The traditional map of a screenwriting career runs through Los Angeles, or at least Madrid. Javier Hinojosa Allely — who signs his scripts J. H. Allely — has drawn a different one. Working from Seville, in Spain’s Andalusian south, he has built an international reputation almost entirely on the strength of the pages themselves: nearly 70 recognitions and close to 30 awards from festivals and script competitions across Europe, Asia and the United States, two produced and heavily laurelled short films, and a debut feature screenplay now making its own way through the circuit.
His artistic statement is a single line: “I don’t write to explain a story. I write to show what words cannot reach.” It reads less like a slogan than a working method — his scripts lean on images, objects and silences to carry emotion, an approach he has described in interviews as making the visual world an active part of the storytelling rather than a backdrop for dialogue.
At a glance
- Who: Javier Hinojosa Allely (pen name J. H. Allely), Spanish screenwriter based in Seville; trained in cinematographic fiction screenwriting at HAZ RTVE
- Produced shorts: Liberación (27 selections, 25 awards) and Nada sin ti (39 selections, 32 awards), both directed by Miguel G. Bernal; a third, Mírame, is in post-production
- Signature script: SYNNOIA, an emotional science-fiction short screenplay — 15 international Best Screenplay wins, finalist at the Berlin International Screenwriting Festival, nominated at the Cannes Film Awards competition
- Debut feature screenplay: The Last Tear of Man (La última lágrima del hombre), sci-fi drama, multiple festival honours
- Overall record: nearly 70 international recognitions, close to 30 awards, across Europe, Asia and the United States
- Status: SYNNOIA and The Last Tear of Man are available for producers; Allely is open to representation via jhallely.com
From the Edificio 23 shorts to the festival circuit
Allely’s produced credits come out of a sustained collaboration with director Miguel G. Bernal on the “Edificio 23” anthology universe — a multi-year, multi-film project for which Allely has written several chapters. Two have been produced so far, with Allely as writer and executive producer, and both have travelled far beyond Spain. Liberación, a psychological story built around a mysterious revelation, has logged 27 festival selections and 25 awards. Nada sin ti, a drama about an end-of-life relationship and an unexpected healing, has done even better: 39 selections and 32 awards, including Best Screenplay honours at competitions from Sweden to Eastern Europe.
In his VoyageLA interview, Allely was candid that the anthology’s long production timeline was itself an education — coordinating schedules and resources across years, and learning that rewriting is where the real work happens. The lesson he took from it, as he told the magazine, was that collaboration demands openness, but also clarity about the essence of the story he wants to tell. A third Edificio 23 short, Mírame, about reconciliation through genuine connection, is currently in post-production.
SYNNOIA: love, possession and a shared body
The script that has carried Allely’s name furthest is SYNNOIA, a 21-page emotional science-fiction short screenplay (with a 19-page English translation) that compresses a feature’s worth of ideas into its premise: after an accident leaves his wife in a coma, Marcos agrees to preserve her consciousness inside his own body. What begins as an act of devotion slowly erodes the boundary between the two of them — turning a love story into a study of identity and possession.
The premise sits squarely in the lineage of humanist science fiction — closer to Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind than to hardware-driven sci-fi — and the competition circuit has responded accordingly. SYNNOIA has taken 15 international Best Screenplay awards, among them honours at the Caravan International Film Festival, the Hollywood Stage Script Film Competition and the CKF International Film Festival, alongside finalist placements at the Berlin International Screenwriting Festival, the Chicago Script Awards, the Oxford Script Awards and the Cambridge Script Festival, a nomination at the Cannes Film Awards competition, and official selections from Tokyo to Los Angeles. The screenplay remains unproduced — and, per Allely’s site, available to producers.
The Last Tear of Man: a first feature about feeling itself
Allely’s move into feature writing doubles down on the same thematic territory. The Last Tear of Man (La última lágrima del hombre) imagines a future in which humanity has lost the capacity to feel. A struggling screenwriter — a pointed choice of protagonist — discovers an experimental device that can transmit emotions to millions of people. When a media magnate erases his identity, reclaiming himself depends on the one person who still truly sees him.
