The first ‘Display of the Month’ opens: a historical tour of SEMINCI through its historic archives

SEMINCI inaugurates a cinematic time capsule in the form of a monthly exhibition with unpublished historical records that narrate its evolution since 1956.

Since its birth in 1956, the Valladolid International Film Festival has accumulated almost seven decades of history, cinephile passion, and social and cultural commitment. As part of the activities organized to celebrate the 70th edition of the event in 2025, the festival presents the exhibition project ‘Display of the Month’ at Espacio Seminci, in parallel to the cycle ’70 years of SEMINCI. ‘A Certain History of Arthouse Cinema’. Today’s opening ceremony was attended by the Councilor for Tourism, Events and City Brand of the Valladolid City Council, Blanca Jiménez Cuadrillero; the director of SEMINCI, José Luis Cienfuegos, and the former director of SEMINCI, Javier Angulo, as well as sponsors and collaborators.

“This ‘display of the month’ highlights the great heritage of our festival in this very special year, which celebrates its 70th edition with a refreshed image and looking to the future with great optimism. We are reviewing the past to propel us into the future. This is the best way to pay a heartfelt tribute to a festival that continues to be a benchmark for auteur cinema in Europe,” stated the councillor.

Curated by César Combarros Peláez, historian of the festival and author of the books that describe the evolution of the festival ‘Una ventana al mundo’ (2005) and ‘SEMINCI: Una historia de cine’ (2015), the ‘Display of the month’ brings to light a selection of funds from the SEMINCI Library and the Municipal Archive of Valladolid, with which he proposes an alternative journey in six stages through the world cinema through the films and the protagonists that marked the evolution of the Valladolid film festival.

This exhibition program, installed in Espacio Seminci until the end of the year, will run in chronological order with a selection of films that make up the cycle ’70 years of SEMINCI. ‘A Certain History of Arthouse Cinema’, which will be screened on Thursdays at the Broadway Cinemas. In the ‘Display’ materials related to the historical period in which these works were originally programmed at the Festival will be exhibited. The contents will be renewed periodically during the third week of each month, pausing in August and October, coinciding with the celebration of the 70th edition.

• 1956-1961: May
• 1962-1969: June
• 1970-1976: July
• 1977-1986: September
• 1987-1993: November
• 1994-Present: December

“Part of the uniqueness of SEMINCI lies in its concern for the dissemination of knowledge. You can’t program present-day cinema without knowing the cinema of the past,” said the festival director. José Luis Cienfuegos also added that SEMINCI, in line with the work done in the last two editions with the ‘Thinking Cinema’ meetings that analyse film work from archival material, is going to establish a plan to catalogue the festival’s documentary and audiovisual archives in collaboration with the Valladolid Municipal Archive. “We festivals are part of the cultural heritage,” he added.

“In short, this is nothing more than a game, a diversion, an invitation to festival goers, Valladolid residents and the interested to come to Espacio Seminci and be surprised every month by the contents of this time capsule, which offers us a new look at the path, often rocky, that has allowed the festival to become a beacon of contemporary auteur cinema and a sign of identity of the city itself,” concluded the curator, César Combarros.