The public, the audiovisual industry and the media are the driving force behind the new Seminci proposals

The 68th edition increased by 28.38% its box office takings, 12.19% the number of people attending movie theaters and 25% the value of its media impact

The 68th edition of the International Film Festival of Valladolid has registered important increases in indicators such as the number of spectators in movie theaters, ticket sales and media impact. In this way, both the public as well as the professionals that make up the audiovisual industry and the press promote the first proposals that the new team has developed this edition.

This Tuesday took place the extraordinary session of the Governing Council of the Municipal Foundation of Culture of the City Council of Valladolid, where the director of the festival, José Luis Cienfuegos, presented the Report-Memorial of the 68th edition and the new dates of the 69th edition, which will take place from October 18 to 26, 2024.

The report presented to the Governing Council highlights that in its 2023 edition, held from October 21 to 28, Seminci reached 88,096 spectators in its theatrical screenings, an increase of 12.19% over the number of theatrical audiences registered in the 2022 edition, which was 78,522 spectators. This increase in audience has also brought an increase in ticket sales revenue, which has reached 196,109 euros, 28.38% more than the amount of the last edition (152,750 euros).

These figures have been obtained, moreover, with a program with fewer films than in previous editions, the result of a strategy that has opted to rethink the programming scheme. While in 2022 the number of titles programmed was 276, this 68th edition has offered 187 films -121 feature films and 66 shorts- and a series in 348 screenings.

The intention of the 68th Seminci to place the sections traditionally considered parallel as proposals on a par with and complementary to the Official Selection has been reflected in the significant increase of spectators in sections such as Meeting Point (52% more) or Time of History (40% more). The Official Selection, on the other hand, has increased its attendance by 10%.

In addition to the commercial sessions, in this edition 22,655 students from Castilla y León attended the screenings of the Miniminci (13,337 students) and Seminci Joven (9,318 students) sections, in addition to another 112,223 online viewings of the Ventana Cinéfila section through Filmin.

The parallel activities have added more than 5,000 participants. In addition to the 2,004 people who visited the exhibition Flamenco India by Carlos Saura at the San Benito Tourist Office between October 19 and November 12, there were more than 3,000 participants in other activities aimed at industry professionals -European Film Academy, Europa Cinemas, Merci Valladolid or Incubadora ECAM- and the general public beyond the cinemas, such as the musical and leisure activities of Alhambra Seminci Noche.

Media impact

The Festival has achieved between September 1 and December 1 a total of 5,342 references in the media -press, radio, television and digital media-, whose economic value stands at 39.4 million euros, the highest figure in the history of the festival since the data has been audited (the previous maximum value was 38.3 million in 2021). The value of the media impact of the 68th Seminci increases by 25% the 31.5 million euros reached in the 2022 edition, and practically doubles that reached in 2019, which was 21.1 million.

A total of 1,534 people were accredited for the 68th edition of Seminci, 1,142 of whom were guests and industry professionals and 392 press professionals, some of whom came from countries such as the United Kingdom, the United States, France, Portugal, Argentina, Croatia and India.

The combination of the on-site and the virtual has brought the public and the press closer to different contents of the edition. Seminci’s audiovisual service has allowed users to watch live streaming of numerous activities, such as the Official Selection press conferences, galas, carpets, round tables and interviews, videos that are later hosted on the festival’s website or on the festival’s YouTube channel for later viewing.

In this edition, Seminci’s audiovisual content on the Internet -live events, press conferences, interviews and summaries of each day- reached 37,110 views from October 1 to 31, 2023. The most watched contents were the reading of the list of winners (1,390 viewers) and the round tables of the Memory and Utopia section which, under the title “Film heritage in the 21st Century”, brought together in Valladolid the heads of European film libraries and directors of international festivals specializing in the recovery of film heritage (1,182 viewers).

New at the 68th edition were

The Alquimias section, born in the 68th Seminci with a competitive character to attend to a different type of creation, an eminently fresh and free cinema in terms of plot, form and aesthetics, has had a very positive response from the public to a proposal of eight films signed mostly by young authors. Alquimias also favored the presentation at Seminci of authors hitherto unpublished at the festival and emerging and more than promising voices, along with others already known and recognized on the international film scene.

The other great novelty in the programming scheme has been the section Memory and Utopia, created to contribute to the preservation of the film legacy and to show its full value to the spectators in a sort of rewriting of the history of cinema, with fifteen films never seen in Spain in restored versions or with footage restored by film libraries and institutions from different countries.

Memory and Utopia found a complement to the screenings in a meeting that can be described as historic: the conference “Film heritage in the 21st century”, promoted by AC/E in the framework of the Spanish Presidency of the Council of the European Union, which brought together in Valladolid the heads of the main film libraries and specialized festivals around the world to share experiences and explore ways of preserving an indispensable legacy and its subsequent dissemination.

