The Sevillian town of Arahal hosts today the second edition of the Europa Awards, a teen film festival created and managed by secondary school students. The gala, held at the Municipal Theatre, is enriched this year by the participation of Italian students from the Liceo di Aviano, through the Erasmus program.

This educational project, which attracted over 300 attendees in its first edition, has now embraced internationalization via a cultural exchange. The Italian students will present their own short film, a result of their stay in Italy, where Arahal students also filmed material for their productions. The initiative is led by Antonio Bonilla, a teacher at the center and co-producer of the documentary ¡Dolores Guapa!.

Since last February, over 40 student production companies from 1st and 3rd year ESO have been fully engaged in developing their short films. They have covered all production phases, from scriptwriting and costume design to budget management and soundtrack creation. The awards themselves, handcrafted ceramic statuettes, were made in the institute's workshop.

The gala will feature a top-tier jury including Spanish cinema personalities such as activist, singer, and actress Samantha Hudson, and actor César Vicente, known for his collaborations in Pedro Almodóvar's films. They are joined by professionals from Andalusian design who will form a graphic jury to assess the technical aspects of the productions.

The ceremony will be divided into two segments: the screening of the selected short films, including the Erasmus productions, followed by the awards ceremony presented by radio host and Language teacher Rocío Pérez. Awards will be given for best short film, best screenplay, best lead and supporting performance, best soundtrack, best costume design, and best budget.

Awards related to technical and academic aspects will be decided by the Mathematics, Language, and Music departments of IES Europa, who will respectively evaluate the budget, screenplay, and soundtrack of each production.