F
rom July 24 to August 2, the Atlàntida Mallorca Film Fest (AMFF) opens its 16th edition, its most ambitious to date, with 165 titles, more than half of them Spanish premieres, and over 300 confirmed guests descending on the island. The festival has an international vision with a strong focus on local Balearic talent as well. In addition to the screenings are a series of events and discussions throughout the festival.
This festival's Masters of Cinema award goes to three leading figures: Danish actress and singer Trine Dyrholm, Mexican star Gael García Bernal (celebrating 25 years since Y tú mamá también), and Oscar-winning French composer Alexandre Desplat, who closes out the festival with his own tribute gala. Joining them on the island will be an impressive roster of talent, including Javier Bardem, Rodrigo Sorogoyen, Victoria Luengo, David Lowery, John Wilson, Fernando Trueba, and French #MeToo figurehead Judith Godrèche.
A moving local tribute also takes place: Mallorcan sign painter Rafael Ruiz will receive the Premi Illa de Cinema for nearly fifty years spent hand-painting the cinema posters that once lined Palma's streets, earning him the nickname "the man who painted movies."
On the big screen, the festival opens with the Mallorca-produced drama Forastera and closes with Sorogoyen's El ser querido. In between, audiences can expect major starpower: Anne Hathaway in the A24 drama Mother Mary (with a Charli XCX soundtrack), Jake Gyllenhaal and Henry Cavill in Guy Ritchie's new thriller, and Charli XCX herself stepping into her first leading film role. Cannes favorites like the animated hit Jim Queen and the ambitious war epic La Batalla de Gaulle — one of the priciest European productions in recent memory — also make their way to the island.
