The Evolution Mallorca International Film Festival is celebrating its 15th anniversary with three top names in international cinema. Austrian-Swiss director Edward Berger, German actress Iris Berben, and American cinematographer Matthew Libatique will be among the highlights of this year’s festival, which will take place from October 28 to November 4 and, for the first time, will feature Calvià as one of its venues.
All three will receive awards during the festival. Berger will be honored with the Evolution Vision Award, which recognizes narrative excellence and a commitment to building bridges between cultures and people. The director achieved notable international recognition with All Quiet on the Western Front, an adaptation of Erich Maria Remarque’s novel that won four Oscars in 2023, including Best International Feature Film. Berger was also nominated for an Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay as one of the screenwriters.
Two years later, the filmmaker once again took center stage in international discussions with Conclave, a political and religious thriller starring Ralph Fiennes, Stanley Tucci, and Isabella Rossellini. The film was nominated for an Oscar for Best Picture in 2025, and its screenwriter, Peter Straughan, won the Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay.
The second honoree will be Iris Berben, one of the most veteran and renowned actresses in German film and television. Evolution will present her with the Evolution Icon Award in recognition of a career that began in the late 1960s and has spanned more than five decades, with work in both film and television.
A multi-award-winning actress
Berben, born in Detmold in 1950, achieved particular popularity in Germany with the crime series Rosa Roth and has appeared in productions such as Buddenbrooks, Triangle of Sadness, Paradise, and 791km. Her career has also extended beyond acting: from 2010 to 2019, she served as president of the German Film Academy and has received, among other honors, several Adolf Grimme Awards and a Platinum Romy.
In 2022, she joined the cast of Triangle of Sadness, directed by Ruben Östlund and winner of the Palme d’Or at Cannes. Her appearance in Evolution thus serves as a tribute to a career that has been intertwined for decades with the German film and television industry and with several generations of viewers.
The third honoree will be Matthew Libatique, who will receive the Cinematography Icon Award. The American cinematographer, a graduate of the American Film Institute, is one of the most recognizable names in contemporary cinematography and has spent a significant part of his career working alongside Darren Aronofsky.
His collaboration with the director began with Pi and continued with films such as Requiem for a Dream and Black Swan. For the latter film, he received one of his Oscar nominations for Best Cinematography. He was also nominated for A Star Is Born, directed by Bradley Cooper, and for Maestro, by the same director.
The Spanish delegation will be led on the jury by actor and producer Marc Clotet, who will serve as president. His connection to Evolution dates back to the festival’s first edition, 15 years ago, when he presented La voz dormida.
“I’m very happy to be serving as president of the jury at a festival as special to me as the Evolution Film Festival. Fifteen years after attending its first edition, where I presented the film La voz dormida, being able to offer my perspective after all these years of experience is a real challenge that I approach with great respect and enthusiasm,” Clotet said.
Calvià Joins the Festival Map
The main new addition to the festival’s lineup for this 15th edition will be Calvià. The municipality will host Evolution activities for the first time, thanks to an agreement reached between the City Council and the festival’s organizers, with the goal of connecting the festival’s international and independent spirit with the Balearic Islands’ audiovisual scene.
The partnership also aims to promote Calvià, Magaluf, and Mallorca as potential locations for national and international film and audiovisual productions and to create new opportunities for industry professionals on the islands.
The mayor of Calvià, Juan Antonio Amengual, has described the festival’s arrival as an opportunity to “redouble our commitment to film as an audiovisual sector that helps counter seasonal fluctuations and, at the same time, attracts high-quality tourism.”
The program will begin even before the festival’s official opening. On October 23 and 24, the Port Adriano parking lot will be transformed into an open-air movie theater for the “Drive-In Cinema” event. There will be two screenings each day, at 7:30 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. On October 30, Evolution and the Calvià City Council will co-produce the celebration of the 20th anniversary of the Balearic Filmmakers Association, which will take place at the Meliá Calvià South Beach Hotel in Magaluf.
And on November 4, during the closing day, Calvià will be part of the Mallorca Go! Location Island Tour, a festival initiative that will allow filmmakers and industry professionals to visit some of the municipality’s film locations.
A Gateway for Talent in the Balearic Islands
The festival also presented “Made in Baleares,” a selection featuring 32 film projects connected to the Balearic Islands. The section includes feature films, short films, documentaries, and other productions created, produced, or filmed in the Balearic Islands. The initiative aims to showcase local audiovisual talent while also facilitating connections with audiences, filmmakers, producers, and industry professionals both nationally and internationally.
With Berger, Berben, and Libatique among its headliners, and with the addition of Calvià to its lineup, Evolution is kicking off its 15th edition by reinforcing one of the hallmarks that has defined the festival since its inception: using Mallorca as a meeting point between international cinema and the islands’ audiovisual talent.
