• The director and actress from My Notes on Mars will lead a wide range of filmmakers and actors attending the festival to present their films
• Elena Anaya, Emma Suárez, Ricardo Gómez, Javier Gutiérrez, Miguel Herrán, Elvira Mínguez and Daniel Calparsoro will be among those representing Spanish cinema at the 71st SEMINCI
• May el-Toukhy, Sergei Loznitsa, Alain Gomis, Valeria Sarmiento and João Pedro Rodrigues are among the international filmmakers attending the festival

The 71st SEMINCI will bring together leading figures from the international film scene, professionals from different generations and actors in Valladolid from 23 to 31 October, who will be coming to the city to present their latest works. The opening ceremony will be attended by the Hungarian filmmaker Lili Horvát, winner of the Golden Spike and director of Preparations for Being Together for an Unknown Period of Time, who will return to Valladolid with My Notes on Mars, accompanied by the film’s lead actress, Mackenzie Davis. The closing ceremony will be hosted by the Mexican actor and director Gael García Bernal, who will present his third feature film as a director, Hombre al agua.

Among the major international names will also be Sergei Loznitsa, Valeria Sarmiento, Alain Gomis, Emin Alper and João Pedro Rodrigues, alongside filmmakers from a new generation such as May el-Toukhy, Marine Atlan, Jacqueline Lentzou, Marie-Clémentine Dusabejambo, Gabe Klinger and Faraz Shariat.

Daniel Calparsoro, Ricardo Gómez, Sergio Peris-Mencheta, Ione Hernández Sáenz, David Martín de los Santos, Raúl García, Helena Girón and Samuel Delgado, and actors such as Elena Anaya, Emma Suárez, Patricia López Arnaiz, Elvira Mínguez, Sergi López, Belén Cuesta, Roger Casamajor, Javier Gutiérrez and Miguel Herrán will be among the Spanish talent attending SEMINCI.

Established figures and rising stars of European cinema

The Official Section will bring together leading figures from contemporary European cinema, such as the Austrian director Markus Schleinzer, with Rose, his third feature film, which had its world premiere at the Berlinale, where Sandra Hüller won the award for Best Actress. Meanwhile, Ukrainian filmmaker Sergei Loznitsa will present Imperium in the Time of History section. With an internationally acclaimed career, Loznitsa has featured at the world’s leading festivals with films such as Donbass, In the Fog and The Kiev Trial.

The showcase of new French cinema will feature two of its most promising voices. Emmanuel Marre will present A Man of His Time, his first solo feature film, winner of the Best Screenplay Award at the Cannes Film Festival. Loosely inspired by the story of his great-grandfather, the film delves into Vichy-era France through the character of a civil servant who finds an opportunity to prosper within the new administration. The new generation of French cinema will also be represented by Marine Atlan, an acclaimed director of photography, screenwriter and filmmaker trained at La Fémis, who will present La Gradiva, her debut feature film as a director, which premiered at Cannes and was awarded the Critics’ Week Grand Prix.

Danish filmmaker May el-Toukhy will attend the SEMINCI premiere of Woman Unknown, the film that won the Golden Lion at the last Venice Film Festival, which is in the running for the Golden Spike. Also visiting Valladolid are Greek director Jacqueline Lentzou, who will present her second feature film, A Day in the Life of Jo: Chapter Phaedra, for which she received the Orizzonti Award for Best Director at the Italian festival, and Turkish director Emin Alper, one of his country’s most acclaimed filmmakers, who will present Salvation, a film that won the Silver Bear – Grand Jury Prize at the Berlinale.

The line-up of European filmmakers is rounded off by Portuguese names such as João Pedro Rodrigues, who, accompanied by João Rui Guerra da Mata, will premiere 13 Pins in Valladolid as part of the Alchemies section, and Tiago Guedes, director of Aquí, which was screened in the official competition at Venice, starring Patricia López Arnaiz and Sergi López. The film is produced by Paulo Branco, a leading figure in Portuguese and European film production.

Rounding off this line-up is Faraz Shariat, a German-Iranian filmmaker born in Cologne, who will present Prosecution, his second feature film, which won the Panorama Audience Award, the CICAE Award and the Heiner Carow Award at the Berlinale.

Five perspectives on contemporary Iran

Valladolid will welcome five Iranian filmmakers who explore their country’s recent history and social transformations from different perspectives. In the Official Section, Ali Asgari, one of the leading voices in contemporary Iranian cinema, will present A Bit of Light, which premiered in competition at Venice. His short films have been screened at Cannes and Venice, and he co-directed Terrestrial Verses which was presented at Cannes in 2023.

The 71st SEMINCI will also feature Pegah Ahangarani, an actress since childhood and a filmmaker, who will present Rehearsals for a Revolution in theTime of History section – her first feature-length documentary, which won the Golden Eye for Best Documentary at Cannes. Veteran filmmaker Mani Haghighi, one of Iran’s most unorthodox and rebellious filmmakers, will present I Deserve a Lover Whose Every Rise Sets Fiery Dooms Raging Across the Skies, whilst Mahsa Karampour will present her debut feature, Into the Jaws of the Ogre, a road movie about the journey of two siblings separated by exile.

Karim Lakzadeh will accompany his film Living Twice, Dying Thrice, a film featured in the Alchemies section about three miners who, having survived an accident, decide to pretend they have died so their families can collect compensation—a blend of humor, absurd situations, and a reality marked by precariousness and exploitation.

