Seminci 2026 Opens Today: 208 Films, 30 World Premieres and a Tribute to Elvira Mínguez

The Valladolid International Film Festival, one of the oldest in Europe, begins its 71st edition today with a programme that confirms its place as the great autumn meeting point for auteur cinema in Spain.

From today, October 23, until October 31, Valladolid becomes the capital of auteur cinema. The 71st Seminci arrives with 208 films — 137 feature films and 71 short films — and no fewer than 121 premieres: 88 national premieres, 30 world premieres and 3 European premieres.

Opening and closing

The festival opens with My Notes on Mars, by the Hungarian director Lili Horvát, and closes with Hombre al agua, by Gael García Bernal: two filmmakers whose work moves between intimacy and the great questions of our time, and who frame an edition with a clearly international vocation.

The race for the Espiga de Oro

Twenty-two feature films compete for the Espiga de Oro in the International Official Section. The jury is made up of Francesca Andreoli, Grégoire Hetzel, Dennis Lim, Elena Manrique and Federico Veiroj — a combination of programming, music, criticism and directing that promises a demanding reading of the competition.

An honour for Elvira Mínguez

The actress Elvira Mínguez will receive the Espiga de Honor, recognising a career that has made her one of the most solid and versatile presences in Spanish cinema and television.

Among the special moments of the programme, on October 28 the festival will screen Andrzej Wajda’s Innocent Sorcerers with live music by the Polish jazz group Quinteto Albert Karch — the kind of experience that reminds us that cinema, at its best, is also a collective ritual.

Why it matters

In a year marked by the debate over artificial intelligence and the future of theatrical exhibition, festivals like the Seminci defend something essential: the time to watch, to discuss and to discover. From Cannes to Valladolid, the conversation about what kind of cinema we want to keep alive continues — and La Croisette will be following it.

Photo: Teatro Calderón, Valladolid. Zarateman / CC0.