Diane Kruger will receive the Evolution Icon Award

PalmaActress Diane Kruger will be one of the protagonists of the 15th Evolution Mallorca International Film Festival (EMIFF), which will take place from October 28th to November 4th. The event will grant her the Evolution Icon Award in recognition of a career that has connected European cinema with Hollywood, with titles such as Troy, National Treasure and Inglourious Basterds. Over eight days, the festival will screen more than 140 films and documentaries in 13 locations in Mallorca and expects to bring together more than 8,000 attendees.

Kruger, awarded at Cannes as best actress for In the Fade, by Fatih Akin, joins fellow German actress Iris Berben, who had already been announced as a recipient of the Evolution Icon Award. “It is a gift to have her with us to celebrate this 15th edition,” the festival director, Sandra Lipski, stated this Wednesday in a press release.

The tributes will also recognize director and producer Edward Berger, responsible for All Quiet on the Western Front, winner of four Oscars, and Conclave. Berger will receive the Evolution Vision Award and will present Fatherland, by Paweł Pawlikowski, for which he is a producer and which is part of the official feature film competition.

Cinematographer Matthew Libatique will receive the Cinematography Icon Award. Three-time Oscar nominee and frequent collaborator of Darren Aronofsky, he has worked on films such as Requiem for a Dream, Black Swan, Iron Man, A Star Is Born and Maestro. He will also be one of the protagonists of Cinematography Focus, the section dedicated to cinematography.

A recognition for Mallorcan Pau Aulí

The closing gala will feature a Majorcan protagonist: costume designer, production designer, and visual artist Pau Aulí, who will receive the Evolution New Talent Award. Aulí has worked with filmmakers such as Agustí Villaronga and Albert Serra and has received three nominations for the Gaudí awards for El ventre del mar, La abadesa and Polvo serán.

He is, furthermore, responsible for the costumes for The End of It, by María Martínez Bayona, which will close the festival on November 4th at the Principal Theatre in Palma. The film will compete in the debut feature film section, along with Club Kid, by Jordan Firstman, which will open the event on October 28th at the Congress Palace. Completing this selection are Sender, by Russell Goldman; Pretty Babies, by Tyler-Marie Evans; Elena’s Shift, by Stefanos Tsivopoulos, and Bubbles, by Sebastian Husak.

Danny Boyle and Jesse Eisenberg, in competition

The official feature film competition will include, in addition to Fatherland, Ink, by Danny Boyle; The Debut, by Jesse Eisenberg; Isola, by Nora Jänicke; Primavera, by Damiano Michieletto, and Woman Unknown, by May el-Toukhy, winner of the Golden Lion for best film in Venice in 2026.

The international fiction short film competition will bring together 38 works, including the animation They, by Renée Zellweger, and Sweetwater, directed by Michael Keaton. As for documentary feature films, they will include The Things We Regret, by Simon Gullström; Miss Jobson, by Amanda Sans Pantling; Chronicle of a Summer in Palestine, by Ines Moldavsky, and My Home of Wind and Sand, by Patrick Wally.

Marc Clotet will preside over the jury of an edition that will feature more than 30 professionals to evaluate the different competitions.

44 projects with a Balearic seal

The creation of the Islands will have its own space at Made in Baleares, which this year will bring together 44 projects. The selection includes 18 fiction short films, five documentaries, two student works and six feature films—five documentaries and one fiction—, in addition to 13 scripts selected for the Script Lab.

The program will also offer activities for professionals. The Producers Club, from October 31st to November 3rd, will bring together director Gabriela Ortega, producers Kim Magnusson and Theresa Larché, and producer and composer Xavi Font. Presentations of The Pitch projects, a round table on filming in the Balearic Islands and an Innovation Focus session dedicated to the possibilities and challenges of artificial intelligence will be added. The Script Lab will support the development of new scripts, while the programming will be completed with documentary short films, experimental cinema and music videos.