean-Baptiste for “O Rio de Janeiro continues beautiful”, by Felipe Casanova; and Michael Granberry in the Best Art Direction category for “The Beasts”.
Other juries
The prizes of the other juries of the 37th Aguilar Film Festival were also announced, such as the Audience Prize, which rewarded “Zwermen”, by Janneke Swinkels and Tim Frijsinger. The ex aequo Senior Jury Prize was awarded to “Chicken Jazz”, by Imanol Ruiz de Lara and “El ressó de la mira”, by Carles Bover. This last work also received a special mention from the Association of Women Weaving Change, whose prize was awarded to “Faveurs”, by Agnès Skonare. The Young Jury, for its part, awarded “Once in a Body”, by María Cristina Pérez González; and Grilo, composer of “Cão sozinho”, by Marta Reis Andrade, was awarded by the Alerta Sonora Association for best original music.
One of the new awards added to the list this year, the Press Jury Prize, was awarded to the Belgian work of fiction entitled “Loynes”, by Dorian Jespers. In addition, two mentions were made, one for “Shoes and Clogs”, by Viktória Traub, and another for “A Magnificent Apartment”, by Gabriela Gómez, Alejandra Llorens, Andrés Pérez, Jaime Marqués and Camila de Lucas.
The Caimán Critics’ Prize was awarded to “La nostra habitació”, by Jaume Claret; the Social Values Prize in “Skin on Skin”, by Simon Schneckenburger; and the Audience Award Ríete tú in “Night session”, by Ballard C. Boyd. In the Country section, “Mal de madre”, by Irene Baqué, was the winner, while “Portales”, by Elena Duque, received a special mention.
Finally, in the MiniAguilar section, the best short film of Licinia +3 was for ‘Filante’, by Marion Jamault, with a special mention for Elena Walf for all her short films such as ‘Lenas Hof: volles nest’, ‘Das huhn wll flilegen’, ‘The motherless egg’ and ‘Der stachel impo’. While the Renato +7 prize was awarded to “Balkone”, by Xenia Smirnov, with a special mention to “The House of the Rabbit at Number 968”, by Jai-Xin Wu.
The Aguilar Film Festival is an event organized by the Aguilar de Campo City Council through the Department of Culture, the AFF has the support of the Ministry of Culture of Spain-ICAA, the Government of Castile and León, the Provincial Delegation of Palencia, Galletas Gullón, AC/E (Spanish Cultural Action), Aquona and Eurostyle Systems.
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