The independent film festival launches its programme from this Friday, 24th July, at three venues in Palma: Es Baluard Museu, CineCiutat, and Sala Rívoli.
The Atlàntida Mallorca Film Fest has begun its sixteenth edition on Friday, 24th July, turning Palma into the centre of European and international independent cinema. The event, which will last several days, has chosen three emblematic spaces in the city for its screenings and parallel activities: Es Baluard Museu, CineCiutat, and Sala Rívoli.
The opening day combines offerings ranging from queer cinema and live music to true crime and auteur documentaries. According to the organisers, the programme is structured around the diversity of identities, documentary exploration, and historical memory.
Es Baluard Museu consolidates its role as the main venue for queer cinematography and the most participatory activities. There, the cistern space hosts a radical anthology of MiniDV aesthetics titled Castration Movie, an anthology: Chapters 1 and 2, directed by Louise Weard. The Spanish premiere of the 4K restoration of High Art, a classic of 90s lesbian cinema awarded at Sundance, with visual influences from Nan Goldin and Larry Clark, will also be screened.
Additionally, the Es Baluard programme includes Jimpa, a story about identity and generational conflicts filmed in Amsterdam and starring Olivia Colman, and En el camino, a road movie produced by Diego Luna that narrates the transformative journey of two men in northern Mexico. The musical closing on the terrace will be by Baaldo and Lady Dj.
Sala Rívoli focuses on blockbuster cinema and suspense. There, Kokuho: The master of kabuki will be screened, a box office hit that has attracted fourteen million viewers in Japan and explores the stage talent of a young man linked to the mafia. For mystery lovers, El caso Elisa, a true crime based on real events featuring photography by a regular collaborator of director Paolo Sorrentino, will be shown.
The CineCiutat screens concentrate the documentary offerings of this opening day. Manara, a review of the career of illustrator Milo Manara, described by comic book artist Frank Miller as the most sensual in the world, and his exploration of eroticism will be screened. Also included is John Wilson, the story of concrete, the cinematic debut of John Wilson, where an attempt to document construction materials turns into an American odyssey. Finally, Una infància a Lesotho will be presented, in which filmmaker Lemohang Jeremiah Mosese reconstructs his personal memory and analyses the colonial legacy of his homeland.
The festival, which has established itself as a key event in the cultural calendar of the island, offers an opportunity for Mallorca audiences to access cinematic proposals that rarely reach commercial screens. Tickets for the various sessions are available on the festival's website and at the venues' box offices.
The organisation expects high attendance, especially for the sessions at Sala Rívoli and Es Baluard, which have already recorded significant demand in previous editions. Attendees will be able to enjoy a programme that combines major premieres, dialogues, and musical sessions, with independent cinema as the common thread.
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