Malaga short film wins Goya and aims for the next Oscars

Since producer Mónica Gallego got on stage to collect the Goya award for the animated short film Gilbert at the end of February, Agencia Freak hasn't had a free moment in its schedule. "We thought it would all end after the ceremony, but it turns out that's where it all began," head of the company says.

Mayor of Malaga Francisco de la Torre was among the first people to call Gallego and congratulate her on the victory. Her next goal, however, is to get Gilbert to the Academy Awards in Hollywoo.

Non-stop interviews and a visit with the Goya to Gallego's daughter's school in the Carretera de Cádiz district later, SUR gets the chance to speak with the producer.

"The Goya award qualifies us to submit the short film to the Oscars and we're waiting for the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to open the call for entries for 2027," Gallego, adding that it's too early to get excited, because they first need to read the rules and see if they "meet the requirements".

According to the rules from last year, however, they meet all the necessary conditions to register Gilbert in the animated short film category. As soon as they have a confirmation, the Agencia Freak team will design the campaign to "present and promote the film in the US".

The endearing story of postman Gilbert, directed by Arturo Lacal, Alex Salu and Jordi Jiménez, has already premiered in North America, where it has been selected for four festivals and even won the award for Best Short Film at the Bend Film Festival in Oregon. The production company has complete faith in this film, with which it decided to make the leap into animation production.

The outlook for Gilbert couldn't be better, as the film has already screened at nearly 70 festivals worldwide since its premiere at the Shanghai International Film Festival (China). In addition to the Goya award, it has won prizes at eight other festivals in Brazil, Togo, Spain, the US and Portugal.

It recently received the ECFA award at the Lisbon International Children's & Youth Film Festival, which also qualifies it as a finalist for the European Children's Film Association to be presented at the 2027 Berlinale. Gilbert has also been selected to represent Spain in the Les Nuits en Or 2026 programme, organised by the French Film Academy, which aims to screen and promote the best short films in the world awarded by national film academies.

The success of Gilbert, starring a postman who delivers letters with his gondola in an archipelago of floating houses, is complemented by Agencia Freak's own experience at the Oscars. As a distributor, they have been on the Academy's lists with the animated films A Rapariga de Olhos Grandes eo Rapaz de Pernas Compridas (Portugal) by Maria Espanhol and Nåde (Norway) by Hedda Mjøen. Agencia Freak has entered the shortlists (a pre-selection of 15 titles prior to the five finalists) with Tótem Loba by late Verónica Echegui and Tula by Bea Silva. The company even achieved a nomination with Aquel no era yo (2014) by Esteban Crespo.

Two months ago, when they spoke to SUR to announce their Goya nomination, winning an Oscar seemed like just a beautiful dream for the Agencia Freak team, who moved from Extremadura to their base in the Costa del Sol seven years ago. Transferring was a gamble that has paid off well, as both Mónica Gallego and her partner, Millán Vázquez, say that they feel "integrated" and settled in Malaga.

This March, they continued to collect awards: at the 29th Málaga Film Festival, where, as distributors, they received two Biznaga awards for Best Short Fiction Film for Las desqueridas by Charlie García Villalba and Gonzalo Ruiz Esteban and another for Best Documentary for El mapa para tocarte by Mercedes Afonso.

Gallego admits that she is disappointed that they didn't get the chance to premiere Gilbert in Malaga despite the Goya award and Oscar aspirations. The film is available on Movistar and Filmin.