- SEMINCI consolidates its position as a meeting point for the film sector with the attendance of more than 1,700 accredited visitors to the 69th edition, 13.3% more than in 2023.
- The programming strategy to offer fewer titles and more opportunities for the public to see them has led to an increase in takings of 10.53% compared to 2023 and 41% more than in 2022.
The Valladolid International Film Festival (SEMINCI) has once again brought together, for another year, auteur film lovers and representatives of the film industry at the 69th edition of the Festival, held between 18 and 26 October 2024. For nine days, one more than in 2023, the city of Castilla y León was transformed, with visitors and locals alike breathing in cinema throughout the day. In total, 98,149 spectators went to the cinemas, 11.4% more than in the previous edition and 25% more than in 2022, to enjoy some of the 387 screenings programmed in cinemas and sessions for schoolchildren.
This increase is particularly significant when you consider that, although the number of films is nine days instead of eight, the number of films totals 211, if you include the titles available online at Cinephile Window, compared to the 273 programmed in 2022. This planned programming strategy of offering more opportunities to the public so that they do not miss the title they want to see has led to a 10.53% increase in box office takings to €216,764, 41% more than in 2022, when ticket sales totalled €152,750.
The section that attracted by far the most spectators was the Official section, chosen by 40,000 spectators. The commitment to sections such as Meeting Point and Time of History has demonstrated the confidence of the programmers in the quality of the titles on offer, with the number of spectators doubling since 2022. The total figure exceeds 16,000 attendees, adding the attendance of the Alchemy section, premiered in 2023.
The sessions for children and teenagers, included in the Miniminci and Young SEMINCI sections, attracted 26,735 spectators, 18% more than in 2023. This figure includes the number of participants in the extension of the programme to two other towns in the province: Íscar and Nava del Rey.
‘In just two years we have managed to take the pulse of the real dimension that this Festival can reach in terms of audience figures, guests and titles programmed. Now, with our eyes set on the 70th edition, we face the challenge of stabilising these figures and improving the organisation and the experience for audiences and guests, increasing institutional support and the confidence of the industry’, says José Luis Cienfuegos, director of SEMINCI since 2023.
SEMINCI brought together 81% of the filmmakers in the competitive sections
Along with the increase in spectators and revenue, this year’s edition has strengthened the Festival’s position as a meeting point for filmmakers, both Spanish and international. A distinguishing feature that traditionally characterises SEMINCI, and which sets it apart from other festivals, is that filmmakers regularly support their films with their attendance, as shown by the fact that, in 2024, 81% of the filmmakers included in the competitive sections came to Valladolid. A total of 1,739 people were accredited, including film crews, industry representatives, press, institutions and other guests, 13.3% more than in 2023.
‘SEMINCI aims to bring together the film sector in Valladolid, making the entire film team visible,’ says the Festival director. ‘The whole team that makes up SEMINCI has worked to turn it into a solid project that responds to a contemporary criterion that equates all the film professions. We are not renouncing the visibility of cinema through its performers, but we are including them within a business fabric that creates many jobs and generates important income in Spain’, adds José Luis Cienfuegos.
The public was able to meet in person the directors and part of the creative and production team of a large number of the films screened, and learn about the creative process, in the 123 meetings held after the screenings, which represents a daily average of 13.6 screenings with Q&A sessions.
During the 69th edition, the number of artistic teams attending increased by 11%. By sections, 78% of the filmmakers included in the Official Section of feature films in competition were present; 90% of the directors of Time of History and Alchemies, and 80% of the Meeting Point section, improving on last year’s figures. By nationalities, 50 Spanish titles participating in different sections met the SEMINCI audience, bringing together a total of 227 visitors.
52 of the programmed titles attended with their own press team, which demonstrates the strength of SEMINCI’s promotional strategy for films, especially for their premiere in Spain. In this sense, the programme included 140 premieres: 35 world premieres, one international premiere, 99 premieres in Spain, and five in Europe. This achievement was made possible thanks to the joint work and support of producers, independent Spanish distributors and international sales agents, and was rewarded by the enthusiastic reception of the public to the programme.
Spanish industry meeting at SEMINCI
As a result of this approach to bringing the sector together, the Spanish Association of Independent Film Distributors (ADICINE) held the 2nd MERCI Valladolid meeting at this year’s SEMINCI. Around 150 exhibitors, distributors, representatives of television channels and audiovisual platforms were able to preview some twenty productions that will be released in cinemas at the end of 2024 and in 2025.
During the meeting, the figures for independent cinema takings were announced, which have generated 15 million euros more and increased the number of spectators (2 million more), despite the release of fewer films and the 12% drop in cinema audiences compared to October 2023. In addition, the director of RTVE’s Acquisitions Area, Milagros Mayi, received the MERCI 2024 Award in recognition of her work in helping to promote and disseminate independent cinema during her long professional career.
As a novelty in this edition, the 1st Meeting of Women Filmmakers took up the baton from the Forum of Women Filmmakers and raised the challenge of generational change and the representation of sexual violence in film as a starting point for the exchange of opinions between the directors Icíar Bollaín, María Herrera and Almudena Carracedo; the actress and intimacy coordinator Tábata Cerezo, and the producers Marisa Fernández Armenteros, María Luisa Gutiérrez, Sara de la Fuente and Sandra Romero.
