2021 – Nº 2

EDITORIAL

We face the 66th edition of SEMINCI halfway between the pre-pandemic «normal» of 2019 and the sheer survival mode that characterised last year’s edition. 2021 is a year for hope: a year to recover what we had before the pandemic and to improve on it; a year to consume the best auteur cinema that was shot, to a large extent, during forced lockdown. It is a year for celebration, for documentaries around commemorations like the centenary of the births of Berlanga and Fernando Fernán Gómez; or the 50th anniversary of ‘A Clockwork Orange’, whose Spanish premiere took place two years later in the Valladolid Festival despite its ban by the Francoist authorities: or the 60 years after The Beatles’ first single release. And this is also the time to recover the memory of terrible events in our recent history as we celebrate 10 years after the end of ETA ...

2021 is a year to regain the pleasure of watching films in theatres and sharing what we live and feel during a film screening with friends and film lovers; an edition to enjoy once again the opportunity to see and listen to directors and actors discussing their work. It is time to be able to feel again, in the silence of the dark room, our senses come to life, our feelings triggered by auteur films (like those we program at SEMINCI): stories that generally tell us about reality, human conflicts and whatever surrounds our human experience from another angle, from another point of view.

Come, then, and enjoy, taste and relish an authentic ‘gourmet cinema’ menu. The SEMINCI restaurant is open to cater to the most exquisite film palates: yours.

Javier Angulo Barturen
Director of the Valladolid International Film Festival (SEMINCI)