Carlos Martínez-Peñalver

Carlos Martínez-Peñalver is a Galician film director and editor based in Barcelona. His work explores the boundaries between reality and fiction, engaging with the collective imaginaries of the territories where he films. He holds a degree in Audiovisual Communication from the University of Santiago de Compostela and completed an MA in Film Editing at ESCAC, as well as an MA in Contemporary Film and Audiovisual Studies at Pompeu Fabra University.
À procura da estrela (2023) is his first feature film as a director. He has also directed several short films since 2015. His work has been selected and awarded at festivals such as Oberhausen, Entrevues (Belfort), Porto/Post/Doc, FICX (Gijón), D’A (Barcelona), Rizoma (Madrid), and S8 (A Coruña). He has worked as an editor with filmmakers including Oliver Laxe, Carla Andrade, and Andrés Sanjurjo.

Night Glow

LIM² 2026

After the closure of Vigo’s last concert venue, Lou (33), a local radio host and post-punk singer, discovers an unreleased record by Pedro Vulcano, a musician who vanished after his involvement in the city’s 1972 general strike. Drawn to the music, Lou begins to investigate his disappearance. Alongside Gael (32), her bandmate, she moves through a city hollowed out by tourism, following the clues hidden within the album.
Meanwhile, her mother Alicia (60) drives a night taxi, carrying tourists and precarious workers. The radio is always tuned to Lou’s program, where Pedro Vulcano’s songs resurface alongside fragments of her search.
When Lou’s search reaches a dead end, she is evicted from her apartment. With no income and no alternatives, she moves back in with her mother and helps run the family taxi to survive. One night, a mysterious passenger asks to be driven north with no fixed destination. The journey leads Lou into a liminal zone where ghosts rise from the city’s cast-off remains.