IUS of Time, co-directed by Roberto F. Canuto and Xu Xiaoxi, travels to Berlin this week as part of THE URGE, a curated short film programme presented by the Positively Different Short Film Festival (PDSFF) of Athens. The screening takes place during LAUSE : UNTEN – Antidisciplinary Theater Festival, held at Die Lause in Berlin-Kreuzberg.

Rather than being selected through an open call, the invitation emerged after the LAUSE : UNTEN team discovered the film during its official selection at the 7th Positively Different Short Film Festival in Athens earlier this year and proposed bringing it to Berlin.

The screening also marks several firsts for the film: it is the first time IUS of Time has been presented within an interdisciplinary arts festival rather than a film festival, and the first time it has formed part of a benefit event, where all proceeds support the independent cultural space hosting the programme.

IUS of Time at LAUSE : UNTEN — Berlin 2026

THE URGE: Memory, Mourning and Resistance

Rather than grouping films by country, genre or style, THE URGE brings together five works connected by shared questions of collective memory, mourning, silence and resistance.

The programme includes:

• Fragments on Resistance — Levan Tskhovrebadze & Ani Kiladze (Georgia)
• Nuno — Nuno Taborda (Portugal)
• IUS of Time — Roberto F. Canuto & Xu Xiaoxi (Spain)
• Those Who Are Left — Jonathan Brunner & Laura Hornberger (Palestine/Germany)
• Nasty — Margarita Alexiadi (Greece)

Within this context, IUS of Time is read alongside films dealing with occupied territories, political violence and personal loss. Xuan — the ageing cheesemaker living under the weight of decades-old rumours in a depopulating Asturian village — becomes part of a wider reflection on what communities choose to remember, what they decide to forget, and who is expected to carry silence on behalf of others.

It is a dialogue the film had not entered before, and one that expands its meaning beyond its original cultural context.

A Festival That Exists to Defend the Space It Happens In

Running from 23 to 25 July 2026, LAUSE : UNTEN describes itself as an antidisciplinary theatre festival, moving between theatre, dance, performance, visual arts, readings, concerts and cinema while deliberately refusing fixed artistic categories.

The festival revolves around Die Lause, a self-managed cultural space in Berlin-Kreuzberg that hosts artists, creative businesses, political initiatives and community organisations.

More than a venue, Die Lause has become a symbol of resistance against displacement and the growing pressures affecting independent culture in Berlin. Through the #LauseBleibt campaign, its community continues to oppose eviction, gentrification and cuts to cultural funding.

The festival itself is therefore a benefit event: all proceeds contribute directly to the continued existence of the space. Supporting the festival also means supporting the community that inhabits it.

From Athens to Berlin: When a Film Continues Travelling

The Positively Different Short Film Festival, organised in Athens by the Greek NGO Inter Alia, is built around principles of intersectionality and social inclusion, presenting films by and about communities whose voices are often underrepresented because of gender, sexuality, ethnicity, race, disability, class or religion.

Over recent years, the festival has evolved into a trans-local platform, with collaborations and screenings extending to cities including Istanbul, Belgrade, Sofia, Zagreb, Dakar and Nicosia. Berlin now joins that network.

The journey of IUS of Time to Berlin illustrates how films sometimes continue travelling long after a festival has ended — not through new submissions, but because someone in the audience decides they deserve to be seen again.

Three Screenings in Germany

Berlin marks the film’s third screening in Germany, following its participation in the 30th OpenEyes Filmfest Marburg (2025) and the 42nd Schwule Filmwoche Freiburg (2026), where it competed in the Fabulous Shorts I programme.

Germany has become one of the countries where IUS of Time has found particularly diverse exhibition contexts, ranging from LGBTQ+ film festivals to independent cultural initiatives.

With more than 67 international festival selections across five continents and seven festival awards and distinctions — including the Director’s Choice Award at the 45th Thomas Edison Film Festival (USA) and Best Cinematography at the 4th Silicon Valley Queer Film Festival (USA) — the film continues to reach audiences well beyond the LGBTQ+ circuit where its international journey began.

Recent screenings include the 15th Sofia Pride Film Fest (Bulgaria) and the 10th Out & Loud – Pune International Queer Film Festival (India).

A Film Shaped by Memory, Landscape and Emotional Encounter

Set in the rural landscapes of Asturias, northern Spain, IUS of Time follows Luca, a young photographer searching for something he cannot yet name, and Xuan, an ageing cheesemaker carrying decades of silence and emotional restraint.

Filmed in the Picos de Europa, the cheese caves of Cabrales and villages such as Biedes or Asiegu, the landscape functions not simply as scenery but as an emotional and narrative presence.

Developed alongside the companion films Blow Down and Sunset in Paris, conceived as the Sketches of IUS, the project explores memory, belonging, masculinity and intergenerational connection through a cinematic language rooted in place.

Berlin is a case in point: a story from a handful of Asturian villages, screened in a Kreuzberg courtyard that is fighting to remain what it is, next to films from Georgia and Palestine. The landscape does not shrink the story. It gives it somewhere to stand.

More Information

Berlin becomes another stop in the growing international journey of IUS of Time, which has now been officially selected at 67 festivals across five continents.

• Official page of IUS of Time
• Complete list of festival selections and awards
• 2025 Festival Journey
• Positively Different Short Film Festival – Athens
• Die Lause – Berlin-Kreuzberg
• Watch the official trailer

Watch the Trailer

The film will screen on Sunday, May 3, 2026, at 21:00 as part of the Fabulous Shorts I — a curated program of 17 short films from Switzerland, Spain, the UK, the USA, Austria, Italy, and Slovenia, all competing for the Audience Award for Best Short Film.

