Olivia is 12 years old. He knows that his world is not going well, that his mother, an aspiring actress named Ingrid, can’t make any money, and that he has few tricks left to trick his little brother Tim into not finding out that they will lose their house. That girl who hides her fear from her family is the protagonist of Olivia and the invisible earthquake, by Irene Iborra (Alicante, 49 years old), the animated film that obtained two nominations for European cinema this Tuesday – in which Sirat AND Lonely afternoons—in the categories best film and best animated film, which will be awarded on 17 January 2026 in Berlin. The film arrives this Friday 21st in Spanish cinemas after having premiered at the Annecy festival, the mecca of animation.
Olivia and the invisible earthquake It is the third feature film made in stop the movement of the history of Spanish cinema. The technique requires infinite doses of patience and a well-coordinated technical team. “Seven years have passed since we started with the screenplay until now,” recalls its creator, who involved Maite Carranza, author of the novel, in writing the screenplay. The movie of life where the story comes from. “It took us a year to shoot it”, which, he confesses, did not discourage him, but… “There are always doubts. Since we premiered it in Annecy, I have been amazed by the degree of connection of such a heterogeneous audience with the story. Because it was screened in countries where, perhaps, they do not suffer from the problem of evictions due to abusive mortgages, even if they connect with single-parent families and their difficulties, with those mothers who struggle to raise the lives of their children, or with the merging of a neighborhood shaped by immigration. We are all a little orphaned by the individualism generated by capitalism. And the fact is that people are excited to see how community is formed and how community can transform things.
Even if it is only the third Spanish feature film stop the movement, This technique has been very present in Spanish animation since its inception, and on many occasions those short films and commercials – it is used a lot in advertising – were directed by female directors. Furthermore, the Valencian Community has always been a power in the sector. Iborra has been dedicating himself to this animation for some time and has some weapons with which to face it: “Patience is the key. Patience and then I would say that the companion of patience is resistance. Because you have to resist those moments in which you ask yourself: ‘But at what moment did I think this was a good idea?’
For this reason, due to such a prolonged development, the feature films of stop the movement They look for timeless themes, whether in popular classics, such as Pinocchio, by Guillermo del Toro, e James and the Giant Peach OR Coralina, both by Henry Selick; well in their worlds, such as the most successful ones of the production company Aardman. “For me it was essential that there was material that could last over time. At the beginning I asked Maite: ‘When we premiere, will the eviction drama still be relevant?’. So the film isn’t just about this, even if, unfortunately, its relevance remains”, says Iborra.
Furthermore, the animator fought not to make a niche film, but one open to all types of audiences. «For me, films only make sense if they are designed for everyone, and I knew that the novel, which deals with sensitive topics for adult and children readers, was the best possible basis». He was clear about his reference: “The life of Zucchini, by the Swiss Claude Barras. It also has a child as the protagonist, it also talks about problems that affect the entire society. “He has managed to reach audiences all over the world… It’s wonderful.”
Since last year, the European Film Academy has decided that films nominated in the sections for best documentary and best animated feature film will also automatically compete for the best film of the year. This is how they obtained the double nomination in the previous edition The sultana’s dreamby Isabel Herguera, e They shot the pianistby Fernando Trueba and Javier Mariscal. “We are very happy with our nomination,” explains the director. “We are a very European film: up to four countries on the continent participated in our production, and we added Chile to them.”
Among the rivals, the big favorites are the French Bow AND Little Amelia. “To understand how complicated production is stop the movement, It should be noted that of the eight films we made only the first cut before the nominations olivia and the Czech one were made with this technique. At least they won’t take away my trip to Berlin anymore, he concludes laughing.
Even if it comes from foreign material, Olivia and the invisible earthquake summarizes Iborra’s artistic obsessions: “Unconsciously, I printed them on the screen. Obviously, with my daughter I form a single-parent family. There is an important resonance, even if I didn’t get to the extreme of the protagonists’ misadventures… But I experienced certain things that are in the film. And not only me, but in my environment there are many families of this type who when they see the film feel very represented. I believe, as happens in the film, that in short, in life, a family is built with my heart.”