The Seminci has set itself the goal of promoting both cinematographic creation and its dissemination, an objective that this 68th edition has taken its first steps with different innovative activities in its program. Seminci was also the setting in which the European Film Academy held its Executive Committee on October 20 and 21, with its president, Agnieszka Holland, at the helm, and held two sessions on issues affecting the industry and spectators.

The session “Moving your Films Beyond their Boundaries of Origin” brought together producers Mira Staleva, Antonio Saura and Mike Downey, while the second roundtable brought together producers Ada Solomon and Andrea Queralt to delve into the reasons for participating in a production. In addition, the Europa Cinemas network, with more than 1,200 cinemas and 3,000 associated screens in 38 countries, held its Innovation and Audience Development Lab at the National Sculpture Museum.

Aimed at the domestic market, Seminci also held activities such as the first edition of the Independent Film Market -MERCI Valladolid-, which brought together more than 120 programmers, exhibitors and distributors in three intense days to view 25 upcoming films from the 16 main distributors in the country that are members of Adicine; the ECAM Incubator, a program to support new producers, directors and emerging screenwriters residing in Spain in their feature films; and the Castilla y León New Talent / Open ECAM Award, in collaboration with Seminci, the Aguilar de Campoo Film Festival and the Filmoteca de Castilla y León to launch a short film project.

Education Seminci, a long term commitment

Based on its sections Miniminci, Seminci Joven and Ventana Cinéfila, the festival’s initiatives for the training of new spectators have been grouped in the permanent space Educación Seminci, which will maintain activities throughout the year and has found a reinforcement in the initiative Jóvenes Programadores-Moving Cinema, a training program on the functioning of the programming team that selects the titles of a festival. This year, thirteen boys and girls between the ages of 14 and 19 participated in six work sessions, resulting in the selection of the film Muyeres, programmed at Punto de Encuentro. The last session was held in theater 2 of Broadway Cinemas with 137 seats sold, and the students participated in the presentation and discussion with the director of Muyeres, Marta Lallana, and Raül Refree, author of the soundtrack and performer of the film.

This year, 22,655 students from Castilla y León attended the screenings of the Miniminci (13,337 students) and Seminci Joven (9,318 students) sections. These two sections have also involved 1,101 teachers: 635 primary school teachers for Miniminci and 466 secondary school teachers for Seminci Joven. To these figures must be added another 112,223 online viewings of the Ventana Cinéfila section through Filmin.

The set of proposals responds to the festival’s commitment to educate the public of the near future and awaken the critical sense at an early age. In addition to showing them other ways of making films and seeing the world, the presentations by the filmmakers themselves in the theaters and the complementary educational material they work on in the classrooms help them learn the keys to the creative process.

Meeting of the public with the creators

The 68th Seminci has reinforced the role of the film festival as a meeting point between creators and the public, one of the hallmarks of our festival, which has historically promoted spaces to generate dialogue and provide different experiences for spectators and filmmakers. This year, 105 meetings have taken place, including presentations, round tables, debates and talks, an activity that has also added a new ally: the company Derechos de Autor de Medios Audiovisuales (Audiovisual Media Copyrights).

The DAMA Dialogues brought viewers closer to the latest Spanish cinema with special attention to the new creative directions of the national scene. This same itinerary included another newly created proposal in collaboration with the University of Valladolid, which, under the title “Completing the images. Thinking about cinema at Seminci”, added in the Auditorium of the UVa meetings with other renewing voices of Spanish cinema: directors Paula Ortiz and Laura Ferrés.

Finally, this edition of Seminci has offered an intense musical program, both in the theaters and after the last screenings of each day. As an appetizer to the 68th edition, the show Plena Pausa presented the selection of short films with the soundtrack composed by J, from Los Planetas, who performed it live at the concert-screening held at the Teatro Carrión. During the festival, the recovered Lucha de corazones (1912), by Joan Maria Codina with live sound creation by Abel Hernández, and Harold Lloyd’s classic The Kid Brother with live music by the OSCyL could be enjoyed.

After the last screenings of each day, the rhythm moved to the nightlife of Valladolid. The new Alhambra Seminci Noche program featured a daily program at the Kafka and Bizarro venues, where DJs and top musicians livened up the encounters between festival guests and the public.

Seminci in social media

Regarding the presence of the Valladolid International Film Festival on the Internet, and according to data from Google Analytics, the Festival’s website (www.seminci.com) had 71,987 users from October 1 to 31 (the period prior to and during the Festival) (8% more than the 66,616 users in 2022), with a total of 424,147 page views.

Seminci’s presence on social networks has also registered increases, with a total of 22,725 fans on Facebook as of October 30, with an increase of 330 followers that month. The total reach of the Facebook page was 164,993 people, who saw at least once one of the 190 publications made.

On Twitter, the total number of followers in October reached 44,438 (414 more), with a reach of 931,000 users thanks to the 338 tweets launched from the official Seminci account during the month of October. Instagram has reached 14,775 followers, representing a gain of 1,837 followers in the month of October. This network has had a reach of 59,765 users, thanks to the 204 images published and the 566 stories and 19 reels launched in October.