Saraqusta Film Festival reinforces its growing international profile with the presentation of the event in Los Angeles (California), where the Cervantes Institute in Los Angeles has been recognized with a Golden Dragon for its support in promoting Spanish culture. This event marks a milestone in the history of the Zaragoza International History Film Festival, which seeks to strengthen the festival’s brand outside Europe by highlighting its uniqueness as one of the few competitions in the world dedicated exclusively to the historical genre.
The event took place at the headquarters of the Cervantes Institute in Los Angeles, in a ceremony attended by the director of the competition, José Ángel Delgado; the Consul General of Spain in Los Angeles, Gerardo Freyo; the head of Cultural Activities at the Cervantes Institute in Los Angeles, Gonzalo del Puerto; Spanish actress Marian Aguilera, who lives in California; and Raquel Laguna, a journalist from Aragon and member of the Critics Choice Association. The presentation also had the support of the Aragon Film Commission and Alimentos de Aragón.
Presentation of the Golden Dragon Award to the Cervantes Institute in Los Angeles
The event was used as an opportunity to present a Golden Dragon, the festival’s highest honor, to the Cervantes Institute in Los Angeles “in recognition of its work in promoting Spanish language, culture, and, in particular, cinema.” Actress Marian Aguilera presented the award. Aguilera, who currently lives in Los Angeles, has appeared in such historic films as La Ciudad de los Prodigios (1999) and El prado de las estrellas (2007), both directed by Mario Camus.
“I am here to do something very beautiful: to deliver a symbol. There is something that only cinema can achieve: turning a historical event from a date into an experience and something we can feel in our skin. Crossing an endless desert, as in Lawrence of Arabia. Looking at each other without makeup, face to face, as in The Holy Innocents. Or seeing how power crumbles and everything is laid bare, as in Kurosawa’s Ran. The fact is, if we don’t want to look at yesterday’s reality, if we are ‘too lazy’ to do so, we will rarely want to look at today’s reality. And in these times, it is important. That’s why I like it to be a dragon: not as a decoration, but as a guardian. Guardian of memory,” he said.
Gonzalo del Puerto, head of Cultural Activities at the Cervantes Institute in Los Angeles, accepted the award on behalf of the institute, highlighting Aragón’s relationship with cinema, with directors who have crossed borders such as Segundo de Chomón, Buñuel, Borao, and Saura. Both he and the Consul General of Spain in Los Angeles, Gerardo Freyo, emphasized that the festival’s specialization in historical cinema, an uncommon focus in the film world, makes this event something new and unique. They showed their support and encouraged the festival to be presented in other cities around the world.
As José Ángel Delgado, director of the festival, pointed out, “being present in Los Angeles demonstrates our commitment to consolidating not only a festival but also a genre, the historical genre, which allows us to get closer to the past, relive events that marked other eras, and where fiction and real events coexist with rigor to entertain and educate. We are in Hollywood, where stories that captivate the viewer are always sought after, and perhaps History with a capital H is the best source of inspiration. That is why we want Saraqusta Film Festival to be the global benchmark for historical productions, and there is no better showcase than the heart of the film industry.”
RULES AND REGULATIONS AVAILABLE
The rules and regulations for 6th edition of Saraqusta Film Festival are available on the official website (https://saraqustafilmfestival.com/).
Participation is open to Spanish and international audiovisual works, whether live action or animation, that deal with the historical genre or whose theme, context, or setting is historical or refers to a period in the past. The deadline for submitting entries is march 10, 2026.
There are two official competition categories: Feature Films (minimum length 60 minutes) and Documentaries (minimum length 45 minutes). In both cases, audiovisual works produced in Aragon and submitted to these sections may also be eligible to participate in the ‘Aragonese Section’ showcase.
Audiovisual works submitted to the official sections may not have been produced before September 1, 2024. Preference will be given to those that have not been commercially released in Spain in theaters, on television, or on VOD platforms prior to their screening at the festival.
The festival has a non-competitive section—Panorama Saraqusta—for TV series and audiovisual works of various formats and lengths, produced in Spain or internationally, that are notable for their historical content.
The awards up for grabs are Best Feature Film, Best Documentary, Best Director, Best Screenplay, Best Actress, Best Actor, and the Youth Jury Award. All awards come with a cash prize of between €1,000 and €5,000. In addition, there are the Saraqusta Awards, which will be announced prior to the start of the festival and which pay tribute to professionals in the audiovisual sector with a historical focus.
The jury that will select the winners of the Saraqusta Film Festival will be the same for all sections and will be made up of prominent figures from the audiovisual and cultural worlds and the field of history. The list of winners will be announced on the morning of May 1 during the festival’s official press conference. That afternoon, the awards ceremony will take place, marking the closing of the sixth edition of the competition.
Photograph by: Eva Madejón