The Som Cinema film festival begins its 17th edition tomorrow, Wednesday, in Lleida with the opening ceremony and the screening of the film Apuntes para una ficción consentida, the first feature film by director and screenwriter Ana Serret. The event will be attended by Ana Serret herself, producer Xesc Cabot, and actress Violeta Rodríguez.
The inauguration will take place at 7 PM in the Auditorium of the Cappont Campus of the University of Lleida (UdL). Following the screening, the festival will run until Sunday the 25th, hosting a total of 57 feature films and short films in the city, of which 31 will be in official competition.
The opening film tells the story of Lea, a Swiss actress living in Madrid who navigates between personal doubts and professional challenges. In her quest to establish herself as an actress outside her home country, Lea receives help from unique characters she encounters, such as a young actress, a mute pianist, her ex-partner, a neighbor, or a nurse specializing in bats. The film is structured with chosen moments, like "notes" that summarize a whole life experience, moving between character tracking and environmental portraiture.
The film, with a screenplay by Ana Serret herself, is from 2025 and stars Isabelle Stoffel, Alex Brendemühl, Javier Porro, Violeta Rodríguez, Manfred Liechti, and Sigfrido Monleón. The production involved Stanbrook, Atiende Films, Tandem Films, and Filmin.
Ana Serret previously worked as an assistant director with filmmakers such as Mario Camus, Mariano Barroso, and Gerardo Vera. She also worked as an editor in Rome and as an assistant director to José Luis López-Linares. Her first short film, Extras, won the Goya for Best Documentary Short Film in 2005. In 2015, she premiered her first feature documentary, La fiesta de otros, which received the DOCMA Award in 2015, and in 2017, she presented El señor Liberto y los pequeños placeres, which won several awards, including the Lens Award for Best Cinematography in the National Feature Film Competition.
Films in the official section will be screened at Screnbox Lleida, with some documentaries shown in the Auditorium of the UdL Rectorate. Additionally, the Ilerna center will host the screening of some short films. The Morera-Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art of Lleida will host, on Saturday, the second edition of Som Cinema Lab/Pro, an initiative to promote local audiovisual talent.
The festival is organized by Sugerencias, with the support of the Lleida City Council, the Institut d'Estudis Ilerdencs of the Provincial Council of Lleida, the ICEC-Government of Catalonia, the University of Lleida, and the Horitzons 2050 Foundation.
