The filmmaker from Mequinenza has been awarded twice by the MIFF and takes over from Javier Rodes as director of the festival.
The Mequinenza International Film Festival (MIFF) begins a new era with Enrique Novials as director of the event , which will celebrate its eleventh edition from September 3 to 6, 2026. Novials will succeed Javier Rodes as head of the festival.
Javier Rodes , cultural manager, film producer, and founder of MIFF , has directed the festival since its inception in 2016. With a background in Film and Television and a master's degree in Cultural Management, Rodes launched the project after gaining experience in production companies, cultural institutions, and national and international film festivals, with the aim of creating a festival in Mequinenza with a strong international focus. Over the years, the festival has undergone significant development , achieving the designation of an Activity of Tourist Interest of Aragon and recognition as a collaborating festival of the Goya Awards of the Spanish Film Academy, in addition to establishing a program that has placed Mequinenza firmly on the national and international map of short film festivals.
The new director, Enrique Novials, maintains a close connection with MIFF. In 2022, he won the Best Aragonese Short Film Award for “Mátalos y no vuelvas sola” (Kill Them and Don't Come Back Alone), and two years later , in 2024, he received the Antonio Blas Audience Award for “Con el agua al cuello” (Up to My Neck in Water). Furthermore, in recent years he has served on the festival jury and actively contributed to its development , promoting the creation of the Western section and facilitating the inclusion of international professionals on the jury thanks to contacts he established during his career at festivals in countries such as Greece, Italy, and the United States.
A graduate in Humanities from the Open University of Catalonia (UOC), Novials began his training in Dramatic Arts at the Municipal School of Theatre in Zaragoza before developing his career as an actor at PortAventura World and directing various theatre groups in Tarragona. After a period working in journalism, he turned his attention to filmmaking, building an independent career marked by a strong connection to Mequinenza and the stories of its region.
With this change, the Mequinenza International Film Festival opens a new stage, committed to the continuity of the project and to further strengthening a competition that, since its origins, has made the town a benchmark for short films and a meeting place for filmmakers, professionals and fans of the seventh art.
The MIFF will be held from September 3 to 6 and has already published the names of the 30 short films selected for this edition.
