Valladolid International Film Festival

History

The first edition of the festival began on 20 March 1956 under the name of Semana de Cine Religioso de Valladolid with the goal of promoting Catholic moral values in conjunction with the celebration of Holy Week in Valladolid. For the first two years it was not competitive and no prizes were awarded. In 1958 the Don Bosco gold and silver awards and the Special Mention appeared, which the following year were replaced by the Lábaro and the Ciudad de Valladolid Award, respectively.{{cite web | access-date =2024-01-22}}{{cite web | access-date =2024-01-22}}

The films to be shown were already selected according to quality and not quantity criteria, even if that meant having an insufficient number of films. Starting in 1960, the festival was renamed Semana Internacional de Cine Religioso y de Valores Humanos (the International Week of Religious Cinema and Human Values) and the theme of the films was expanded, accepting those in which human and committed values prevailed. That year the Golden Spike also began to be awarded, alongside the existing prizes and (since 1961) the San Gregorio Prize.{{cite web | access-date =2024-01-22}}

In 1973 the festival adopted its current name, due to the progressive increase in the films in competition and increased interest from producers. The end of the Franco dictatorship made it possible to leave behind the religious character.{{cite web | access-date =2024-01-22}} The following year the Lábaro disappeared and the Espiga became the main award. Subsequently, the awards for best actor and actress (1979), best screenplay (1984), best first film (1989), the Jury (1991) and the best new director (1992), among others, were introduced.

Since 2008, for 15 years, the festival was headed by Javier Angulo.{{cite web | access-date =2024-01-21}} In 2023, José Luis Cienfuegos was named as the new director of the Seminci. He was previously the director of the Gijón International Film Festival (1995–2011) and the Seville European Film Festival (2012–2022).{{cite web | access-date =2024-01-21}}{{cite web | access-date =2024-01-21}}

Golden Spike

Films compete for the (Espiga de Oro), the top prize awarded at the festival. A list displaying some of the winners is as follows:

• 44th (1999): East Is East.
• 45th (2000): Requiem for a Dream & The Town Is Quiet.
• 46th (2001): Italian for Beginners.
• 47th (2002): Sweet Sixteen.
• 48th (2003): Osama & Crimson Gold.
• 49th (2004): 3-Iron.
• 50th (2005): In Bed.
• 51st (2006): The Optimists.
• 52nd (2007): **.
• 53rd (2008): Estômago: A Gastronomic Story.
• 54th (2009): Honeymoons.
• 55th (2010): Certified Copy & No Return.
• 56th (2011): Come as You Are.
• 57th (2012): Horses of God.
• 58th (2013): Tokyo Family.
• 59th (2014): The Farewell Party.
• 60th (2015): Rams.
• 61st (2016): Like Crazy.
• 62nd (2017): The Nile Hilton Incident.
• 63rd (2018): Genesis.
• 64th (2019): Öndög.
• 65th (2020): Preparations to Be Together for an Unknown Period of Time.
• 66th (2021): Last Film Show.
• 67th (2022): Return to Dust.
• 68th (2023): The Permanent Picture
• 69th (2024): Misericordia
• 70th (2025): Magellan & The Mastermind

Acknowledgments

In 2016 the Seminci was recognized with the Castilla y León Prize for the Arts, the highest institutional award from the region of Castile and León.

Informational notes

References

;Citations ;Bibliography

References

1. Encinas, Antonio G.. (4 November 2015). "SEMana INternacional de CHIne".
2. Zurro, Javier. (22 October 2018). "Letizia, la reina cinéfila que prefiere la Seminci a los Goya".
3. Redacción. ""Minari" de Lee Isaac Chung y "Nowhere Special" de Uberto Pasolini competirán por la Espiga de Oro en la SEMINCI 2020 {{!}} Cine".
4. Fernández-Santos, Ángel. (31 October 1999). "'Oriente es Oriente' gana la Espiga de Oro y el director Kitano el premio al mejor actor".
5. (26 June 2015). "'Réquiem por un sueño', mejor película de la historia de la Seminci".
6. (3 November 2001). "La película danesa 'Italiano para principiantes' gana la Espiga de Oro de la Seminci".
7. Fernández-Santos, Ángel. (3 November 2002). "Ken Loach gana con 'Sweet sixteen' la Espiga de Oro".
8. (1 November 2003). "«Osama» y «Sangre y Oro» comparten la Espiga de Oro en Valladolid".
9. Fernández, M.A. (30 October 2004). "El surcoreano Kim Ki-duk gana la Espiga de Oro de la Seminci por «Hierro 3»".
10. Torreiro, Casimiro. (30 October 2005). "'En la cama', de Matías Bize, sorprendente ganadora de la Espiga de Oro de la Seminci".
11. (28 October 2006). "La Seminci otorga la Espiga de Oro a la película serbia 'Optimisti'".
12. Pérez, Mónica G.. (3 November 2011). "'14 kilómetros' gana la Espiga de Oro de la Seminci".
13. Hopewell, John. (3 November 2008). "'Estomago' wins at Valladolid".
14. Hopewell, John. (2 November 2009). "Valladolid goes for 'Honeymoons'".
15. (30 October 2010). "«Copia Conforme» y «Sin Retorno» Espiga de Oro de la Seminci".
16. (29 October 2011). "La belga 'Hasta la vista', espiga de Oro de la Seminci".
17. (27 October 2012). "La Espiga de Oro para 'Los caballos de Dios', de Nabil Ayouc".
18. (26 October 2013). "La película japonesa 'Una familia de Tokio', de Yoji Yamada, gana la Espiga de Oro de la Seminci".
19. (27 October 2014). "Palmarés de la Seminci de Valladolid 2014".
20. (31 October 2015). ""Hrútar" (El valle de los carneros), Espiga de Oro en la 60ª Seminci".
21. (30 October 2016). "Locas de alegría, de Paolo Virzì, gana la Espiga de Oro de la Seminci 2016".
22. (28 October 2017). ""The Nile Hilton incident", de Tarik Saleh, Espiga de Oro de la 62 Seminci".
23. Regueira, Samuel. (27 October 2018). "'Genèse' y 'Yomeddine' triunfan en la 63 Seminci".
24. (26 October 2019). "'Öndög' gana la Espiga de Oro de la Seminci".
25. (31 October 2020). "'Preparations to be Together' triunfa en la 65 edición con tres premios, incluyendo la Espiga de Oro".
26. (30 October 2021). "[Seminci 2021] 'Last Film Show' se alza con la Espiga de Oro en Valladolid".
27. (29 October 2022). "El chino Li Ruijun, galardonado con la Espiga de Oro de la Seminci con 'Return to Dust'".
28. (29 October 2023). "Valladolid: 'The Permanent Picture,' 'The Old Oak' Win Big as the Spanish Festival's Reboot Wins Applause".
29. (26 October 2024). "'Misericordia', del cineasta francés Alan Guiraudie, gana la Espiga de Oro de la Seminci 2024".
30. Blanes, Pepa. (1 November 2025). "Espiga de Oro 'ex aequo' para 'The Mastermind' de Kelly Reichardt y para la producción española 'Magallanes' de Lav Diaz".
31. (21 April 2017). "Herrera apela al legado histórico de León y de Castilla para reivindicar el potencial de la comunidad". [[Diario de León]].