IUS of Time Finalist at the 16th Oviedo Film Festival (FOCO)

IUS of Time (2025), directed by Roberto F. Canuto and Xu Xiaoxi, has been selected as a finalist in the Asturian Short Film Competition of the 16th Oviedo Film Festival (FOCO), one of the leading film events in Asturias.

The screening will take place on Friday, March 20, 2026, at 8:00 PM, as part of the Asturian Short Films program at Cines Embajadores Foncalada in Oviedo.

The festival will take place from March 20–29, 2026, featuring a program that brings together films and activities designed to connect filmmakers, industry professionals and audiences.

Oviedo Film Festival (FOCO)

The Oviedo Film Festival (FOCO) was founded in 2008 as a short film showcase initiated by students from the audiovisual programs of the Asturian educational centres IES Aramo and CIDISI.

Since then, it has evolved into a well-established festival within the Asturian film scene. In recent years the event has expanded its scope, evolving from a regional showcase into a national festival featuring both feature films and short films in competition, alongside various parallel activities dedicated to audiovisual creation.

The 16th edition of the festival will take place across several venues in the city of Oviedo, including Cines Embajadores Foncalada.

IUS of Time, a return to Asturias

The selection at the Oviedo Film Festival also represents a very special return to Asturias for IUS of Time, a short film set in the Asturian countryside that reflects on memory, the passage of time and the bonds between generations.

A story that explores the relationship between place and the shared experiences of different generations, where the landscape and traditional rural trades play a central role.

The film continues its journey through festivals in Spain and internationally, further consolidating its presence within contemporary independent cinema.

Screening Information

The screening is part of the festival’s program dedicated to Asturian short films.

The cast of IUS of Time

The cast of IUS of Time brings together performers with diverse backgrounds in film, theatre and television.

Manuel Pizarro, a theatre, film and television actor with more than thirty years of experience, plays Xuan, a character shaped by the weight of the past and the scars of social injustice. His career has developed primarily in theatre, where he has received seven national awards for Best Leading Actor at various festivals and competitions. His work also includes the film “Mortadelo y Filemón” (dir. Javier Fesser) and the series “Vientos de agua” by Juan José Campanella.

The character of Luca is played by the Asturian actor Pelayo Carrizo, trained at the Asturias School of Dramatic Arts (ESAD). Carrizo has previously collaborated with directors Roberto F. Canuto and Xu Xiaoxi in several short films, including Water Circles Under Cotton Clouds, Blow Down and Sunset in Paris.

The cast is completed by Andy Almar, an Asturian actor and screenwriter who has appeared in several audiovisual productions, including the series “Poquita Fe” (2023), distributed by Movistar Plus+, as well as theatre and television projects.

Also part of the cast is Laura Ubach, an actress with experience in film, television and theatre, known for her participation in the series “Alma” (Netflix) and in the production “Olympo” (2025), also distributed by Netflix.

Filming in the rural heart of Asturias

Filming for IUS of Time took place in several locations across the Principality of Asturias, including the Picos de Europa and the municipalities of Cabrales, Onís and Piloña.

One of the most distinctive locations used during production was the Cabrales cheese aging caves, specifically those of the Asiegu Organic Dairy in the municipality of Cabrales. Inside these caves, where humidity reaches approximately 95%, some of the most atmospheric scenes of the short film were shot.

The crew also filmed in emblematic locations of the Asturian rural landscape, including the bar-shop El Chigre of Biedes in Piloña, a mountain stable in Sevares, and a 17th-century rural house in Biedes preserving Napoleonic-era furniture.

These locations help shape the film’s visual universe, where the landscape and rural traditions form an essential part of the story told by IUS of Time.

You can find more information about the film on the official page for IUS of Time on our website.

Header image: analogue photograph taken during the filming by Elmer Guevara © Almost Red Productions.