El Palo Short Film Festival 2026: five films compete this Saturday in the final gala at Playa Virginia

Cinema becomes one of Málaga’s cultural plans this Saturday night. The El Palo–Paco Leal Short Film Festival will hold its final gala on 19 September 2026, bringing audiences together at the Curro Román Auditorium in Playa Virginia to discover the films competing for this year’s awards.

The event will begin at 9:00 pm and will feature screenings of the five finalists selected by the jury from a total of 60 submitted short films.

The winning titles will also be announced during the evening, bringing this year’s edition of the festival to a close.

Five short films reach the final

Reaching Saturday’s gala has meant making it through a competitive selection process.

Out of the 60 films entered, the jury chose just five to be screened during the final programme.

Audiences will be able to watch all five on the big screen before discovering which titles receive this year’s awards.

The short-film format also makes it possible to experience very different stories, styles and ways of making cinema in a single evening, offering a varied alternative to a conventional film screening.

Cinema by the sea at Playa Virginia

One of the attractions of the festival is its setting.

The gala will take place at the Curro Román Auditorium in Playa Virginia, in eastern Málaga, close to the coast and within easy reach of El Palo and Pedregalejo.

That makes it easy to turn the event into a complete Saturday-night plan: a walk along the seafront, dinner in the area and then an evening of short films from 9:00 pm.

The event is suitable for all ages.

A festival with strong ties to El Palo

The festival carries the name of Paco Leal and forms part of the cultural activity associated with El Palo, one of Málaga’s neighbourhoods with the strongest local identity.

The event involves the El Palo Residents’ Association together with support from the municipal district.

Beyond the awards themselves, festivals like this provide a platform for short films that do not always find a place in mainstream commercial cinemas.

For audiences, they offer the chance to discover several new stories and creative voices in a single session.

A cultural plan for Saturday night in Málaga

With September bringing a busy cultural calendar across the city, the gala is another option for anyone wondering what to do in Málaga on Saturday, 19 September.

Its combination of cinema, a location close to the sea and a single evening screening makes the El Palo Short Film Festival an easy alternative to concerts, terraces or food-focused plans.

The final gala starts at 9:00 pm at the Curro Román Auditorium in Playa Virginia, where the five shortlisted films will be screened and the winners announced.

Full details and timings can be checked in the official Málaga City Council agenda.