‘El Kala’, nominated for the Fugaz awards, the goyas for short films

After an intense and successful tour of festivals since its premiere at the Malaga Festival in March 2023, ‘El Kala’ has been nominated for best documentary short film at the Premios Fugaz de CortoEspaña, known as ‘the goyas of short films’. The ‘El Kala’ team, led by its protagonist, Juan Carlos Estavillo, will attend the gala that will take place next Tuesday, June 18 at the Kinepolis Madrid Ciudad de la Imagen cinemas.

This nomination for ‘El Kala’ joins the nominations for the Forqué Awards and the Goya Awards, as well as the more than sixty selections at national and international festivals, garnering twenty-one awards for best documentary short film at the Octubre Corto, Icoff, as well as special mention from the jury at the Madrid Film Festival and audience awards for best short film in Abycine and Octubre Corto, among others.

Produced by Diegopergo Films, ‘El Kala’ has the participation of La Rioja Film Commission and La Rioja Turismo, and is distributed by Selected Films. Shot in different locations in Logroño between August and October 2022, this 20-minute film written and directed by Diego Pérez has Álvaro Sainz as director of photography. Fran Alonso is the head of sound; Imanol Legross is assistant director; Nacho Ugarte is in charge of the sound design and the OST. The original song, Invisible, is written by Diego M. Continente, from the group Messura. The recording and sound mixing is carried out by Dan Díez, while Álvaro Sainz and Diego Pérez are responsible for the editing. Alicia Rodríguez, Alejandra Sistiaga, María Sanz and Lucía Martínez are the producers.

The director of this film explains that «the story of El Kala is a slap in the face of reality to our prejudices related to ex-drug addicts and their appearance. This documentary aims to approach the person with the utmost respect, to show the world one of those people who are the B side of a city. The Kala is like the last Indian chief of the natural reserve of Laurel Street and the old town of Logroño and this is the type of portrait that the film reflects through a day in the life of him.