Two short films from the Mailuki Films catalogue are in the running for the prestigious Melvyn Douglass Award and will compete in the Official Selection at the Macon Film Festival:

• AITÄ, by Ibon Landa
• Gallina, by Fernando Reinaldos

The 21st edition of the 2026 Macon Film Festival will take place from 20 to 23 August.

And the screenings will be at the gorgeous The Douglass Theatre.

AITÄ and GALLINA are the two most successful Spanish short films of the year on the international film festival circuit. Including festivals that qualify for the Hollywood Oscars and the Goya Awards.

Ibon Landa about AITÄ:

AITÄ was born from a desire to explore the weight of silence, trauma, and the hidden family secrets that shape who we are. Through the story of Beñat and his daughter Malen, we wanted to portray how guilt, loss, and the need for redemption can coexist within the same emotional space.
We were drawn to the way past wounds echo through generations — and how, even in the midst of pain, moments of love and connection can emerge. AITÄ delves into the complexity of family bonds, the tension between inherited loyalties and chosen ones, and the pursuit of truth as the only path toward reconciliation.
The Basque landscape, with its rough beauty and emotional restraint, became more than a setting — it mirrors the characters’ inner worlds. Every stone Beñat lifts represents the weight of memory: what we try to carry, and what we must finally let go.
Our goal was to create an intimate and emotionally charged film that reflects both the fragility and the strength of the human spirit. A story that invites the audience to face their own truths and to believe that, even in the darkest moments, there is always room for redemption.

Fernando Reinaldos about GALLINA:

As a queer child, I remember the constant feeling of being trapped between two worlds: my feminine and masculine sides were always in conflict. Many times I tried to figure out where I belonged, without understanding why I had to make a choice at all. The warmth of my supportive family was not always enough to help me stand up to the harshness of the toxic masculinity outside. At that time, my deep admiration for my best friend led me to make choices against my instincts, betraying the special bond I shared with my dearest ones.

Gallina is my attempt to better understand that time in my life. The day when I came to understand something irreversible about myself and the world around me. When my silence began to shape the person I would become. The same silence that many queer children carry to protect themselves from being seen.

Through Pablo’s story, I wanted to examine how toxic masculinity shapes a boy’s identity in today’s world, and to explore the cost of remaining silent in the face of everyday violence. The silence that takes over at the end of the film is the same silence that, heartbreakingly, has become a defining feature of our time.

Stay tuned, because very soon we’ll be announcing further successes for these two Spanish productions, which are taking the film festival circuit by storm all over the world.