After winning two Méliès d’Argent awards at the Sitges Film Festival and the Ramaskrik Film Festival, The Quinta’s Ghost will compete in 2026 for the Méliès d’Or, the highest annual award in European fantastic cinema.
The Méliès Awards, created in 1995 and named after the pioneering filmmaker Georges Méliès, are among the most prestigious honors in European fantastic cinema. Awarded by the International Méliès Federation across festivals in Europe, they recognize the best short and feature films in the genre.
This double award adds to the international film festival trajectory of the short film, The Quinta’s Ghost, directed by award-winning James A. Castillo and produced by Illusorium and Martirio Films. It, which had its world premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival (New York) and has also screened at renowned film festivals such as Animest, Victory International Film Festival, and HollyShorts.
The voice of the house is performed by Goya award-winning Spanish actress Maribel Verdú (Pan’s Labyrinth, Y tu mamá también, Los girasoles ciegos, Snow White).
The Quinta’s Ghost is based on Francisco Goya - one of the most important Spanish painters of the late 18th and early 19th centuries. In 1819 at the age of seventy-four and recently bereaved of his wife Josefa, he withdrew from public life to a crumbling country house on the outskirts of Madrid called ‘La Quinta del Sordo’. In his deep solitude the painter falls seriously ill. Closer to death than ever before, Francisco Goya is visited by the ghosts of his past. Tormented by these visits and with his health rapidly declining, Goya paints the Black Paintings on the walls of his home as a last resort to drive the ghosts out of his life — losing almost everything in the process, including his sanity and nearly his life.
The film is that of a classic gothic ghost story in which the house itself is the protagonist and the only spectator of Goya's creative process - witnessing the man as the ghosts haunt him, and reversing the classic formula of the genre. Instead of a man entering a haunted house, a house is entered by a haunted man.
Director Biography - James A.Castillo
James, originally from Madrid, has been working in animation for over ten years. He started his career in Singapore, where he spent two years after finishing his studies. Since then, he has worked in Spain, the UK, France, and the United States. He began as a designer in the art departments of leading studios in Europe and the U.S. Over the years, he has taken on roles such as art director, concept designer, character designer, and storyboard artist. His clients include major studios like Sony Pictures, Paramount, Nickelodeon, Netflix, and Warner Brothers. Some of the films he’s contributed to include Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem (Paramount) and The Mitchells vs. The Machines (Netflix). In 2021, James made his debut as a director with the virtual reality film Madrid Noir (Oculus), which premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival in New York. The film received strong praise from both critics and audiences and was shown at over a dozen international festivals. It won several awards, including Best VR Experience at the VR Awards, Best Narrative Experience at Stereopsia, and a Webby Award for Best Immersive Project in 2022. Madrid Noir also received an Emmy Award for Best Interactive Project in 2022. Since then, James has focused on telling meaningful stories through animation, with an emphasis on genre and reaching new audiences. In 2023, he founded Martirio Films—an independent production company focused on fostering animation productions in Spain.
About Illusorium
Founded by Raúl Rocha, Carlos Sastre, Daniel López, and José Manuel Pequeño in 2012, Illusorium Studios has quickly become one of the Spanish animation studios with the greatest international projection.
Their work ranges from advertising to special effects for live-action films (Errementari), documentaries, and video games, but their true strength lies in their ability to elevate the medium of animation. Projects such as WatchDogs (Ubisoft), Sky (thatgamecompany), or 2001: Flashes in the Darkness (TCM)—with which they received their first Goya Award nomination in 2020—demonstrate the studio’s versatility and their obsession with quality, innovation, and craftsmanship.
About Martirio Films
Martirio Films is an independent film production company born out of the need to create a meeting point between genre narratives, auteur cinema, and animation. A kind of artistic trench from which to defend new and authentic voices, helping them find the support they need to tell their truths in a universally resonant way.
Founded by award-winning James A. Castillo, Martirio Films' mission is to be the starting point for a future where animation transcends generational and disciplinary boundaries, embracing the avant-garde in all its forms. With a bold vision, the company aims to challenge established conventions in the film industry and open the door to new artistic expressions.
The Quinta’s Ghost marks its first production.
Trailer: https://tinyurl.com/3devyey7
https://www.thequintasghost.com