21/10/2025 - The Dardenne brothers, Sergei Loznitsa, Christian Petzold, Gianfranco Rosi and Ildikó Enyedi, among others, are competing in an Official Selection brimming with committed auteurs

The Seminci – Valladolid International Film Festival will unspool its 70th edition from 24 October-1 November with a line-up that examines global conflicts from a humanist perspective. Boasting 224 titles (including 29 world and 103 national premieres), it will sketch a powerful portrait of contemporary geopolitical tensions. As its director, José Luis Cienfuegos, underlined at a recent presentation in Madrid, the festival cements its vocation as a showcase for humanist cinema, reaffirming its commitment to stories that challenge audiences’ conscience.

The Official Selection, comprising 28 features, gathers some of the most highly respected filmmakers on the international scene, including, from Cannes, the Dardenne brothers with Young Mothers [+see also:
film review
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interview: Luc and Jean-Pierre Dardenne
film profile] (winner of Best Screenplay), Bi Gan with Resurrection [+see also:
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film profile] (Special Jury Prize), Sergei Loznitsa with Two Prosecutors [+see also:
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interview: Sergei Loznitsa
film profile], Lav Diaz with Magellan [+see also:
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film profile], Christian Petzold with Mirrors No. 3 [+see also:
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interview: Christian Petzold
film profile], Nadav Lapid with Yes [+see also:
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film profile] and Kelly Reichardt with The Mastermind. Meanwhile, arriving from Venice are Gianfranco Rosi with Below the Clouds [+see also:
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interview: Gianfranco Rosi
film profile], Special Jury Prize; Ildikó Enyedi with Silent Friend [+see also:
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interview: Ildikó Enyedi
film profile]; László Nemes with Orphan [+see also:
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interview: László Nemes
film profile]; and Pietro Marcello with Duse [+see also:
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interview: Pietro Marcello
film profile].

Alongside them are fresh faces such as Mascha Schilinski with Sound of Falling [+see also:
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interview: Mascha Schilinski
film profile], Jury Prize winner at Cannes; Gabriel Mascaro with The Blue Trail [+see also:
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film profile], Grand Jury Prize at Berlin; Shih-Ching Tsou, producer for Oscar winner Sean Baker, with Left-Handed Girl [+see also:
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film profile] and Shu Qi with Girl (out of competition); plus Chinese director Huo Meng with Living the Land, Best Director at the Berlinale; US filmmaker Eva Victor with Sorry, Baby, rewarded at Sundance; Japanese filmmaker Hikari with Rental Family; and Argentina's Ramiro Sonzini and Ezequiel Salinas with La noche está marchándose ya.

These will be joined by the already-announced Spanish titles (see the news) as well as the feature-length directorial debut by Rafael Cobos, Golpes (see the news), and David Trueba’s latest film, Siempre es invierno (see the news), which will close the out-of-competition strand.

Meanwhile, the ever-stimulating Punto de Encuentro sidebar consolidates its status as a space for discovering new talent, with 20 international titles joining the Spanish selection (see the news). This section will feature films such as Palestine 36 [+see also:
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interview: Pedro Pinho
film profile] (Best Actress in Cannes’ Un Certain Regard) by Pedro Pinho; Heads or Tails? [+see also:
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interview: Alessio Rigo de Righi and M…
film profile], a spaghetti western orchestrated by Alessio Rigo de Righi and Matteo Zoppis; Gavagai [+see also:
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film profile] by Ulrich Köhler; and On the Road (Orizzonti Best Film and Queer Lion at Venice) by David Pablos, among others.

On the industry front, the festival will bring the European film sector together from 27 October-1 November around a comprehensive slate of professional activities. The new edition of the Independent Film Market (MERCI) will gather around 200 distribution and exhibition professionals, who will get a first look at forthcoming arthouse releases over the course of three days. The meeting will include a joint session with the Europa Cinemas network on subscription models, and the market’s closing ceremony will host the La Meseta Distribución Awards, which for the first time will recognise the best promotional campaigns for movies released by independent distributors.

In parallel, from 29 October-1 November, the Patio Herreriano will host the Europa Cinemas Audience Development and Innovation Lab under the title “Designing the Cinemas of the Future”, where European exhibitors will work on strategies in the fields of digital marketing, programming and sustainability.

(Translated from Spanish)