Curtas Festival do Imaxinario, now reaching its 54th edition, is taking a historic leap forward in its long-established trajectory. Next week, the Vilagarcía-based festival will travel to the 79th edition of the Cannes Film Festival, taking place from May 12 to 23, 2026, to join the Marché du Film, the most important professional market in the global audiovisual industry.
Curtas Festival do Imaxinario’s presence at the French event will be articulated through the Fantastic Pavilion, the key hub for the international genre film community within Cannes. In this space, the festival’s visual identity will take center stage, with both its logo and its iconic trophy on display, placing Vilagarcía de Arousa on the map of the major decision-making hubs for horror, fantasy, and science fiction cinema.
International scouting and city promotion
The Curtas Festival do Imaxinario team will carry out an intensive working agenda with the aim of bringing the very best of the current genre scene to Galician screens. These meetings with producers, distributors, programmers, festival representatives, specialized press, and cultural institutions from around the world will enable top-level scouting efforts to secure the most cutting-edge productions in the genre.
However, the mission in Cannes goes beyond cinema itself. The festival will act as an ambassador for Vilagarcía de Arousa, promoting the city as a culturally significant destination to programmers, specialized media, and institutions from around the world, marking a new milestone in the festival’s growth.
About Curtas Festival do Imaxinario
With a history dating back to 1973, Curtas Festival do Imaxinario of Vilagarcía de Arousa is the oldest audiovisual festival in Galicia and an international benchmark for fantasy and horror cinema. More than a strictly cinematic event, the International Fantastic Film Festival of Galicia is a multidisciplinary experience that transforms the city into the capital of the extraordinary, integrating cinema, literature, comics, and visual arts into a unique cultural proposal.
An official member of the Méliès International Festivals Federation (MIFF), Curtas has awarded the prestigious Méliès d’Argent for Best European Fantastic Short Film since this year. Recently, it received the EFFE Label 2026–2027, the quality distinction granted by the European Festivals Association (EFA) with the support of the European Commission, and was included in Dread Central’s exclusive list as one of the 90 best genre festivals in the world.
Declared an Event of Tourist Interest by the Concello de Vilagarcía de Arousa, the festival offers every autumn a carefully curated international selection of feature films and short films, complemented by a program of meetings with top-level creators, exclusive exhibitions, and workshops. Celebrating the fantastic in all its forms.
Curtas Festival do Imaxinario will celebrate its 54th edition from October 23 to November 1, 2026, with the institutional support of the Concello de Vilagarcía de Arousa, the Deputación de Pontevedra, and the Xunta de Galicia, as well as sponsorship from De Angeles Films, Gadis, and Rei Zentolo.
