By Eugenio Amézquita Velasco
A total of 27 short films from 14 countries—with a strong presence of productions from the United States, Mexico, Spain, and Portugal—make up the 2026 Official Selection of the VI Celaya Experimental Film Fest (CEFF), consolidating the event as an international showcase for unconventional narratives and regional talent from the Bajío.
The 2026 program is divided into eight thematic categories totaling over four hours of continuous screening, spanning from pure experimental cinema to video art, screendance, and slow cinema.
The Experimental section, with a total runtime of one hour and five minutes, leads the showcase with seven titles:
-Binary (2:56), by American director Padrick Ritch;
-Image Me (5:55), by German director Till Gombert;
-Jonah (10:40), by Colombian director Daniel Cortés Ramírez;
-The Mirror of Princes (10:00), by Italian director Rubens Francesco Giusberti;
-Pretérito Especular (15:00), by Spanish director Marisa Benito Crespo;
-Bosnian War Movie (12:45), a political and film-essay work by Marko Lončarević from Bosnia and Herzegovina; and
-Mixteco Ahora (9:30), directed by Edson Caballero Trujillo, a Mexican production.
In the Surrealism block (32 minutes), three proposals are featured:
-Paisajes Emocionales (12:00), by Mexican director Mariana López;
-Repertoire of Death (5:35), by American director Guadalupe Arellanes; and
-Nocturnal (15:00), by Portuguese filmmaker Pedro Florêncio.
Meanwhile, the Video Art category (25 minutes) brings together the works:
-Play (2:15), by Canadian artist Olivier Magnan-Bossé;
-Allegory of the Cave (8:00), co-directed by Chinese filmmakers Weipeng Huang and Yajing Wang;
-Castelos de Areia (Sandcastles) (14:18), a documentary and experimental hybrid by Brazilian filmmaker Giuliana Zamprogno.
Bodily movement and visual experimentation converge in the Screendance category (6 minutes), consisting of two American productions:
-Venatifer (2:31), by Mateo Omar, and
-Healing Past Present & Future Timelines (3:29), by Swan Ferraro.
The Alternative section, the second longest in runtime at 58 minutes, presents six short films that navigate horror, the fantastic, and humor:
-Portrait of Desire (15:00), by Belgian director Nina Degraeve;
-Julio (5:25), by Mexican director Zazil Alejandra Cedeño Ramírez;
-The Poetics of Stones (14:47), by Iranian director Mohammad Hasani;
-Compost (2:19), by French director Erik Sémashkkin;
-La Falta en la Nada del Hoyo (9:48), by Mexican director Bruno Aramburu; and
-The Past Will Last Forever (11:00), by Polish director Ilya Popkov.
Likewise, the festival dedicates 30 minutes to Slow Cinema with the works:
-My Seoul (21:48), by Spanish director Elisabet Mabres, and
-I Think He Told Me a Story (8:00), by American director Harper Stone.
In the Animation section (11 minutes), Pralaya (4:18), by Indian filmmaker Sandeep Ashwath, and
-Poise (7:00), by Portuguese filmmaker Luís Soares, compete.
Finally, the Local category highlights film production from the state of Guanajuato with two works:
-El Corazón de Celaya (3:47), an observational cinema exercise directed by Celaya native Fernando Emilio Morelos H., and
-El silencio lleva tu nombre (12:39), by Irapuato filmmaker Santiago Ibarra. #MetroNewsMx #GuanajuatoDesconocido
