Mercedes Álvarez shot her first full-length film, The Sky Turns (2005), in her home town of Aldealseñor (Soria), for which she has won various international awards, such as the Tiger Award at the Rotterdam Festival; First Prize at the Cinéma Du Réel in Paris; or the Fipresci from the International Critics at BAFICI as well as the Jury Prize, the Public Prize and Best Film Award at the Buenos Aires Independent Film Festival. In Spain, she has won the Best New Film and the Best Editing Awards from the Circle of Film Writers; Best New Director and Best Documentary Director from the Assembly of Spanish Film Directors (ADIRCE); and the Radio Nacional de España Film Critics Ojo Award. The film has been distributed in France, Portugal, Holland, Latin America and the USA and has been screened in over 30 countries. Her second full-length film, Futures Market (2011), won the Miradas Nuevas Award at the Vissions du Reel Festival (Nyon, Switzerland); Special Mention by the Jury at the Buenos Aires Independent Film Festival; Best Documentary at the Nantes Festival; and the Luis Buñuel Gold Navaja from TVE. In 2013, she was chosen along with the French artist, Francesç Torres, to participate in the Venice Biennial, in the Catalonia Pavilion.