Ivan Castell

Iván Castell is a director and editor (co-founder of Castell & Moreno Films) from Zaragoza. His directorial debut came in 2008 with the short film Nave # 527, which was showcased at audiovisual markets such as Clermont-Ferrand (France). The film became a viral phenomenon and had a significant impact on national media. In 2014, he made his debut in feature-length documentaries with Trovadores, a film exploring the careers of underground artists who continue to fight to make a living from music. His latest film, The Rise of the Synths (2019), was shot over two years in more than eight countries following a successful crowdfunding campaign. The film explores Synthwave, a subculture that began in the mid-2000s as an underground movement on Myspace, where composers from around the world shared their '80s-inspired music. The film is narrated on-screen by the iconic director John Carpenter (The Thing, Halloween). It was developed through the prestigious "Documentary Campus Masterschool" program (2017) and has been selected at international film festivals such as the "International Film Festival Rotterdam" and "BAFICI." In 2020, it won the "Best Documentary" award at the Byron Bay International Film Festival and received two Simon Awards for "Best Editing" and "Best Cinematography." He has worked as an editor on the films Cuando los amos duermen (2023, Sitges Film Festival), Para entrar a vivir (2022), Muchos pedazos de algo (2015, Malaga Festival), Justi&Cia (2014), and the documentaries La senda del pastor (2021), The Rise of the Synths (2019), El precio de la risa (2017), and Trovadores (2014).