The 42nd Schwule Filmwoche Freiburg runs from April 29 to May 6, 2026, across several venues in Freiburg im Breisgau, featuring a diverse program of international LGBTQ+ feature films, documentaries, and short film competitions. This year’s edition introduces a new structure for its short film section, divided into two curated blocks that allow audiences to engage more directly in the voting process for the Audience Award.

IUS of Time in competition at the 42nd Schwule Filmwoche Freiburg 2026

🗓 Date: Sunday, May 3, 2026
🕘 Time: 21:00
📍 Location: Freiburg im Breisgau, Germany
🎬 Program: Fabulous Shorts I

See the Fabulous Shorts I screening program

Official festival website

Schwule Filmwoche Freiburg: over four decades of queer cinema

The Schwule Filmwoche Freiburg is one of the longest-running LGBTQ+ film festivals in the German-speaking world. Now in its 42nd edition, the festival has built a reputation for programming that balances artistic quality with cultural and political awareness.

The 2026 program places a strong emphasis on contemporary LGBTQ+ storytelling, combining international premieres, European independent cinema, and socially engaged documentaries. In addition to film screenings, the festival includes live events, panel discussions, and collaborations with local cultural institutions such as Theater Freiburg, reinforcing its role as a multidisciplinary platform for queer culture and public discourse.

IUS of Time: an expanding international festival trajectory

With over 50 international festival selections and multiple awards to date — including the Director’s Choice Award at the 45th Thomas Edison Film Festival and Best Cinematography at the 4th Silicon Valley Queer Film Festival — IUS of Time is emerging as one of the most internationally visible independent queer short films from Spain in recent years.

The selection in Freiburg adds to the film’s growing presence within the European queer festival circuit, following screenings at the 31st Chéries-Chéris – Festival du Film LGBTQIA+ de Paris, the 16th Écrans Mixtes Queer Film Festival in Lyon, the 53rd Huesca International Film Festival (Oscar & Goya Qualifying Festival), and the 63rd FICX Gijón International Film Festival.

In North America, the film has been selected at major festivals including the 43rd Reeling: Chicago LGBTQ+ International Film Festival (USA), one of the longest-running queer film festivals in the United States, strengthening its visibility within key international LGBTQ+ exhibition platforms.

Upcoming screenings include its Australian premiere at the Geelong Pride Film Festival, marking the film’s debut in Oceania.

A film shaped by memory, landscape, and emotional encounter

Developed through an extended creative process, IUS of Time combines naturalistic storytelling with a poetic and symbolic dimension.

The film evolved alongside a series of short pieces — Blow Down and Sunset in Paris — conceived as part of the Sketches of IUS, expanding its narrative universe.

Shot on location in Asturias, including the Picos de Europa and rural villages such as Cabrales and Onís, the film integrates landscape as an essential narrative element, reinforcing its thematic exploration of time, identity, and memory.

At its core, the film presents an encounter between two characters from different generations and worlds, unfolding as both a physical experience and an emotional reconstruction shaped by absence and connection.

IUS of Time within contemporary European queer cinema

Its inclusion in the Freiburg Gay Film Festival competition highlights the film’s relevance within the current landscape of European queer cinema, where intimate, character-driven narratives continue to gain prominence.

Within the European festival circuit, IUS of Time aligns with a growing wave of queer cinema that prioritizes personal narratives, cross-cultural perspectives, and visually driven storytelling, positioning the film among emerging independent works gaining traction in international LGBTQ+ festivals.

More information

For a complete and updated list of festival selections, visit the official page of IUS of Time

Watch the trailer

The selection represents a very special homecoming for the short film, which returns to Asturias after a strong run on the national and international festival circuit. In late 2025, the film received the Audience Award in the Asturias Section of the 24th Avilés Acción Film Festival and was also part of the official program of the 63rd Gijón International Film Festival (FICX), within the “Asturies Curtiumetraxes” Section, further consolidating its presence among the key showcases of Asturian cinema.

You can explore the full film page for IUS of Time on our website.

Oriéntate Official Selection: cinema, memory, and territory

Oriéntate has established itself as a festival fully devoted to Asturian audiovisual creation, combining film screenings, professional meetings, and cultural activities that highlight locally rooted cinema, intergenerational dialogue, and the development of new audiences.

Within the Official Selection, IUS of Time emerges as an intimate story about the encounter between a young photographer and an aging cheesemaker burdened by long-standing prejudices, where artistic creation and artisanal labor become unexpected bridges between two generations and two ways of inhabiting the world.

Set in the rural landscapes of Asturias, the film resonates naturally with the spirit of the festival, exploring themes such as the passage of time, memory, care, and unspoken affections through a restrained perspective deeply rooted in the territory.

The screening of IUS of Time will take place on Saturday, January 31, 2026, at 6:00 PM, within the Official Selection I, at the Casa de Cultura de Llanes. Further information is available on the festival’s official website.

An ongoing connection with Oriéntate

The presence of Almost Red Productions at Oriéntate reinforces a relationship built over the years. In 2023, the production company participated with Water Circles Under Cotton Clouds which was awarded the Audience Award for Best Short Film in the Oriéntate Section, and later, in 2025, Sunset in Paris was also featured in the Official Selection of the festival.

The selection of IUS of Time in this fifth edition further consolidates this shared journey and underscores the festival’s commitment to a body of work that explores identity, time, and the margins from a sensitive and deeply personal perspective.

Official trailer – IUS of Time (short film)

Image credit: Analogue still from IUS of Time by Elmer Guevara © Almost Red Productions.