71st edition. From 23 to 31 October 2026.
71st edition.
23/31 Oct. 2026
23/31 Oct. 2026
71st edition. From 23 to 31 October 2026.
Spaces for promotion, connection and development for film professionals
The Lab will take place from Wednesday 29 October to Saturday 1 November 2025 in Valladolid
The 70th International Film Week of Valladolid-SEMINCI will host the Europa Cinemas Audience Development & Innovation Lab from 29 October to 1 November 2025. This year’s Lab will be led by Erika Borsos (Programmer, Schikaneder Kino & Top Kino, Austria), Catherine Lemaire (Programmer, Cineflagey, Belgium), and Jens Lanestrand (Managing Director, Biografcentralen, Sweden). Together, they will guide participants through a programme focused on how cinemas can develop and strengthen their capacity to remain competitive in a fast-changing environment—marked by increased market concentration, an overwhelming volume of content, and shifting audience expectations.
Entitled “Shaping Tomorrow’s Cinemas: Innovative Tools and Skills to Navigate Change”, the Lab will explore forward-thinking strategies for enhancing digital marketing, programming, communication, and collaboration across the exhibition sector.
Open to all European cinema professionals, the Lab offers a valuable opportunity to take a step back from day-to-day operations, share experiences, and explore innovative approaches with peers from across the continent. Through a combination of expert-led sessions, small group discussions and hands-on workshops, participants will reflect on their own practices and co-develop practical solutions to common challenges.
As always, the programme will be shaped by participants’ input and expertise. However, key themes we anticipate addressing include:
Strategic Vision & Sector Leadership
Programming & Audience Engagement
Tools for Innovation & Transformation
To apply please fill in the following application form before 30 August 2025.
The Lab will be held in Spanish and English; simultaneous translation will be provided in both languages.
This lab is open to all European exhibitors, members of Europa Cinemas network or not. Applications will be considered in the order they are received. However, priority will be given to exhibitors who never attended a Europa Cinemas Lab before.
The Europa Cinemas network, which currently comprises 1,280 cinemas with 3,153 screens across 798 towns and cities in 39 countries, is the vehicle through which the European Commission supports cinema operators with the aim of ensuring that cinemas remain a key venue for promoting the cultural diversity of European cinema and attracting new audiences. Its work helps to sustain the distribution, screening and promotion of arthouse cinema, and ensures that film enthusiasts can enjoy the cinema experience on the big screen.
Europa Cinemas held the Audience Development and Innovation Lab as part of the 70th edition, led by three renowned industry professionals: Erika Borsos, programmer at Schikaneder Kino & Top Kino (Austria); Catherine Lemaire, programmer at Cineflagey (Belgium); and Jens Lanestrand, managing director of Biografcentralen (Sweden).
Entitled ‘Designing the cinemas of the future: tools and skills for managing change’, the lab explored innovative strategies to improve digital marketing, programming, communication and collaboration within the cinema exhibition sector.
Through a combination of expert-led sessions, small-group discussions and practical workshops, the participating cinema operators reflected on their own practices and jointly developed practical solutions centred on three key themes: strategic vision and leadership, programming and audience engagement, and tools for innovation.
Among other topics, they discussed sustainability, diversity and inclusion in the context of cinema exhibition, as well as engaging young audiences, co-programming with emerging European professionals, and building cross-border community strategies to promote the circulation of films. The programme was rounded off with a highly practical session that equipped participants with specific artificial intelligence resources for cinema operators and effective tools for film project management.
It has 58 members in Spain, comprising 249 screens across 37 cities. In Castile and León, the network includes the Van Golem Arlanzón (Burgos), Van Gogh (León), Van Dyck (Salamanca), and Broadway, Manhattan and Casablanca (Valladolid) cinemas. In other regions, the Verdi, Renoir and Golem cinemas in various cities belong to Europa Cinema, as do the cinemas managed by the PROMIO independent cinema network.
