The Valladolid International Film Festival, popularly known as Seminci (short for Semana Internacional de Cine de Valladolid; ), is a film festival held annually in Valladolid, Spain. First held in 1956 as Semana de Cine Religioso de Valladolid ('Valladolid Religious Film Week'), the Seminci is one of the longest-standing film festivals in Spain. It stands out in the area of films d'auteur and independent film.
The Seminci conventionally takes place every October, about a month later than the San Sebastián Film Festival, the most prestigious film festival in Spain.
History
The films to be shown were already selected according to quality and not quantity criteria, even if that meant having an insufficient number of films. Starting in 1960, the festival was renamed Semana Internacional de Cine Religioso y de Valores Humanos (the International Week of Religious Cinema and Human Values) and the theme of the films was expanded, accepting those in which human and committed values prevailed. That year the Golden Spike also began to be awarded, alongside the existing prizes and (since 1961) the San Gregorio Prize.
In 1973 the festival adopted its current name, due to the progressive increase in the films in competition and increased interest from producers. The end of the Francoist Spain made it possible to leave behind the religious character. The following year the Lábaro disappeared and the Espiga became the main award. Subsequently, the awards for best actor and actress (1979), best screenplay (1984), best first film (1989), the Jury (1991) and the best new director (1992), among others, were introduced.
Since 2008, for 15 years, the festival was headed by Javier Angulo. In 2023, José Luis Cienfuegos was named as the new director of the Seminci. He was previously the director of the Gijón International Film Festival (1995–2011) and the Seville European Film Festival (2012–2022).
Golden Spike
Acknowledgments
Informational notes
- Citations
- Bibliography
External links
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