The program will select four projects with an artistic vocation that will receive specialized mentoring during 2026’s (S8). Also, they will be applying for the ELIXIR grants in memory of Amy Halpern.
INPUT’s mentoring sessions take place during the (S8) in A Coruña. PHOTO: A. Morandeira
Supporting and promoting high-quality film projects with a unique perspective and a clear artistic approach. That is the objective of INPUT, the film project mentoring and advisory space of eSe8_Lab, which celebrates its tenth edition this year and has just opened its application period.
Amongst the submitted projects, four will be selected to receive personalized mentoring at the 17th edition of the Mostra Internacional de Cinema Periférico led by internationally renowned professionals who will be announced in the coming weeks. For two days—Thursday, June 4th and Friday, June 5th—the four selected participants will receive guidance on the creative process and how to improve their work, identify funding sources, and design appropriate distribution strategies for their films. This support will continue for several months with online tutorials, providing ongoing project development.
Established as the most daring and original project development program in Spanish cinema, INPUT is supported by Acción Cultural Española – AC/E, and the Luis Seoane Foundation. Since 2025, it has also included the ELIXIR grants in memory of Amy Halpern, providing direct support of €700 for selected projects. This grant was first awarded last year at the initiative of the family of the American artist, who was featured in a spotlight at the (S8) Film Festival a few months before her death.
Cuando toco un animal, by Ángel Filgueira (2023) and Crías by Xiana do Teixeiro (2026)
TEN YEARS OF INPUT
With INPUT, the (S8) initiative is clear: to cultivate and support marginalized cinema that faces difficulties in mainstream circuits due to its originality and radicalism, but which finds here the ideal ecosystem to establish its foundations and materialize into films. This is the case with Cuando toco un animal, by Ángel Filgueira (2023), which was featured in INPUT in 2020 and premiered at the D’A – Barcelona Film Festival. Xiana do Teixeiro’s Crías (2026) received a mentorship in 2019, and was presented this year in the official selection of the Málaga Film Festival.
In addition to being selected for international festivals, films that grow at INPUT typically follow a path of consolidation, receiving official aids from ICAA and Agadic, or from contemporary art institutions like the IVAM in Valencia. And of course, in many cases they return to (S8) to be screened in the Sinais section or as film performances in Desbordamientos.
This year, 2026, several filmmakers who were at INPUT have works selected for the 17th edition of (S8), including Orisel Castro, Nicole Remy, Luís Lechosa, Raffaella Rosset, Beatriz Freire, and Pablo Agma. The film Urgencia de mediodía, by Daniela Delgado Viteri, will also premiere.
Diferent moments at INPUT. PHOTOS: A. Morandeira and María Messeguer
UNTIL APRIL 27
The deadline for submitting proposals to the 10th edition of INPUT is April 27. Applicants must be over 18 years of age and have a film project in development.
Those selected will receive accommodation and a living allowance during the mentorship period in A Coruña, as well as travel expenses to the city from within Spain. To present their project, they must submit a dossier in both Spanish and English, no longer than 5 pages in each language (10 pages total), with the following details:
- Synopsis (max. 1 page).
- Teaser, if any (max. 3 minutes).
- 2 stills from the project or images that represent it.
- Applicant bio with a link to their website (max. 1 page).
- 1 photograph of the applicant.
- Email and phone number.
You can consult the TERMS AND CONDITIONS here and access the form.
INPUT is an activity organized by eSe8_Lab. It will take place during the Mostra de Cinema Periférico that celebrates its 17th edition in Coruña between June 2 and 7, co-sponsored by Concellería de Cultura e Turismo do Concello da Coruña and the support of Axencia Galega das Industrias Culturais da Xunta de Galicia (Agadic), Deputación da Coruña, Instituto de la Cinematografía y de las Artes Audiovisuales (ICAA), Acción Cultural Española (AC/E) and Fundación Luis Seoane.
