The 71st edition of the Seminci - Valladolid International Film Festival, running from 23-31 October, has unveiled all of the feature films taking part in its Official Selection: a total of 30 titles (eight out of competition and 22 in the running for the Golden Spike) from compelling contemporary auteurs. The festival will open with a competition film: the sci-fi-tinged love story My Notes on Mars by Hungarian filmmaker Lili Horvát, who already scooped the Golden Spike for her previous effort Preparations to Be Together for an Unknown Period of Time. Meanwhile, the out-of-competition closing film will be Hombre al agua, a comedy written, directed by and starring Mexico’s Gael García Bernal.

Among the movies vying for the Golden Spike is the latest by Danish director May el-Toukhy, Woman Unknown, the winner of Venice’s Golden Lion, the Volpi Cup for Best Actress (Mathilde Arcel) and selected to represent Denmark at the Oscars. Alongside it are the French titles A Good Little Soldier by Stéphane Brizé, also rewarded at Venice (with the Best Screenplay Award); A Man of His Time by Emmanuel Marre, Best Screenplay winner at Cannes; and La Gradiva by Marine Atlan, which scooped the Grand Prize in the Critics’ Week at the French festival. Joining them is another Cannes-lauded title, which won the Un Certain Regard Prize and has been sent off to the Oscars (by Germany): Everytime by Austria's Sandra Wollner.

For their part, from the Berlinale come Yellow Letters by Turkish-German filmmaker Ilker Çatak, winner of the Golden Bear; Queen at Sea by Lance Hammer, which bagged the Silver Bear - Jury Prize and the Silver Bear for Best Supporting Performance for Tom Courtenay and Anna Calder-Marshall, who star alongside Juliette Binoche; Rose by Austria's Markus Schleinzer, for which Sandra Hüller took home the Silver Bear for Best Leading Performance; and Prosecution by German-Iranian helmer Faraz Shariat, winner of the Panorama Audience Award.

The section is rounded off by Gentle Monster by Austria's Marie Kreutzer, the Spanish-language Aquí by Portuguese filmmaker Tiago Guedes and Double Freedom, the return of Argentina's Lisandro Alonso, all of which also premiered at Cannes; Dao by Franco-Senegalese director Alain Gomis and We Are All Strangers (Singapore) by Anthony Chen, both from Berlin; The Echo Chamber by Italy's Andrea Pallaoro, starring Luca Marinelli, Alicia Vikander and Susan Sarandon, A Bit of Light by Iran's Ali Asgari, and Mr. Nelson, Did You Kill People? (Japan/USA/Thailand/Vietnam) by Japan's Shinya Tsukamoto, all screened at Venice; and lastly, I Rarely Wake Up Dreaming by Germany’s Isabelle Stever, which bowed at Locarno.

The Spanish contingent in competition comprises the Toronto-premiered The Fortunate Isles by duo Helena Girón and Samuel Delgado, and Sisters, the debut feature by Ione Hernández, plus The Violinist, the Annecy Cristal for a Feature Film winner by Ervin Han and Raúl García. Out of competition are Una familia, the feature debut by actor Ricardo Gómez (see the news), Un hombre en un puente by David Martín de los Santos (see the news) and The Confidant by Daniel Calparsoro (see the news).

In addition, other titles screening out of competition include The Electric Kiss by France's Pierre Salvadori; Elsinore by Australia's Simon Stone, starring Andrew Scott and Olivia Colman; A Talent for Murder by Anton Corbijn, toplined by Helen Mirren; The Weight by Padraic McKinley, with Ethan Hawke and Russell Crowe; and Behind the Rain by Chile’s Valeria Sarmiento.

As usual, the festival will host a selection of the year’s creme de la creme across its parallel sections. In the Meeting Point strand, the Spanish titles Cinemanía by Marc Ferrer (see the news), As augas by Ledicia Sola (see the news), A nadadora by Sandra Sánchez and Salen las lobas by Claudia Estrada Tarascó will have their premieres, alongside screenings of films by emerging voices such as Jacqueline Lentzou (A Day in the Life of Jo: Chapter Phaedra), Marie-Clementine Dusabejambo (Ben’Imana) and Gabe Klinger (Isabel). Meanwhile, the Alchemies and Time of History sections will continue to shine a light on the most compelling documentary and hybrid cinema.