"Not even the pandemic can stop the creative work of the world of short films, something we didn't expect given the difficulties of filming last year," said the director of the show, Alejandro Pachón, quoted in a statement.

The 27th Iberian Film Festival will take place from 20 to 24 July, in the towns of Badajoz, Olivença and São Vicente de Alcântara.

"Genesis 22", by Edgar Feldman, "Her name is Carla", by Catia Biscaia, "O Nosso Reino", by Luís Costa, and the animation short film "The Monkey", a Portuguese-Spanish co-production, directed by Xosé Zapata and Lorenzo Degl'Innocenti are the works that represent Portugal in the competitive section of the festival.

O NOSSO REINO de Luís Costa (2020) – trailer

The selection committee highlights the quality of the works, as well as the variety of themes, considering that social issues have a strong presence, and that comedies and love stories predominate.

Among the short films selected, there are also several animated films and one made with the help of 'drones'.

The 30 short films in the competition are divided into sections, with 19 works in the official section, six in the Extremadura Shorts section and five in the Kids Festival, an area dedicated to children and young people.

The selection of the 30 shorts in the competition in this 27th edition was based on a total of 495 works, 23 of them by Portuguese directors, according to the organization.

The Luso-British film "Listen", by director and actress Ana Rocha de Sousa, will be screened at the inaugural gala of the Iberian Film Festival in Badajoz 2021.

The Luso-British co-production, which has not yet been commercially released in Spain, addresses a social drama of forced adoptions in England, having won several awards at the Venice Film Festival 2020, as well as four other awards outside the official section.