The Meeting, co-organised with ECAM Industria and the Association of Women Filmmakers and Audiovisual Media (CIMA), in collaboration with the Buendía Centre of the University of Valladolid, also served as a forum for the presentation of the conclusions of the RTVE Equality Observatory. Among them, it was stated that the increase in the quality of the projects presented by women and, consequently, the percentage of grants obtained, is due, to a large extent, to the incorporation of more women as producers.
Thanks to the collaboration of the audiovisual media copyright management organisation DAMA, the crews of the Spanish titles talked to the audience attending the screenings of their films in the DAMA Dialogues activity. For the first time in Valladolid, the ‘DAMA Tuesdays’ meeting was held as part of the Festival, with the participation of Marta Nieto and Beatriz Herzog, actress and director and screenwriter, respectively, of La mitad de Ana.
SEMINCI is thus consolidating itself as an event to see auteur films and to delve deeper into their creative process. This year, the cycle of meetings ‘Thinking about cinema’ has brought together some of the most outstanding filmmakers in these sectors of film creation: contemporary American indie cinema, cinema committed to social reality, the film archive as a source of new creations, the passions of German cinema and the Spanish short film.
Around 6,500 citizens and visitors took part in other activities organised by the Festival, from the concerts offered at midday on both weekends in the Vermut Sessions and the Alhambra SEMINCI Night DJ sessions; to the exhibition ‘Traces and Fugues. Spanish cinema at SEMINCI’, in the San Benito Exhibition Hall, or the screening-concert of Alfred Hitchcock’s film Blackmail, in the Miguel Delibes Auditorium, with the Castilla y León Symphony Orchestra.
More information about the Festival
More articles published, and more content on the SEMINCI website and social networks. The Festival has given a boost to the contents with the intention that the public would be more informed about the programme and what was happening day by day during the Festival. Both through its own media and the media, which have reached, for the moment, 6,634 news items published from the end of August to 1 November, which adds up to an economic value of 53.3 million euros, 24% more than in 2023. In 2024 there have also been 7,559 publications on social networks about the Festival, with an estimated value of 40.2 million euros.
Among the journalists accredited to report on the Festival, around 350 people, there were representatives of the main national newspapers and television channels, specialised magazines and international media such as Variety, Screen International, Cahiers du Cinéma and Cineuropa. The closing gala was broadcast live by the Spanish National Television (RTVE), which recorded cultural and film programmes such as Cine de barrio, Historia de nuestro cine, Días de cine, Culturas 2 and Atención obras from the marquee set up in the Plaza Mayor. RNE also broadcast live from Valladolid some of its programmes during the Festival, such as De película, Punto de enlace, Tres en la carretera and Va de cine.
The seminci.com website has a new digital image, to make it more coherent with the new corporate image of SEMINCI. The Festival gave a boost to both written and audiovisual content, so that the public had live access, through SEMINCI Channel, to 22 press conferences, the reading of the list of winners, the parade of attendees on the carpet, and the ‘Thinking about cinema’ meetings, as well as 58 video interviews recorded with directors and performers who visited Valladolid at this year’s edition. The audiovisual contents that have attracted the most visits have been the opening gala, the closing carpet and the reading of the list of winners. In total, there were 4,960 views, 3,075 of which belonged to the thirty or so streaming broadcasts.
Since June, 136 news items about the 69th edition have been published on the website. In October alone, these contents attracted 115,408 users, who viewed 589,297 pages, an increase of 39% in users and 60% in page views compared to 2023. The new audiovisual content includes 78 portraits of filmmakers and performers by photographer Samuel de Román, in addition to the graphic coverage by the Photogenic team. The new visual identity also meant a change of scenery for the photo of the day, which moved to the cloister of the Patio Herreriano Museum of Spanish Contemporary Art in Valladolid.
Almost 2,300 publications on social networks also informed moviegoers of all the activities and films programmed, around 1,500 more entries than in 2023. Thanks to this, 4,240 more people joined Seminci’s different digital profiles, which now have 22,950 followers on Facebook; 18,300 on Instagram, and 44,780 on Twitter.
SEMINCI
The Valladolid International Film Festival (SEMINCI) is organised by the Valladolid City Council, with the institutional sponsorship of the Junta de Castilla y León, the Spanish Ministry of Culture’s Institute of Cinematography and Audiovisual Arts (ICAA) and the Valladolid Provincial Council.
In the 69th edition, the D.O. Ribera de Duero, Tierra de Sabor and Renault Group, as well as Unicaja, RTVE and El Norte de Castilla are sponsors. Also sponsoring this year’s edition are Recoletas Salud, University of Valladolid, FUNDOS, Cervezas Alhambra, BCD Travel, Gadis, Gaza, Renfe and DAMA..
The Festival would not have been possible in 2024 without the collaboration of ADICINE, Valladolid City of Film, PICE, Goethe Institut, Instituto Cervantes, Unifrance, Foro Cultural de Austria, ECAM Industria, Museo Patio Herreriano de Arte Contemporáneo Español de Valladolid, Círculo de Recreo de Valladolid, Hostelería de Valladolid, Asociación de Confiteros de Valladolid, Fecosva, CIMA, El Globo Rojo and Movus.
Press contact:
983 42 64 60
prensa@seminci.com
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