Evolution Mallorca is shining a light on female directors, AI opportunities and the craft of cinematography

The 14th edition of the Evolution Mallorca International Film Festival (EMIFF), features the second year of its screenwriters’ lab, a bolstered lineup of industry-facing events and a stellar programme of film screenings, including the recent winners of the Venice and San Sebastian film festivals.

EMIFF, which takes place in Palma, opened on October 21 with a gala screening of Alauda Ruiz de Azúa’s Sundays, the Spanish drama that won the Golden Shell at last month’s San Sebastian International Film Festival.

It closes on October 29 with Tolga Karaćelik’s Psycho Therapy, starring Steve Buscemi.

Of the nine titles in EMIFF’s international competition, five are directed by women: Ruiz de Azúa’s Sundays, Neele Leana Vollmar’s Time We Lost, Julia Ducournau’s Alpha, Rebecca Zlotowski’s A Private Life and Isabel Coixet’s Three Goodbyes.

Charlie McDowell’s Summer Book,  Tolga Karaçelik’s Psycho Therapy,  Erik Schmitt’s Life Of Wishes, and Jim Jarmusch’s Venice Golden Lion-winner Father, Mother, Sister, Brother round out the competition.

Beyond the competition, female-directed films include Sadie Frost’s documentary Twiggy, about the so-called original supermodel Twiggy, is screening, with Frost and Twiggy attending the festival.

A further highlight is Alex Burunova’s psychological drama Satisfaction starring Emma Laird, Fionn Whitehead and Zar Amir Ebrahimi, which is screening in the debut features section. It marks the return to EIFF of Burunova, a Los Angeles-based film and theatre director whose short films have premiered in over 60 international film festivals. She was at the festival in 2014 with one of her early short films, Lonely Planet.

“This is where we see Evolution’s place in supporting these really talented new voices by having them come back further down the line,” says festival founder and artistic director Sandra Lipski.

Burunova will be joined by London-based Abi Harris, founder of Altitude Management and Bafta-nominated producer Sarah Brocklehurst, for this year’s Women in Leadership panel moderated by the podcast Girls on Film.

Harris will also contribute to a roundtable entitled The New Era of Filmmaking: Actors Edition alongside casting director Luci Lenox, who works in Spain and in the UK, Spanish acting coach Laura Yuste, agent Matthias Frick from Spielkind and agent Georg Georgi.

On a similar theme is a day of events run in conjunction with Barcelona film school OFF ESCAC and the Lenox-founded Actors’ Home network, focusing on key topics for performers such as casting and personal marketing.

Yuste will deliver a masterclass on marketing tips for actors. 

Lipski says the return of the screenwriters’ lab for a second year is thanks to positive industry feedback.

“While we’ve had the screenplay competition for four years, last year we started having 15- to 20-minute consultations with professional screenwriters,” explains Lipski. “The screenwriters read all the screenplays, and then they meet with the finalists and give them feedback.”

This year, there will be 27 finalists with scripts from three categories: International feature films spanning a mix of genres, short films, and a Made In Baleares feature section to boost the profile of scripts looking to shoot on the Spanish islands.

Supporting excellence

Cinematographer Phedon Papamichael, Oscar-nominated for his work on The Trial of the Chicago 7 in 2021 and Nebraska in 2014, is being honoured with the Icon Award 2025. Papamichael will participate in festival events, including an Icon talk about his career to date and a panel discussion called Creating Emotion Through Cinematography alongside Oona Menges (The Host) and Pablo Diez (TV show Welcome to Eden).

There will also be a screening of Papamichael’s most recent feature, the Bob Dylan biopic Complete Unknown.

Additionally, cinematographer Jamie Ramsay, renowned for All of Us Strangers, will deliver this year’s ‘Anatomy of a Scene’ masterclass.

For the first time, the festival will have an on-site “gear lounge” with Sony, Astera, Leitz and ARRI in attendance to share the tools of the trade with filmmakers, cinematographers and producers.

“It is reinforcing our pledge to support the cinematographer craft to industry delegates,” says Lipski.

Steve Buscemi, whose credits include Reservoir Dogs, Fargo and TV series Boardwalk Empire, will pick up this year’s Evolution Icon award. He stars in the closing-night film Psycho Therapy.

Spanish director Julio Medem, renowned for films such as Lovers of the Arctic Circle, will be presented with the Evolution Vision award, while Swedish-Spanish actress Ingrid García-Jonsson, making a name for herself in films such as My Heart Goes Boom!, will pick up the Evolution New Talent award.

In addition, there will be an Innovation Focus with Swiss outfit Largo AI, analysing the present and future of AI in film production, hosted by Largo AI founder Sami Arpa.

www.evolutionfilmfestival.com