'I Will Not Die of Love' and the Malaga film 'Iván & Hadoum' Triumph at the 2026 Malaga Festival

The script was followed and the favorite prevailed again. 'Yo no moriré de amor', the moving and elegant debut film by Marta Matute about Alzheimer's, has won the Golden Biznaga for national cinema at the 29th Málaga Festival. During the announcement of the awards this Saturday, the best film of the festival confirmed the predictions of the last few hours and once again proved that the event is a major springboard for new Spanish cinema, whose awards list over the last decade predominantly features women and debutants: Eva Libertad ('Sorda'), Estíbaliz Urresola ('20,000 Species of Bees'), Alauda Ruiz de Azúa ('Cinco lobitos'), Pilar Palomero ('Las niñas'), Elena Trapé ('The Distances') and Carla Simón ('Summer 1993'). Meanwhile, the production from Málaga also received support from the festival with the Special Jury Prize and best screenplay for another great film of this edition, 'Iván & Hadoum', a captivating trans Romeo and Juliet set in Almería's sea of plastic, directed with simplicity and passion by the also novice Ian de la Rosa.

The surprise came in the other Golden Biznaga of the festival, which recognizes Latin American cinema, unexpectedly awarding the Mexican film 'El jardín que soñamos', a fable about illegal migration and climate change directed by Joaquín del Paso. This unexpected award overshadowed the favorite Ibero-American film of this edition, 'Hangar rojo' (Chile-Argentina), a debut by Juan Pablo Sallato about the anxious first hours of Pinochet's coup in 1973 from the perspective of an army captain. In what seems an act of reparation, the official jury chaired by director Jaione Camborda awarded its convincing protagonist, Nicolás Zárate, the well-deserved recognition for best actor, in addition to the editing award. The film rounded off its particular awards list with two other valuable medals: the critics' award and the audience award.

'Yo no moriré de amor' boosted with three awards: Golden Biznaga and the acting awards for Julia Mascort and Tomás del Estal

This year, there was a double audience award, as the Festival also awarded the prize to ‘Pioneras. Solo querían jugar’, the epic story of the first women's football team in Spain signed by Marta Díaz de Lope from Málaga. In the official out-of-competition section, an audience award was also given to ‘Dos días’, by Gonzaga Manso, for its vision of old age.

Premiere of the Golden Biznaga

On the weekend when 'Torrente presidente' is sweeping the box office, the awards list of the official competition section this Saturday focused on that other more modest, committed, and auteur cinema, like this year's Spanish winner, 'Yo no moriré de amor', which will premiere in theaters next May 8th with the quality seal of the Málaga Festival. The film is boosted from the festival as, in addition to the Golden Biznaga - endowed with 8,000 euros - it also received two acting awards for the actors of the film's leading family: Tomás del Estal, supporting actor award for his role as father, and Julia Mascort, for the main character of the young girl who focuses the film's gaze.

Marta Matute's splendid debut film arrived in the final stretch of the Málaga Festival and left an inner silence as big as the applause it received at the Cervantes with a story that focuses on the family and how dementia affects caregivers and children who become parents to their own parents. In this case, also portrayed from the perspective of a teenager, the awarded Julia Mascort, who is neither prepared nor programmed to face a disease that slowly devastates everything in its path.

'Iván & Hadoum', winner of the Special Jury and screenplay awards, is co-produced by José Alba from Málaga (Pecado Films)

The film co-produced by José Alba from Málaga (Pecado Films) 'Ivan & Hadoum', which, in addition to the coveted Special Jury Prize and the screenplay award for its director Ian de la Rosa, also received a mention for its main actor, the Málaga native Silver Chicón, who debuted in a big way with this role. Where there are winners, there are also losers. And the jury wanted to concentrate the awards on just two Spanish films, 'Yo no moriré de amor' and 'Iván & Hadoum', while another of the most applauded films, 'La buena hija', by Julia de Paz, left empty-handed, as did the three comedies that left a good taste and many laughs: 'Altas capacidades', 'Laponia', and 'Pizza Movies'.