SEMINCI: An International Focus

The festival will also welcome renowned figures such as Alain Gomis, a Franco-Senegalese filmmaker and one of the leading figures in contemporary African cinema, who will present Dao, his sixth feature film, in the Official Section, following a career highlighted by Aujourd’hui and Félicité.

From Rwanda comes Marie-Clémentine Dusabejambo, who will present Ben’imana, her first fiction film, which won the Caméra d’Or at Cannes 2026; and from Brazil, Gabe Klinger, a filmmaker, critic, programmer, and professor of film studies born in São Paulo. He will return to SEMINCI—where he previously served on the Alchemies jury in 2024—to present Isabel, his second feature film, which had its international premiere in the Panorama section at the Berlinale.

This same international spirit is reflected in the title of Alchemies Foreign Travel, the new work by American filmmaker Ted Fendt—who is based in Berlin and whose filmography is linked to literature and the narrative forms of independent cinema; Japanese filmmaker Yukiko Sode comes to Valladolid with All The Lovers In The Night, a film from Meeting Point that portrays loneliness, desire, and emotional bonds through a focus on small gestures; and Algerian filmmaker Hassen Ferhani films his father—a journalist and writer—as he travels through Algiers in search of the city’s jacaranda trees in Alea Jacarandas, which is part of the Time of History section after winning the jury prize at Burning Lights during Visions du Réel.

A Prominent Representation of Spanish Cinema

The 71st SEMINCI will also feature a broad representation of Spanish filmmakers and actors. Ricardo Gómez will present Una familia, his feature film directorial debut following an extensive career as an actor, while Sergio Peris-Mencheta will attend with SerYo, his first feature-length documentary. Also in attendance will be Ione Hernández Sáenz, who will present her debut feature Hermanas, making its European premiere at SEMINCI; David Martín de los Santos, with his second feature, A Man on a Bridge, making its world premiere in Valladolid; and Daniel Calparsoro, who will arrive with El confidente alongside its leads, Javier Gutiérrez and Miguel Herrán.

The animation section will be represented by Ervin Han and Raúl García, directors of The Violinist, which is compiting in the Official Section and won the Grand Cristal for Best Feature Film at Annecy. Han, a filmmaker and co-founder of the Singapore-based studio Robot Playground Media, co-directs the film with Spanish animator Raúl García, whose career includes a decade of work at Disney.

Among the actors accompanying the films will be Elena Anaya and Emma Suárez, stars of Hermanas, and Lou Castel, a French-Swedish actor with an extensive career and one of the iconic faces of 1960s European cinema, who will be in Valladolid as part of the cast of The Fortunate Isles, directed by Helena Girón and Samuel Delgado.

Meanwhile, Belén Cuesta and Roger Casamajor will attend the screening of A Man on a Bridge by David Martín de los Santos, which will have its world premiere at SEMINCI. Cuesta, a Goya Award winner for The Endless Trench, and Casamajor both have extensive careers in Spanish cinema. Popular chef Karlos Arguiñano will also visit Seminci to attend the screening at Cine Gourmet of the documentary Un tal Karlos, directed by Arantxa Aguirre.

Honorary Spikes and Tributes

The 71st SEMINCI will honor the careers of professionals from different generations and fields of cinema with Honorary Spikes. Chilean director, editor, and screenwriter Valeria Sarmiento, one of the most internationally recognized Latin American filmmakers, will present Detrás de la lluvia, her latest film, and will receive an Honorary Spike. Elvira Mínguez, actress, director, and screenwriter, and Goya Award winner for Tapas, will also receive an Espiga de Honor.

In the field of sound, the festival will honor Willie D. Burton, lead production sound mixer at The Odyssey, in recognition of a career spanning more than four decades dedicated to direct sound in film. Burton has worked on some of Hollywood’s biggest productions and has contributed to films such as The Shawshank Redemption, The Green Mile, Creed, and Oppenheimer, in addition to collaborating with filmmakers like Christopher Nolan. In Valladolid, he will also participate in one of the sessions of “Thinking (and Listening) About Cinema,” where he will engage in a conversation with Spanish sound designer Alejandro López, whose career ranks among the most distinguished in sound design in Spain and whose filmography includes, among other titles, La bola negra and La habitación de al lado.

The Importance of Sound in Film

Sound, one of the main themes of the 71st SEMINCI, will be prominently represented among this year’s guests. Alongside Willie D. Burton, a panel of European sound designers—organized in collaboration with the European Film Academy as part of “Thinking (and Listening) About Cinema”—will broaden the program’s international scope. Professionals from various international film industries will share their experiences and reflect on the transformations in sound work in contemporary cinema: Axel Arft, a member of the sound team for Wim Wenders’ Wings of Desire; Silvia Moraes, a regular collaborator with Paolo Sorrentino on films such as The Hand of God, Youth, and Parthenope; Daniela Bassani, one of the leading sound designers in Italian cinema and winner of the David di Donatello Award for Me Captain; and Tarn Willers, who, alongside Johnnie Burn, won the Oscar and the BAFTA for Best Sound for Jonathan Glazer’s The Zone of Interest.

The 71st SEMINCI will thus bring together filmmakers, actors, and specialists from different generations and cinematic traditions, turning Valladolid into a hub for cinema for nine days.