Mecal Pro 2017
By Mariana Hristova
The biggest short and animation film fest in town is back for the 19th time, with 350 films, 22 parallel activities and a refreshed program. This year, each weekend of the festival will be dedicated to one type of cinema: the opening belongs to animation, then comes fiction and finally documentaries. Moreover, the festival is located at just one, central venue: Arts Santa Mònica.
The country in focus for this edition is Hungary, so the Animation section includes a retrospective of Oscar winner Ferenc Rófusz, including one of the gems of his filmography, The Fly. Another highlight of the Animation program is the masterclass by Aya Suzuki, animator at Paramount Pictures.
The Fiction section is divided into themes including Digital Immigrants and Porn Is the Future, as well as categories on local talents, while the Documentary strand pays special attention to war reporting: the festival conference will be delivered by Mayte Carrasco, who covered the Syrian crisis.