The leitmotif of the 45th Molins de Rei Horror Film Festival will be "Found Film", to celebrate this popular horror subgenre from November 6 to 15, 2026.
The call for entries for the Angoixa Award 2026 for the best project for the production of a horror short film in Catalan is open until September 21. The award is celebrating its second edition and has a new name.
The TerrorMolins 2026 dedicates its 45th edition to one of the most influential and recognizable subgenres of contemporary horror: found footage. The key to its success lies in the use of a raw realism far removed from conventional cinema, with low-budget productions, minimal stories and a disturbing proximity to the characters. Our brain processes these images as if they were real recordings: we only see what the camera focuses on and imagine with horror what is hidden outside the frame. This capacity for immersion, added to its constant adaptation to new technologies and digital platforms, has consolidated it as one of the most stimulating and innovative trends in the genre in recent decades.
“From forgotten videotapes in a cabin in the woods to digital archives that should never have been seen, found footage is the art of turning the archive into horror. This subgenre immerses us in the nightmare through an intimate, shivering, and unfiltered perspective. We will celebrate the films that broke the rules of modern horror: the works that revolutionized fear with a camera on the shoulder, generating a hyperrealism that makes us constantly ask: “Is this real?”
From the brutality of Cannibal Holocaust (1980) to the marketing revolution and atmosphere of The Blair Witch Project (1999), found footage has consistently challenged narrative conventions. Myrick and Sanchez's clever promotional campaign aside, the film reinvents horror for the new millennium. Its rudimentary production and untidy format are deliberate decisions to convey the terrifying emotion, and it succeeds in doing so.
Well into the new millennium, the format was proving its worth with phenomena like •REC and Paranormal Activity (2007), which redefined 21st century horror with low budgets and great impact, demonstrating its profitability and popularity. All the titles mentioned so far share the fact that they were born in a period before the globalization of the internet. We enter this phase with VHS (2012), the beginning of a series of short anthologies that became cult classics for fans of indie horror, and Creep (2014), a micro-budget marvel with a dark sense of humor.
The omnipresence of screens in our lives also brings us a new narrative, screenlife, with online life and digital paranoia as protagonists. A hyperconnectivity that paradoxically coexists with isolation, with screens as the only bridge to the outside, a situation aggravated by the latest pandemic. Host (2020), Deadstream (2022) or Influencers (2025) are good examples of this renewing trend.
Get ready for a retrospective that embraces everything from the classics that started the legend to the new wave of real-time horror, terrifying us through our own screens.
Turn off the lights. Press Play.”
The Angoixa Award is officially born: promoting Catalan terror
In this 45th edition, the festival consolidates its commitment to film creation in Catalan with the second edition of the award for the best project for the production of a horror short film in Catalan, which this year has its official name: Angoixa Award. Conceived as an opportunity to promote creation in Catalan within the horror genre, the award was born in 2025 with the aim of supporting new authors and making it possible for their projects to come to life.
The Angoixa Award is aimed at creators with a short horror film in Catalan in development and offers a grant of 5.000 € for its production, as well as the necessary support to prepare its presentation within the festival. The shortlisted projects will be defended in a public pitching session that will take place on November 12, 2026 within the framework of TerrorMolins.
Two new collaborators join the Angoixa Prize. On the one hand, NRD Multimedia will provide €700 in rental of filming equipment for the winning short film and also, THE MASIA STUDIOS, which will offer the composition and production of the soundtrack of the winning project for free, as well as a bonus valued at €250 for the direct sound of the filming of the other short films.
The project awarded in the first edition was Cuca, written and directed by Adriana Galicia, which will be premiered during TerrorMolins 2026. With this first project made a reality, the Angoixa Award consolidates its desire to convert new ideas in Catalan horror into films with a track record within the festival.
The winning short film of the Angoixa Award 2026 will be officially premiered at TerrorMolins 2027. The call will remain open until September 21, 2026.