● From 29 to 31 October, around 200 industry professionals will gather at the Broadway Cinemas to address the challenges of film exhibition and get preview of upcoming releases
● On Thursday 30 October, Valencian exhibitor Silvino Puig, Director of Programming and General Services at Cines Lys, will receive the MERCI 2025 award
The MERCI Independent Film Market, organised jointly by the Valladolid International Film Festival (SEMINCI) and the Association of Independent Film Distributors (ADICINE), will hold its fifth edition from 29 to 31 October 2025 at the Broadway Cinemas. This event has established itself as the professional benchmark in Spain for promoting the dissemination of independent films to audiences, bringing together programmers, exhibitors, distributors, platforms and television stations in a unique forum dedicated to dialogue and networking. This edition unveils a revamped identity that reflects the growth of ADICINE and reinforces the character of this unique space for exchange and collaboration. In 2024, MERCI brings together more than 150 professionals from the sector in Valladolid, consolidating its position as an essential event for the Spanish film industry.
Programme of activities
The fifth edition of MERCI kicks off on Wednesday 29 October at 10:30 am at the Broadway Cinemas, which will host most of the professional activities of the event, all of which will be restricted to accredited market professionals. These include the screening of 27 films, which are scheduled to hit theatres in late 2025 and throughout 2026. Following the opening ceremony, , there will be a presentation by Comscore Movies.
On Thursday, 30 October, starting at 11:15 a.m., representatives from Spanish film industry associations will discuss current challenges at the round table discussion ‘What’s worrying us?’. Participants will include Rocío Juanes de Toledo, Secretary General of the ICAA; Lara Pérez Camiña and Enrique Costa, Co-Presidents of ADICINE; Javier Pachón, President of PROMIO; Álvaro Postigo, President of FECE; Bárbara Fernández (from the programming department at GOLEM), and Silvino Puig, Programming Director at Cines Lys. The round table will be moderated by Matías G. Rebolledo, editor-in-chief of Kinótico.
The morning’s programme also includes the presentation of a study on cinema subscription models by film consultant Jon Barranechea. The day will culminate at 8:15 p.m. at the Broadway Cinemas with the presentation of the MERCI Award.
On Friday 31 October, the event will close with the presentation of the La Meseta awards to the winning distributors and the streaming presentation “Cinema as a social network: the Letterboxd phenomenon” by Ella Kemp, editorial and festival manager for the United Kingdom and Europe at Letterboxd, putting the finishing touch to three intense days of professional activity and debate on the future of independent film exhibition in Spain.
Silvino Puig, MERCI Award 2025
This year’s MERCI Award will recognise the career of Silvino Puig, director of Programming and General Services at Cines Lys since 2013 and a key figure in the renewal of Spanish film exhibition. Puig opened Cines Lys in Valencia in 2001 alongside Bautista Soler, and in 2006 he took over the programming of Lys and ABC Park until 2013. From 2018 onwards, he devoted all his efforts to creating projects to attract new audiences to the cinema, giving rise to initiatives such as “Cine Club Lys”, “’Blind dates with the cinema” and “’Terrifyingly Lys”, initiatives that have revitalised the connection between cinemas and audiences.
In addition to his work in exhibition, he is a founding partner and president of the Viridiana Project and a founding partner of the distribution company Carácter Films, thus consolidating his comprehensive commitment to independent cinema on multiple fronts within the industry.
About MERCI
MERCI VALLADOLID is an event organised by SEMINCI and ADICINE, subsidised by the Ministry of Culture, with the collaboration of COMSCORE, ECAM Industry and Sociograph. It has become the essential platform where the Spanish independent film industry meets to analyse its challenges, share experiences and build bridges between distributors, exhibitors and programmers. The fifth edition reinforces the event’s commitment to the visibility and promotion of independent cinema in Spain.
ADICINE is made up of the distributors A Contracorriente Films, Atalante, Avalon, Beta Fiction Spain, Bteam Pictures, Caramel Films, DeAPlaneta, Elastica, Festival Films, Filmax, Filmin, Golem, Karma Films, La Aventura, LAZONA, SelectaVision, Sideral, Syldavia, Tripictures and Wanda Vision.
NOTE TO THE MEDIA:
Access for journalists and photographers is only permitted at the opening ceremony, the round table discussion “What’s worrying us?”, the Comscore and Letterboxd presentations, and the MERCI awards ceremony.