Interview with Izhan Alcántara, Animation alumni and director of the award-winning short film "Peceidas"

Izhan Alcántara Pozo is a young animator from Andalusia who completed his Animation studies at LCI Barcelona in June 2024. His final degree project, Peceidas, developed together with his graduating classmates, not only marked the end of an intense period of training, but also the beginning of a professional journey that has already taken him to national and international festivals and to his first jobs in the industry.

What memories do you keep from your time at the School and from the training experience overall?

These years have given me countless memories. To mention just one: the trips to Annecy, which I treasure deeply, because they gave me the opportunity to get to know people better whom I still value to this day, and also to better understand the world of animation and that intricate network that moves in the shadows of festivals and this type of gathering, and which brings the industry to life.

And I couldn’t fail to mention Peceidas. Even though, if I had to define it in a single word, it would be “ordeal”; if I could use two, it would be “blessed ordeal”. I’m not going to romanticise getting up at 6:30 in the morning, starting work on the short film and finishing at 10 at night. And repeating that, weekends included. But loving this art as much as I do, having the opportunity to develop a short film with my classmates and faculty, who supported us at every step (especially Susana Martín, who acted as our psychologist, lifted our spirits and guided us so we wouldn’t end up killing each other), was incredible.

Being able to tell a story created by me has meant fulfilling one of my dreams. Even though there is a lot to improve, we managed to make 14 minutes of a short film in six months, and it was thanks to the care and respect with which we treated each other as a team. It was an ordeal, yes, but also the best possible way to close this chapter, and it also helped me begin the one that came next: my professional career.

Your final degree short film, Peceidas, has received numerous recognitions at festivals such as AMiK (Budapest), SEVIFF (Seville), Varsity Film Expo (Zambia), among others. How have you experienced this whole journey? Is there any award or selection you remember with particular affection?

As soon as I finished Peceidas I didn’t want to hear anything more about it, because I ended up completely burned out (it took me about four months to recover). But I knew that another very important stage was coming, and that if I played my cards right, I could really enjoy it: festivals. So, at my own pace, I started registering the short film on festival platforms and sending it indiscriminately to every free festival I could find, and to some paid ones when I thought it was worth it or when we had the budget. The downside is that, with the exception of two (and I couldn’t attend one of them), I experienced all of them online, and I feel that this way some of the magic is lost.

But without a doubt, the moment that will always have a special place in my heart was when a festival wrote to me the day before it took place to ask whether I really couldn’t attend, whether I didn’t have any relatives to stay with, etc., only to tell me the following day that we had won an award. Maybe if I had known we were going to get it, I would have tried harder to go, but even so it was complicated. Travelling to Budapest isn’t cheap.

You have just taken part in El tesoro de Barracuda, your first professional job after graduating. The film has been nominated for the Forqué Awards and the Gaudí Awards. How did you become part of the Star Toons Animation team and what role did you play in the film?

I joined El tesoro de Barracuda thanks to the recommendation of Juan Huarte, who was my professor at LCI. They were looking for animators and my name came up, along with those of other classmates. I had to do a test that lasted three days and went through every possible emotional phase: I felt on top of the world just for having the opportunity, I cried because I was afraid of not being up to the task and wasting it… and I also cried because it was exactly what I wanted to do. I’m a bit dramatic sometimes, my mother always tells me that. But I made it, and here we are. I worked as a rough animator while living in Barcelona, for a studio in Peru that was working for another studio in Valencia. When it came to receiving feedback, the time difference was quite curious.

You’ve mentioned how important it was for you to get that first job. How did you experience that moment and what has it given you personally and professionally?

Honestly, they were very tough moments, because I was working at Zara and dedicating all my free time to animation. I ended up leaving my job so I could do my shots properly (among other reasons) and really make the most of this opportunity. I couldn’t quite believe it. I know that in this industry you have to work very hard to get there, but there’s also a high percentage of luck involved: being in the right place at the right time. That’s why I’m very grateful to Juan for having thought of me at that moment.

What advice would you give to students who are finishing their studies and starting to look for their first opportunities in the sector?

Considering that I don’t have much more experience than they do, I’m not sure I can give very useful advice. But I would say: don’t stand still. Go to events, talk to people, work hard and show your work. There’s no point in having a beautiful reel if only your grandmother sees it. She’ll surely love it, but if she could hire you, she would have done so already.

Trust in yourselves, because there’s a lot of uncertainty and, as I said before, sometimes you can work harder than anyone else and, for reasons beyond your control, still not make it. And build community. We need to support each other: a classmate’s victory is your victory. Enough of unhealthy competitiveness. More hugs and less envy. But also rest and live. This is a long-distance race, and in the end we’re flesh-and-blood beings with many needs beyond the creative one.

What are you currently working on? What would you like to do in the short term within the world of animation?

I’m self-employed and picking up projects here and there: animation, graphic design and illustration. Right now I’m working doing clean-up for a film, helping Nacho Ezquerra (rough animator), but I can’t say the name or I’ll end up in jail. It’s the third film I’ve managed to work on, among other projects. I’m also creating animations for the podcast El Club de la Corchea.

In the short term, I’d like to continue developing two projects I have underway. One of them is Yo, conmigo y Aloma, which I’m creating together with the art director and producer of Peceidas, Maria Perez (my partner). It basically tells the story of Javi, our protagonist, who discovers through a guided meditation that his inner child is dead. We’re also working on a series-format version of Peceidas, where we’ve rolled up our sleeves and are closing all those narrative gaps we left due to time constraints.

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