Film description

The world is a marvellous stage — but when it comes to the cast… it leaves much to be desired. This bitter motto sets the tone for the latest film by Alberto Vázquez, in which Arnold, a middle-aged mouse living in a dystopian reality ruled by a mega-corporation, begins to feel increasingly detached from the world around him, suspecting that everything he sees is nothing more than artificial scenery.

Following the success of Unicorn Wars (40th Ale Kino!), the Spanish animator returns to a concept he first explored in his short film of the same title. Decorado continues in the distinctive style for which Vázquez is known: brutal, laced with absurd humour that defies logic, and ultimately prompting deep existential reflection — this time in a Truman Show-like vein.

Creators and cast

• Director: Alberto Vázquez
• Screenplay: Alberto Vázquez, Xavier Manuel Ruiz
• Animation: Pamela Poltronieri
• Music: Joseba Beristain
• Voices: Damian Cortes, Chelo Diaz, Gaspar Gonzalez Somoza

About the film

• Age recommendation: 17+
• Duration: 95 minutes
• Subtitles: Polish (PL)
• Spain, 2025
• Polish premiere

A Film Scholar Recommends

Decorado, dir. Alberto Vázquez (Spain–Portugal, 2025). A vibrant expansion of the director’s 2016 short of the same title, and the third feature-length animation from this rising master of the form. His previous works, Birdboy: The Forgotten Children (2015) and Unicorn Wars (2022), were also warmly received at our festival.

This time, Vázquez draws on several fantastical genres — dystopia, horror, allegory — to tell the story of a world where characters may be unwitting actors in a cruel fiction, a simulation of reality from which they must escape. It’s a theme that’s long fascinated artists and filmmakers alike — think of Terry Gilliam’s unforgettable Brazil (1985) or Peter Weir’s The Truman Show (1998).

Blending drama, dark comedy, and an identity-crisis narrative, Decorado has a particular impact in animated form, challenging audiences to reconsider the limits of the medium. Vázquez remains true to his distinctive style, while taking another bold step into the (un)known.

Accessibility for people with additional needs

• the screening on 25.11 will take place in Auditorium 3 with 130 seats, the screening on 28.11 will take place in Auditorium 2 with 181 seats;
• you may leave (e.g., to use the restroom) and return to the auditorium during the screening;
• before the screening you can borrow noise-cancelling headphones free of charge. You will find them at the festival box office (at the entrance to the Helios cinema);
• remember to choose seats close to the exit if you or the people you are attending with might need to leave during the screening;
• some films contain content that may be difficult or sensitive. Click the ‘Sensitive content’ link to open the file and check which sensitive content appears in this film;
• click: Architectural accessibility of the Helios cinema to learn more about the layout of both the cinema and Posnania, and how to move around them.

Festival accessibility coordinator:
Marta Maksimowicz
tel. 884 936 747
email: dostepnosc@csdpoznan.pl

Trailer

Photo Gallery