Alejandro Amenabar and Julio Medem are two of five established Spanish directors godfathering an up-and-coming filmmaker each in new short film initiative 50 Minutes.

Sponsored by Nescafe as part of its 50th anniversary celebrations, the initiative matches five established directors with five newcomers to make five ten-minute short films.

The other big-name directors involved - each representing a different decade of the last 50 years - are Bigas Luna, Gonzalo Suarez and Luis Garcia Berlanga.

Although the final product does not have a theatrical distributor, backers say one may be attached before the films' anticipated May 25 premiere and a DVD may also be launched. Broadcasters have already expressed interest in the rights.

The new directors - Oskar Santos, Daniel Sanchez-Arevalo, Santiago Garrido, Luis Mengs and Guillermo Garcia-Ramos - will be encouraged to submit their individual efforts to short film festivals as well. Each was charged with making a film about some aspect of their mentor's life. All except one, already shot, are in pre-production.