The Cervantes Institute’s annual online film program continues in April 2025 with a series of short films presented in collaboration with the Spanish film festival La Mirada Tabú.
Starting this week, the Instituto Cervantes’ Vimeo channel is hosting a selection of eight short films that explore the concept of taboo from different perspectives. These films approach the theme with a thoughtful rather than critical eye, aiming to offer viewers a space for reflection.
The eight short films featured in this online series span a range of styles and viewpoints, tackling various hot-button topics in 21st-century society. Through a wide range of genres and formats—dramas, comedies, parodies, and animations—they open up new ways of interpreting the world around us from a critically aware standpoint.
The films are shown in their original Spanish version, with subtitles available in Spanish, English, French, Italian, and Portuguese. Each screening will be available for viewing for 96 hours starting at 11 a.m. on the date indicated in the program.
“The international film festival La Mirada Tabú is unique in the world for its theme and its mission to offer a broad vision of reality, inviting artists and creators to present their own approach to the concept of taboo—from diverse and universal perspectives, just like the human condition itself: from humorous to dramatic, from realistic to dreamlike, always with creativity and respect for all ways of thinking and being.
Each year, around four thousand films from 120 countries enter the competition, with significant representation from Spanish, Iranian, French, Brazilian, Italian, Indian, Japanese, and Turkish cinema. The selected short films stand out for their narrative and aesthetic quality and span a wide range of genres: fiction, documentary, essay, experimental film or video, music video, video dance—using various techniques, both live action and animation.
Since the first edition in 2012 until now, we’ve witnessed an evolution in filmmakers’ perspectives on the concept of taboo—a key theme of the festival—alongside the concerns and changes in society. The result is a visual kaleidoscope of diverse approaches, with new topics emerging over time that have enriched the festival’s catalogue, bringing audiences a fresh and vibrant vision. These include themes such as mental health, pandemics, youth and social media, gender violence, war, loneliness, lack of communication, memory and forgetfulness, identity, gender, the differences that unite or divide us, fluid relationships, and love,” said Vicky Calabia, filmmaker, professor, cultural manager, and director of the La Mirada Tabú Festival.
FULL PROGRAM:
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April 3: Places (Spain, 2020), by Claudia Barral
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April 7: Cuentas divinas (Spain, 2022), by Eulalia Ramón
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April 10: Pequeño (Spain, 2023), by Álvaro G. Company and Meka Ribera
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April 14: Work it class! (Spain, 2021), by Pol Diggler
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April 17: La hija indigna (Argentina, 2018), by Abril Victoria Dores
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April 21: Happy Friday (Spain, 2019), by José Antonio Campos
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April 24: 3, 2 (lo que hacen las novias) (Spain, 2010), by Jota Linares
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April 28: Democracia (Spain, 2014), by Borja Cobeaga
“The selection of eight short films spans different time periods, styles, and perspectives. In 3, 2 (lo que hacen las novias), Jota Linares’ 2011 fiction film examines the dilemma of acceptance in a relationship, where what begins as a game ends in emotional digression. In 2013, screenwriter and director Borja Cobeaga presents Democracia, an extreme case of applying the concept of democracy in one of the most competitive and cutthroat work environments.
By 2018, the presence of female directors and screenwriters is growing stronger—evident in Claudia Barral’s Places, an experimental exploration of human memory tied to the spaces we inhabit and cherish, and in La hija indigna, Abril Dores’ heartbreaking documentary based on real events, exploring the relationship between a father guilty of genocide and his daughter.
In 2019, comedy takes center stage, as seen in Happy Friday by José Antonio Campos, which hilariously portrays caregiving for dependent family members. In 2021, Pol Diggler pushes the boundaries of humor with his original Work it class!, which pits artists against a high-society audience on New Year’s Eve. Eulalia Ramón, in a production by Anna Saura, brings dark comedy to the forefront in Cuentas divinas (2023), placing a serial killer at the heart of a socially charged narrative. Álvaro G. Company’s Pequeño (2024) explores a moral dilemma where parents, with much humor, face their love for their daughter alongside new bioethical choices.
The meaning and impact of taboo throughout time is a theme deeply represented in this selection, which we hope you’ll enjoy as much as we do,” added Vicky Calabia.