As part of its 31st edition, the Ourense Film Festival hosted one of the most inspiring and relevant discussions on contemporary audiovisual production through the ‘Foro La Región’ programme.
Focusing on the remarkable transformation of Spanish animation over the past twenty-five years, the session brought together two of the industry’s leading figures: acclaimed director Enrique Gato and renowned Galician producer and director Chelo Loureiro. Together, they explored how animation has evolved from a demanding and almost heroic profession into a thriving, respected and highly competitive industry that continues to grow year after year.
The evolution of Animation
October 2
The ‘Foro La Región’ programme has thus become an essential retrospective reflection, with the festival providing the ideal setting to celebrate the progress made while looking ahead to the major challenges facing the industry in the years to come.
Enrique Gato
Enrique Gato, creator and director of the acclaimed and groundbreaking Tad, the Lost Explorer franchise, shared his first-hand perspective from the very centre of this transformation. Having built a long career in the video game industry before moving into filmmaking, Gato recalled how his award-winning short films from 2004 and 2007 laid the foundations for Lightbox Animation Studios.
The release of Tad, the Lost Explorer in 2012 marked an unprecedented international milestone for Spanish animation, opening doors to particularly challenging markets such as Asia. Gato also discussed the technical maturity achieved by the industry through his latest feature film, Tad Jones and the Magic Lamp, released in 2026, in which he introduced new creative challenges to the franchise.
Chelo Loureiro
Producer and director Chelo Loureiro offered the essential perspective of industrial development and creative talent from Galicia. As the founder of Abano Producións and the driving force behind Goya Award-winning productions such as Valentina, Loureiro highlighted the collective effort required to strengthen the audiovisual production network in the region. During the discussion, she also stressed the vital importance of achieving genuine gender balance within technical crews, an accomplishment she shares with Gato’s project.
