November 8, 2025.- The ninth edition of the Festival de Cine Fantástico de Canarias Ciudad de La Laguna Isla Calavera is already a reality. The starting signal was given at an early morning press conference at the Teatro Leal de La Laguna, which was attended by three of the main guests of the event: director and producer Randal Kleiser (Grease), actress Veronica Cartwright (Alien, The Invasion of the Ultra-Bodies) and set designer, visual effects specialist and props designer Simon Weisse (Grand Budapest Hotel).
The press conference was also attended by the Mayor of La Laguna Luis Yeray Gutiérrez, the Councilman of Culture Adrián del Castillo, the Director of Institutional Relations of Promotur Turismo de Canarias Javier Prieto and the co-directors of the Festival, Daniel Fumero and Ramón González Trujillo.
After a first intervention by all those present, the guests answered questions from the press, which led Veronica Cartwright to recall The Birds (1963), a film in which she acted when she was 12 years old. The actress said that director Alfred Hitchcock was very kind to her and that he always had time to answer her questions, which allowed her, for example, to discover how to tell the difference between real birds and fake ones in films, a skill she still has.
Randal Kleiser, for his part, recalled that he was originally going to direct Saturday Night Fever (1977), but fortunately in the end the plans changed and he was able to make Grease (1979), a film for which he felt much more prepared. In addition, knowing the material from which they started and the great success it had achieved in the theater, he never doubted that it would be a success.
Finally, Simon Weisse was able to delve into his work under the orders of Wes Anderson, while explaining the importance of knowing how to adapt to the times and combine lifelong effects with new technologies, but without ever allowing Artificial Intelligence to completely take over the work of filmmakers.
The grand opening gala
But the highlight of the day, as no one can deny, was undoubtedly the Opening Gala, which was preceded by the traditional red carpet. Some of the big stars of the night, such as Randal Kleiser, Veronica Cartwright and Simon Weisse, joined by Rodrigo Cortés, Daniel Monzón, Sara Sálamo, Eduardo Noriega, David Sáinz, Ramiro Blas, Lisa Downs, Santiago Tabernero, Tedy Villalba, Denisse Castro, Chedey Reyes, Raquel Herrera, Manuel Valencia, Empar Lagunas and Sara Draven, paraded down the red carpet.
The gala, very agile and entertaining, was once again presented by Vanesa Bocanegra and Miguel Ángel Rodríguez Villar (who already know each other very well and this was evident in the complicity they showed on stage). Metropolis (1927), a film that has become the leitmotiv of the Festival, as can be seen in the poster, and which will be screened next Wednesday in a very special event, was the star of the opening musical number, an interesting combination of images and dance that has aroused the first applause of a very dedicated audience.
In addition to presenting the different activities and sections of the festival (from the new "Made in the Canary Islands" seal to the 13 feature films in competition, as well as the different documentaries that will be screened at the event), the gala was also a time for surprises, such as the exclusive broadcast of the trailer for the film La ahorcada, directed by Miguel Ángel Lamata and starring Amaia Salamanca and Eduardo Noriega, with the actor himself (Isla Calavera de Honor Awards in 2023) in charge of presenting it. The film will hit theaters on February 6, 2026.
Randal Kleiser, first recipient in 2025
Eduardo Noriega did double duty, as he was also in charge of presenting director Randal Kleiser with the Isla Calavera de Honor 2025 award. The director of films such as The Blue Lake (1980) y Flight of the Navigator (1986) recalled how, at the age of 10, his father took him to the cinema to see The Ten Commandments (1956), which captivated him so much that from that moment on it was clear to him that he wanted to be a film director.
He also joked that his most famous film, Grease, will be screened at a festival dedicated to the fantasy genre, but then recalled that in the final shot the car with John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John flies away, which in his opinion is enough to justify its presence in Skull Island.
It was not the only mention of Grease during the gala, as the first musical number of the evening was a song from the aforementioned film, in which the Skull Island Band, accompanied by two excellent dancers, delighted all the attendees, who did not hesitate to hum the music from the stalls while clapping along to the performance.
The rest of the musical numbers (there have been a total of four) have followed the same tone: well-known songs that have served to raise the festive tone that was breathed in the atmosphere. From the Rolling Stones' Paint it black to Elton John's I'm still standing, topping off the evening with a final song that served as a tribute to the 40th anniversary of Back to the Future: Johnnie be good.
In Isla Calavera everyone can hear the applause.
