Why did you come back every summer
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Running Time 18 minutes
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Genre Drama - Short
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Language Spanish
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Completed September 20, 2024, Spain
Based on the worldwide bestseller of the same name written by Belén López Peiró, the short film shows Lucía, a 22-year-old student, who reveals the abuse she suffered as a child.
Direction
Juli Suàrez
Production
LGC Films
Cast
María Romanillos, Mariana Cordero, Lupe Cartié, Charo Zapardiel, Joaquín Calderón, Laia Ruiz, Jessica Hernández, Laura Márquez, Meritxell Yanes, David Planas
Screenplay Belén López Peiró, Juli Suàrez
Cinematography Joan Agramunt
Art direction Ari Miró
Production Juli Suàrez
Collaborating producer Carmen Fernández de la Torre
Sound Gabriel Hurtado
Assistant director Jordi Bosch Sierra
Assistant camera Joaquim Vinyes
Electrics Anna Teixidor, Clàudia Bartroli
Costume design Olivia Cucala
Edition & Postproduction Xavier Pérez Díaz
Sound mixer Laia Picón
Script consultant Elena Serra
Assistant art Guillem Povedano
Production management Delfí Nierga
Assistant production Frederic Salvà, Pilar Parra, Lola López, Empar Casanova
Translations Càrol Aguilera
Girona film Office Laura Merino
Logline
Lucia reveals the abuse she suffered, but silence and family hypocrisy are an obstacle for her.
Why Did You Come Back Every Summer (2024) is based on the internationally acclaimed novel by Belén López Peiró. The short film follows Lucía, a 22-year-old student who confronts the childhood abuse she endured. Returning to her hometown becomes the starting point of a painful yet necessary journey toward resilience, as she breaks years of silence and challenges the denial surrounding her story.
Through an intimate and restrained narrative, the film explores themes of memory, trauma, and family complicity. As Lucía faces hypocrisy and emotional resistance from those closest to her, the story reveals the quiet strength required to reclaim one’s voice. Shot in 2K color (16:9 / 1.85), with Dolby Stereo sound and performed in Spanish, this 18-minute short delivers a powerful and emotionally charged cinematic experience.
Awards
- Best Short Film – New York Female Award (2024)
- Best Short Film – 17º Festival de cine de Oriente (2024)
- Best Short Film – Sección Femenino Plural – IKUSKA (2024)
- Best Short Film – IX Festival Be Free Zaragoza (2024)
- Best Sound Design – Jaipur International Film Festival (2025)
- Jury Prize – Filmkreis Shorts (2025)
- Best Director Short Films – Los Angeles Short Film Awards (2025)
- Best Short Film – Elgin Short Film Festival (2025)
- Best Youth Performance for María Romanillos – FECISO (2025)
- Best Short Film – Dialog Film Festival (2025)
- Best Short Film – Int. Film and Television Festival SIMFEST (2025)
- Best Short Film – Viterbo Short – Festival del Cortometraggio (2025)
- Best Short Film – Human Screen Festival (HSF) – Krama Tunisia (2025)
- Best Short Film – Rolling Ideas Independent Film Festival (2025)
- Best Short Film – Crossroad International Short Film Festival (2025)
Selections
- Navarra international film festival (NIFF) (2024) (Q.Goya)
- Festival internacional de cine pequeño (2024)
- Festival New York Female Awards (2024)
- Mirades Fest, Mostra de cinema social i salut mental (2024)
- Otras Miradas, certamen internacional de cine social (2024)
- 17º Festival de cine de Oriente (2024)
- Certamen de Cortometrajes Corto Cortisimo (2024)
- XII Festival de Cortometrajes Diputación de Jaén (2024) (Q.Goya)
- XXVI Muestra Int. de Cortometraje de la Bahía de Pasaia, IKUSKA (2024)
- IX Festival Be Free Zaragoza (2024)
- Jaipur International Film Festival (2024)
- Brain Film Festival (2025)
- Palma Film Festival (2025)
- Filmkreis Shorts (2025)
- 23rd In the Palace (2025) (Q.Goya) (Q.Óscars)
- Curtocircuito – Festival Internacional de Cinema (2025)
- Blanes Costa Brava International Film Festival (2025)
- Benissa en corto, Festival de cine (2025)
- Los Angeles Short Film Awards (2025)
- FECISO- Festival Internacional de Cine Social de Castilla-la Mancha (2025)
- Malter Vándor FilmFesztival (2025)
- Shortlist – Shorts Wrap Academy (2025)
- REC OFF Festival Nacional de Cortometrajes de Ribadedeva (2025)
- Hobnobben Film Festival (2025)
- MISFE’25 – International Social Film Festival Majadahonda (2025)
- Serbest International Film Festival (2025)
- Elguin Short Film Festival (2025)
- Aladerri International Film Festival (2025)
- Crossroad International Short Film Festival (2025)
- The International Film and Television Festival SIMFEST (2025)
- 32nd International Adana Golden Boll Film Festival International Short Film (2025)
- Human Screen Festival (HSF) – Krama Tunisia (2025)
- EDUKINO Empowering Film Festival (2025)
- Festival Internacional de Cortos “Ciudad de Soria” – Sección Paralela (2025)
- Dialog Film Festival (2025)
- Viterbo Short – Festival del Cortometraggio (2025)
- Nosara International Film Festival (2025)
- Rolling ideas Independent Film Festival (2025)
- İstanbul International Nartugan Film Festivali (2025)
- İndie Leeds (2026)
- Singapore Film and Script Festival (2026)
- Planet-Cinema global film awards competition (2026)
- Yeti FilmFest Reykjavik (2026)
- Film Revolution Montreal Film Fest (2026)
About the director
Juli Suárez is a filmmaker. Producer and screenwriter. He studied audiovisual communication and creative documentary film at the ERAM-University of Girona. And he has completed his audiovisual training in different referential seminars with Abbas Kiarostami, Patricio Guzmán, Asghar Farhadi and Isabel Coixet. He is the founder of the production company LGC Films, based in Banyoles (Spain).
Filmography:
- One More Year – Documentary Feature Film (2019)
- I’m Lina – Fiction short film (2021)
- Odradek – Documentary feature film (2023)
- To be actress, to be woman – Short Documentary (2024)
- The seeker of songs – Documentary feature film (2024)
- Why did you come back every summer – Short film fiction (2024)
- A good man – Short film fiction (2025)