It is a debut feature script, and it is already collecting hardware: Best Feature Screenplay wins at the Indo Italy International Filmfare Awards and the Sittannavasal International Film Festival, a Special Jury Prize at the Rohip International Film Festival, and finalist placements including the Berlin International Screenwriting Festival. Taken together with SYNNOIA, it establishes a clear authorial signature: extraordinary premises used as pressure tests for ordinary, recognisable emotion — grief, devotion, the need to be seen.
Why the script-competition route matters
Allely’s trajectory is a case study in a path that barely existed a generation ago. International screenplay competitions and festival script sections have become a parallel market where writers outside the traditional industry hubs can accumulate verifiable, third-party validation before a feature is ever produced — and Allely has worked that circuit about as systematically as anyone, from a base in Seville, in Spanish, with English translations opening the door to competitions in Asia and the United States. For producers, a script like SYNNOIA arrives pre-vetted by dozens of independent juries; for the writer, the laurels function as a portfolio that no single gatekeeper can withhold.
For screenwriters studying the craft side of that equation, The LA Note’s guides on writing readable script treatments and crafting natural dialogue cover the fundamentals that competition readers reward.
Allely, for his part, shows no sign of slowing: Mírame in post-production, two scripts on the market, and a stated ambition — repeated across his interviews with VoyageLA, Festival Reviews and Wild Filmmaker — to keep writing emotionally driven stories for an international audience, from exactly where he is.
Frequently asked questions
Who is J. H. Allely?
J. H. Allely is the pen name of Javier Hinojosa Allely, a Spanish screenwriter based in Seville. He writes feature and short-film screenplays centred on emotion, identity and visual storytelling, and trained in cinematographic fiction screenwriting at HAZ RTVE. His scripts have earned nearly 70 international recognitions, including close to 30 awards, across festivals and competitions in Europe, Asia and the United States.
What is SYNNOIA about?
SYNNOIA is an award-winning emotional science-fiction short screenplay. After an accident leaves his wife in a coma, a man named Marcos agrees to preserve her consciousness inside his own body — and what began as an act of love starts to blur the boundary between the two identities. The 21-page script (also available in a 19-page English translation) has won 15 international Best Screenplay awards and remains available for producers.
What produced films has J. H. Allely written?
He wrote and executive produced the short films Liberación and Nada sin ti, both directed by Miguel G. Bernal within the “Edificio 23” anthology universe. Liberación has earned 27 festival selections and 25 awards; Nada sin ti has earned 39 selections and 32 awards. A third short from the anthology, Mírame, is in post-production.
What is The Last Tear of Man about?
The Last Tear of Man (La última lágrima del hombre) is Allely’s first feature-length screenplay, a science-fiction drama set in a future where humanity has lost the capacity to feel. A struggling screenwriter discovers an experimental device that transmits emotions to millions — and when a media magnate erases his identity, he must reclaim himself through the one person who still truly sees him. It has collected festival honours including Best Feature Screenplay wins and finalist placements, and is available for producers.
What awards has J. H. Allely won?
Across his screenwriting work he counts nearly 70 international recognitions and close to 30 awards. SYNNOIA alone has 15 Best Screenplay wins — including honours at the Caravan International Film Festival, the Hollywood Stage Script Film Competition and the CKF International Film Festival — plus finalist placements at the Berlin International Screenwriting Festival, Chicago Script Awards, Oxford Script Awards and Cambridge Script Festival, and a nomination at the Cannes Film Awards competition.
How can producers or press contact J. H. Allely?
His screenplays, produced work, portfolio and contact details are at jhallely.com, where SYNNOIA and The Last Tear of Man are listed as available for producers. He is open to representation and can be reached at contacto@jhallely.com or via Instagram at @j_h_allely.
Find J. H. Allely’s full portfolio, produced work and contact details at jhallely.com, on IMDb, and on Instagram at @j_h_allely.
The LA Note and our team of talent networkers, writers, social media managers, and management are excited to present you with unique stories of amazing individuals following their dreams.
Tell The LA Note about your work. Use our editorial submission page to introduce yourself and your story.
