From rural Asturias to the Valencian coast: a return to Cullera for Roberto F. Canuto and Xu Xiaoxi, eight years after they won Best Screenplay there with «Sunken Plum».
IUS of Time, co-directed by Roberto F. Canuto and Xu Xiaoxi, has been selected for the Official Fiction Selection of the 15th K-Lidoscopi Short Film Festival, held in Cullera (Valencia, Spain). Produced by Almost Red Productions with the support of the Principality of Asturias and the Asturias Paraíso Natural Film Commission, the film now travels from the north of Spain to the Valencian coast to join one of the country’s Goya-qualifying festivals.
For the directors, it is also a homecoming. In 2018, at the festival’s 7th edition, Canuto and Xiaoxi won the Best Screenplay Award for their short Sunken Plum (Ciruela de agua dulce), which was also nominated for Best Fiction Short and Best Art Direction. Eight years later they return to the same stage in Cullera with a new film — a quiet full circle for two filmmakers whose work keeps travelling far from where it was shot.
IUS of Time at the 15th K-Lidoscopi
🎬 Festival: 15th K-Lidoscopi Short Film Festival · Cullera, Valencia, Spain
🏆 Section: Official Selection — Fiction (Argumental)
🥇 Goya-Qualifying Festival (national reference for short film since 2012)
📅 Screening: within the festival’s Official Selection · exact date to be announced
🎞 Film: IUS of Time (IUS del tiempo) · Spain · 2025 · 25 min · Drama, Rural, LGBTIQ+
Festival: festivalcurts.k-lidoscopi.com
K-Lidoscopi: a Goya-qualifying festival and a national reference for short film
Organised by the Asociación Cultural K-Lidoscopi in Cullera, on the Valencian coast, the festival has grown since 2012 into one of the most respected short film events in Spain, bringing together some of the strongest work on the national short film scene each year. As a Goya-qualifying festival, its official selection is judged by category-specific committees of audiovisual professionals, across fiction, documentary and animation.
IUS of Time competes in the fiction category, alongside works by established Spanish directors — a line-up that reflects the range and ambition of contemporary Spanish short filmmaking.
Rural roots and hidden lives: the story of IUS of Time
Shot entirely in rural Asturias, in northern Spain, IUS of Time follows Luca, a young photography student who arrives in an Asturian village to develop an artistic project and to explore his own roots. He stays with Xuan, an ageing cheesemaker who has spent a lifetime hiding his homosexuality under the weight of a small rural community. Through Luca’s camera and Xuan’s trade, two generations and two worlds meet in an intimate, unexpected encounter.
The film was shot in the Picos de Europa and the cheese caves of Cabrales, across municipalities such as Piloña, Cabrales and Onís, and in villages such as Biedes and Asiegu — a portrait of a disappearing rural world and of the lives quietly held within it.
From Asturias to Valencia: an international journey reaching the Spanish qualifying circuit
The K-Lidoscopi selection brings IUS of Time into the official selection of one of Spain’s Goya-qualifying festivals, adding to its presence at other qualifying events such as the 53rd Huesca International Film Festival (Oscar & Goya Qualifying) and the 34th Madrid Film Festival PNR (Goya Qualifying). This autumn the film also screens at the 28th Octubre Corto – Arnedo Film Festival.
IUS of Time has also taken part in different sections of leading Asturian festivals such as the 63rd FICX in Gijón/Xixón and the 24th Avilés Acción Film Festival, where it won the Audience Award — a strong presence on the regional and national circuit alongside its international run.
Since its 2025 premiere, IUS of Time has gathered selections across five continents and 29 countries, at festivals including the 31st Chéries-Chéris of Paris, the 43rd Reeling of Chicago, the 16th KASHISH Pride Film Festival of Mumbai and the 63rd FICX of Gijón/Xixón, and has received seven awards and distinctions along the way. The full list of festival selections and awards is available on the film’s page.
More information
Official page of IUS of Time
Complete list of festival selections and awards
K-Lidoscopi Short Film Festival
Watch the official trailer
