The first edition of the «Oyola Fabián International Documentary Film Festival – OFFCINEDOC» came to a close on Saturday 27th August, after screening the 30 documentaries selected during the previous five days in the courtyard of the Medieval Castle of Segura de León, in the open air and completely free of charge for the public.

Since we started to give shape to the project from the Cultural Association El Bujío, taking March as the starting signal with the opening of inscriptions, and as a final point, the Closing Gala with the awarding of prizes to the winning documentaries and the small tribute to Andrés Oyola Fabián last Saturday, we have lived through some intense months in which, despite the fact that everything was new for the organisation, we have managed to weave together each of the stitches that have been needed, so that the final result has been the materialised reflection of a sketch that started from nothing and we have been polishing it until we have managed to settle it down.

And fortunately, we believe that the result has been, perhaps, and according to the opinions we have been receiving afterwards, much better than we expected, and this, apart from our work, has been thanks to many factors that have aligned in the best possible way:

• Thanks to all those filmmakers who have wanted to be part of this unknown festival with their works and the quality of them, both those selected and awarded, as well as many others who have been left behind because we can only choose a few.

• Thanks to all those friends and acquaintances who have selflessly helped us to form a jury group with which we tried to obtain the fairest possible selection and evaluation, forming three groups in which specialists and professionals in the Technical and Audiovisual field on the one hand, in the Historical and Anthropological field on the other, and in the no less important, popular jury.

• Thanks to the support and sponsorship of the Town Council of Segura de León and the Provincial Council of Badajoz, both for their financial contribution, which is essential to be able to organise an event of this type from an association without resources or profit motive, and for the cession of the spaces and the logistics necessary for the screenings. We would also like to thank the Tourist Office and its managers, Carlota and Carolina, for their involvement and help in dealing with our requests.

• Thanks to our sound and lighting technician (Juanma, from Infotel Tentudía), for his professionalism and know-how, and for putting up with the 5 or 6 hours of preparation and projections every afternoon and evening.

• Thanks to the choirs «Castillo y Encinas» from Segura de León and «Coral Polifónica Miguel Durán» from Cumbres Mayores, for extolling with their voices the tribute to Andrés Oyola Fabián, which together with the previous words of his son Josemari, so calm and taken from the heart, made us feel him close to us again on that special night.

• Thanks to the local craftsmen and women who responded to our request, and have created with their hands a unique and unrepeatable collection of trophies, because each time it will be different, as it happens with handmade things. Thanks to Marisa Gómez (Encina award), Paco «Presenta» (Castillo award), Kiko «Conejo» (Bujío award), Francisco José «Pelae» + Ángel «Chamona» + Santi «Viruta» (Zaragüeyo award), the latter twice because he was also the official photographer of the Gala.

• Thanks to the «Residencia Zalona» for choosing the night of the Gala to offer a sample of what the artists they receive, are developing and perfecting in our town. And thanks also to one of its leaders, Fernando Jariego, for offering to host the Gala.

• And of course, THANK YOU to the public who have attended the screenings throughout the week, firstly because without their presence, an event of this kind cannot survive, and secondly, because with their drinks they have helped us to cover the non-subsidised expenses and even to have a margin of profit, which will help us to be able to undertake the organisation of the next edition.

Having said this, we can only say goodbye with a «see you next time», hoping that our objectives have been achieved, which were none other than to bring a little more culture to our town by getting to know realities from all over the world, which help us to learn more and have a more global vision of the society in which we live, and to perpetuate the name and figure of our much missed Andrés Oyola Fabián while continuing in some way with his legacy. In this sense, in the coming months we will fulfil another of our objectives, consisting of the creation of a cultural corner in the municipal library, where apart from collecting the available bibliography of the honoured, and that of any horiundx or related to Segura who wishes to do so, we will have an audiovisual archive in which the award-winning works of each of the editions of the festival will be collected, so that anyone who wishes to, can consult it for educational purposes or for simple curiosity.

Greetings in general, we reiterate our thanks, and we leave you with some photos of the Closing Gala. In the coming days, we will publish more on our social networks.