The film, winner at the Fuerteventura School of Art’s Mirafondo Audiovisual Creation Festival, is already gaining recognition and selections at festivals in Spain, Peru, the United States and India
The short film ‘Cataysa’, made by students of the Escuela de Arte Fuerteventura, has been awarded Best Student Short Film at the Rani Durgavati International Film Festival, held in Mumbai, India.
The piece, written by Michal Wilk, Daniela del Moral, Mattia Coppola and Katarína Simová, was first premiered and awarded in Fuerteventura, where it won Best Express Cinema Short Film at the second edition of the Mirafondo Audiovisual Creation Festival, run by the Escuela de Arte Fuerteventura. The competition was developed as an educational project aimed at fostering audiovisual creation among students, with support from the Cabildo de Fuerteventura through its Education and Youth department and the Fuerteventura Film Commission.
The Fuerteventura Film Commission helped distribute the award-winning short through festival circuits, allowing ‘Cataysa’ to continue its journey beyond the island and reach new screenings and competitions.
The councillor responsible for the Fuerteventura Film Commission, Nereida Calero, said: “This recognition shows that the talent born in Fuerteventura has the capacity to go a long way. From the Film Commission, we want to keep supporting initiatives that allow our young creators to showcase their work and make their way in the audiovisual sector.”
Calero added: “It is especially important that a project born in an educational setting can have continuity and find exhibition spaces beyond the island. Every selection and every award helps give visibility to the audiovisual talent we have in Fuerteventura.”
Meanwhile, the councillor for Education and Youth, Adargoma Hernández, noted that “Mirafondo allows students to learn in a practical way, develop their own audiovisual projects and showcase them in an environment created by the Escuela de Arte.” Hernández stressed that “the international recognition of ‘Cataysa’ demonstrates the value of these educational projects and the importance of supporting young talent in Fuerteventura.”
An international journey
In addition to the award won in Mumbai, ‘Cataysa’ continues its run through international festivals and showcases. The short film has been nominated in the Green Screen Section of the Santander Film Festival, officially selected for the Cortos de Vista Festival in Peru, and screened at the Sugar Loaf Film Festival in the United States.
With this new award, the production created as part of the Mirafondo Festival continues to expand its journey, taking young Fuerteventuran talent to different international stages.