Another of the recipients of the Honorary Isla Calavera Award was Veronica Cartwright, who received the award from one of the co-directors of the festival, Ramón González Trujillo. The actress, who openly declared that she was fascinated by the design of the award, thanked both the organization and the audience, admitting that she feels fortunate that two films in which she has participated are part of the festival program: Flight of the Navigator (in which she was under the orders of Randal Kleiser, with whom she has had an emotional reunion) and Invasion of the Ultra-Bodies (1978), after whose screening on Sunday there will be a talk in which the performer will answer questions from the audience.
On a night marked by awards, producer Tedy Villalba collected the award for Best Fantastic Series of the year, which went to Fury. And although its director Felix Sabroso could not attend the event because he was in the middle of shooting, he wanted to thank the award in a video, as did some of the actresses of the HBO series as Nathalie Poza, Claudia Salas and Pilar Castro, who for scheduling reasons could not be present.
Those who did take the stage were Manuel Valencia and Empar Lagunas, from the fanzine 2.000 maniacs, winner of this edition of the Award for the Diffusion of the Fantastic. Empar, who defended the physical format and the use of paper, assured that it is a "very hooligan" magazine, encouraging everyone to read it.
Under the influence of King Kong
The other two recipients of the Isla Calavera de Honor Award during the gala were directors Rodrigo Cortés and Daniel Monzón, who coincidentally coincided in the importance that the original King Kong (1933), which they both saw as children, has had in their lives.
Cortés, director of Buried (2010), Red Lights (2012, where he had under his orders three acting monsters such as Robert De Niro, Sigourney Weaver and Cillian Murphy) or Escape (2024), with Mario Casas, has received the award from less than the other co-director of the Festival, Daniel Fumero. During his speech of gratitude he wanted to put on record how important it is the existence of festivals focused on the fantastic genre, while he regretted not having any story to share about Tenerife, having never been to the island before.
Daniel Monzón (who received his award from the Councilman of Culture of La Laguna, Adrián del Castillo) did shoot in Tenerife, which allowed him to share with those present his memories of the day he saw the sunset from Mount Teide, an experience he described as unforgettable.
Sara Sálamo and her "Yaya".
The last award had an island accent, as it could not be less, considering that it was the SS Venture Award for Canary Island talent, which was presented by the president of the Cabildo of Tenerife, Rosa Dávila, and went to Sara Sálamo, who, visibly excited and nervous ("a sign that I care about the award") thanked her family and friends for always being by her side.
Sara Sálamo is much more than an actress, as she has shown with Yaya, a short film she has written and directed, which she defines as a "style rehearsal for what is going to be her first feature film". The short film is about a woman who begins to have suspicions (not certainties) that the person she has hired to take care of her grandmother might be mistreating her and stealing money. An uncomfortable situation in which distrust grows by the second, precisely the kind of story that Sálamo admits to feeling especially attracted to.
And that's the end of the first day of the Festival Isla Calavera Ciudad de La Laguna. There are still nine days of the best cinema, first class guests and all kinds of meetings with film professionals and activities of various kinds that will delight the audience that comes to Multicines Tenerife to enjoy the best fantastic cinema that can be seen today.
About the Festival de Cine Fantástico de Canarias Isla Calavera (Skull Island Fantastic Film Festival of the Canary Islands)
Organized by the Charlas de Cine Cultural Association, the Isla Calavera Cultural Association, Multicines Tenerife and the specialized publication TumbaAbierta.com, the ninth edition of the Isla Calavera Festival is sponsored by the City Council of La Laguna, through the Department of Culture, the Government of the Canary Islands, Promotur, Canary Islands Tourism, Canary Islands Latitud de Vida, Cabildo de Tenerife, Canary Islands Institute of Cultural Development and Canary Islands Film; and the collaboration of the University of La Laguna, La Laguna Zona Comercial, Alda Producciones, Zulay Panaderías, Grupo Fly Luxury, Juan Antonio Ribas Subtítulos y Ediciones Digitales, Mercado Nuestra Señora de África, Culturamanía, CinemaNext, Flaming Frames, Fundación SGAE, Teatro Leal, Tenerife Film Commission, José Acosta Style, Audi Canarias, Coca-Cola and Royal Bliss.
Isla Calavera was born in 2017 and in its first eight years of trajectory has achieved a significant impact and is considered one of the most relevant fantastic film meetings in the country, member of Méliès International Festivals Federation (MIFF), which brings together 32 members from 22 countries in four continents, with a worldwide audience of more than 900,000 spectators each year.
