- The award recognises a pioneering model which, since 1998, has combined education with filmmaking, supporting 42 films by directors such as José Luis Guerin, Oliver Laxe and Albert Serra, and training filmmakers such as Isaki Lacuesta, Neus Ballús and Lois Patiño
The 71st SEMINCI will award the Academic Honorary Spike to the Master’s in Creative Documentary at the UPF-Barcelona School of Management (Barcelona Film Society), a leading institution in film education in Spain and a breeding ground for several generations of filmmakers.
Established in 2025 by José Luis Cienfuegos, the Academic Honorary Spike recognizes those who, through education, contribute to ensuring that cinema continues to be made. The award champions education as an essential part of film culture and reflects an idea that Cienfuegos championed through SEMINCI: that film festivals also have a responsibility to nurture emerging perspectives and the generations who will shape the cinema of the future. In its first edition, the award was jointly presented to ECAM and ESCAC.
The Master’s programme, established in 1998 by Jordi Balló and currently directed by filmmaker Eva Vila, has, over almost three decades, developed a model in which training and filmmaking form part of a single process. Films are produced in collaboration with independent producers, a formula that has so far resulted in 42 feature-length documentaries. This process has given rise to films such as En construcción by José Luis Guerin; Cravan vs. Cravan by Isaki Lacuesta; The Sky Turns by Mercedes Álvarez; The Plague by Neus Ballús; Fire Will Come by Oliver Laxe; Samsara by Lois Patiño; and Sica by Carla Subirana.
Knowledge transfer between generations is also an integral part of the Master’s programme and has been one of its hallmarks since its inception. Frederick Wiseman opened the first edition and, since then, the Master’s programme has featured filmmakers such as José Luis Guerín, Joaquim Jordà, Viktor Kossakovsky, Nicolas Philibert and, more recently, Albert Serra. Following a proposal by Jordi Balló, the Master’s programme supported Afternoons of Solitude, Serra’s first documentary, which won the Golden Shell at San Sebastián and the Goya Award for Best Documentary.
The Master’s programme’s influence extends to several generations of filmmakers and audiovisual professionals. Alongside Lacuesta, Laxe, Patiño and Ballús, its former students include Mercedes Álvarez, Renate Costa, Víctor Moreno, Carla Subirana, Tatiana Huezo, Maite García Ribot, Lupe Pérez, Pilar Monsell, the editor Núria Esquerra, and the Oscar-nominated sound designer Amanda Villavieja. Their works have been screened at festivals such as Cannes, Berlin, Locarno, Rotterdam, San Sebastián and Visions du Réel.