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Smells
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Director: ALBA ESQUINAS
Year: 2022
Duration: 10 minutes
A MUBOX STUDIO production
Screenplay: ALBA ESQUINAS
Editing: ALBA ESQUINAS AND LAURA GANTES
Sound editing: LAURA GANTES
SYNOPSIS
A photograph appears at the bottom of a drawer and triggers the memories of an entire childhood. A childhood not only marked by the absence of his father who died in the war, but also by the slaughter of pigs and the blood-stained rags from his mother's butcher shop.
AWARDS
- GRAND AWARD OF SPANISH CINEMA in ZINEBI - International Festival of Documentary and Short Film of Bilbao (Spain)
- FIRST AWARD in FIDBA - International Documentary Film Festival of Buenos Aires (Argentina)
- SPECIAL JURY AWARD - La Mirada Tabú - International Film Festival. Zaragoza (Spain)
- SPECIAL MENTION / BEST NATIONAL DOCUMENTARY - IBIZACINEFEST (Spain)
- DANZANTE IBEROAMERICANO ÓPERA PRIMA “ALBERTO SÁNCHEZ” & DANZANTE DOCUMENTAL IBEROAMERICANO “JOSÉ MANUEL PORQUET”. - 51th Huesca International Film Fest (Spain)
- DOCMA AWARD BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT FILM / SPECIAL MENTION BEST SOUND MIXING. - Madrid FIlm Festival PNR (Spain)
- BEST SHORT FILM FRONTDOC - Valle d'Aosta International Documentary Film (Italy)
- EX-AEQUO "PREMI ULLASTRE" SECTION AWARD - V Menorca Documentary and photography of Auteur cinema (Spain)
FESTIVALS
- Visions du Réel - Nyon International Film Festival (Switzerland) 2022 WORLD PREMIERE
- Frameout. Vienna (Austria) 2022
- CINEMANCIA -Festival de cine metropolitano. Medellín (Colombia) 2022
- Uppsala International Short Film Festival (Sweden) 2022
- FESTIFREAK - International Independent Film Festival of La Plata - Buenos Aires (Argentina) 2022
- ZINEBI - International Festival of Documentary and Short Film of Bilbao (Spain) NATIONAL PREMIERE
- FICC - International Film Festival of Cartagena (Spain) 2022
- L´ALTERNATIVA- Barcelona Independent Film Festival (Spain) 2022
- FIDBA - International Documentary Film Festival of Buenos Aires (Argentina) 2022
- La Mirada Tabú - International Film Festival. Zaragoza (Spain) 2022
- IBIZACINEFEST - 7 Independent International Film Festival of Eivissa (Spain) 2023
- IBAFF - International Film Festival of Murcia (Spain) 2023
- Malaga Spanish Film Festival (Spain) 2023
- 7ème Lune, Festival International des jeunes cinéastes (France) 2023
- XXIII Lanzarote International Film Festival (Spain) 2023
- CortoGijón - Gijón Shortfilm Festival (Spain) 2023
- 51th Huesca International Film Fest (Spain) 2023
- FICVIAXIV. Verín Shortfilm Festival (Spain) 2023
- PNR Madrid Film Festival (Spain) 2023
- CINESPAÑA - Festival de cinéma espagnol et portugais (France) 2023
- FESTCURTASBH - Curtas de Belo Horizonte Film Festival (Brazil) 2023
- MENORCADOCFEST - Premi Ullastre selection for best documentary short film. (Spain) 2023
- XXIII Santa Cruz International Cinema Festival (Bolivia) 2023
- International Cinema Festival of Human Rights "Under our skinl (Bolivia) 2023
- Oficial Selection Caracas Cinematografic Critic Festival (Venezuela) 2023
- LOS TRABAJOS Y LAS NOCHES Logroño Process art and cinema festival (Spain) 2023
- Janela International Cinema do Recife (Brazil) 2023
- Ciclo CIMA EN CORTO en la Cineteca de Madrid (España) 2024
- FRONTERA SUR International Non-Fiction Cinema Festival (Chile) 2024
BIO-FILMOGRAPHY
ALBA ESQUINAS
Murcia, 1999. Filmmaker based in Madrid, where she specializes in screenwriting and takes her first steps in directing through documentary cinema.
She completed her Bachelor’s Degree in Cinematography and Audiovisual Arts at TAI School and later deepened her knowledge in screenwriting with the Master’s Degree in Film and TV Screenwriting at Universidad Carlos III and the Screenwriters’ Guild-ALMA of Madrid, where she won the Award for Best Feature Film Screenplay of her 2021-2022 class.
Her debut short film is Smells (2022), which premiered worldwide at one of the most prestigious festivals of documentary cinema, Visions du Réel. Nationally, that work earned her the Grand Award of Spanish Cinema at ZINEBI in the 64th Edition of the Festival (a qualifying festival for the Goya, the Oscars, the BAFTA, and the European Film Academy Awards). She also received the First Prize in the International Short Film Competition at FIDBA, the Special Mention for Best Documentary Short Film at IBIZACINEFEST (Goya qualifier), and the Special Jury Prize at La mirada tabú.
With Smells, she achieved two awards at the Huesca International Film Festival (qualifier for the Goya and the Oscars): the Ibero-American Danzante Award for Best Documentary and the Danzante Award for Best Debut Film. The short has competed in the official documentary section of the Málaga Film Festival, L’Alternativa, and the Lanzarote International Film Festival, among others, as well as being showcased at art centers such as the Mumok (Vienna), CCCB (Barcelona), and the Centro Cultural Recoleta (Buenos Aires).
Los viudos (2026), her documentary short film currently in development, was one of the projects selected for Meet the Talents at the San Sebastián Film Festival in September 2022. A production of Mubox Studio, an independent production company that has supported her since her early works such as Smells and continues to accompany her in future projects.
BAI, BAI, her upcoming debut fiction feature film, has been selected for the 3rd edition of COOFILM, a residency program for women filmmakers, and for the 4th edition of CIMA IMPULSA, a development lab promoted by the ICAA and Netflix. It has also recently been selected and participated in La Incubadora (ECAM) and Atlàntida Mallorca Talents Lab.
Her most personal projects focus on memory and the passage of time, but also on the memories and scars we inherit.
