The 68th Valladolid International Film Week (Seminci) will bring together in its competitive sections the largest participation of Spanish cinema in its history, with the signatures of Manuel Martín Cuenca, Antonio Méndez Esparza, Lois Patiño, Víctor Iriarte and Laura Ferrés in its Official Section , as candidates to win the coveted Golden Spike.
The Spanish film program in the 2023 edition, which will be held from October 21 to 28 in Valladolid and marks the debut of José Luis Cienfuegos as director of the festival, includes fifteen productions with five world premieres, two Europeans and eight nationals, according to The organization has reported in a press release.
The Official Section opens to the eyes of established filmmakers with the latest works by Manuel Martín Cuenca, "El amor de Andrea"; and Antonio Méndez Esparza, "Let no one sleep"; along with the long-awaited third feature by Lois Patiño, "Samsara". But it also hosts the fiction debuts of Víctor Iriarte with "Especially at night" and Laura Ferrés with "La imatge permanent".
"El amor de Andrea", with a rookie cast headed by Lupe Mateo Barredo and music by Vetusta Morla, narrates the search of a girl to recover the love of an absent father, in the most intimate and personal film by Martín Cuenca, which will mean its world premiere at Seminci.
For his part, Antonio Méndez Esparza will present, also in a world premiere, his first film shot in Spain, "Que nadie duerma", an adaptation of the homonymous novel by Juan José Millás, with a cast headed by Malena Alterio and Aitana Sánchez -Gijon.
In "Especially at night", Víctor Iriarte narrates an emotional encounter around the motherhood of three characters who are looking for their place in the world and starring the actresses Lola Dueñas and Ana Torrent, in a story that starts from melodrama and becomes a film noir.
Galician Lois Patiño tackles in "Samsara", his third feature film, a story about reincarnation that takes place between Nepal and Zanzibar, and that helps the filmmaker to deepen his formal exploration of cinematographic language, investigating the representation of the invisible in cinema .
Finally, Laura Ferrés arrives with "La imatge permanent" in the Official Section, a story within a story about a woman who chases another woman, avid for adventure; a melodrama with non-professional actors not exempt from touches of absurd humor, which the filmmaker has written in collaboration with Carlos Vermut and Ulises Porra.
The 68th edition of Seminci will have the widest participation of Spanish cinema in its history and, although there are still pending titles to be announced, the organization has also announced what will be four directorial premieres in the Official Section, but already out of contest.
Paula Ortiz, Patricia Ortega, Lone Scherfig, all of them awarded in different editions of Seminci, and Patricia Font will bring to the festival four different stories starring prominent Spanish actors and actresses such as Blanca Portillo, Asier Etxeandia, Kiti Mánver, Enric Auquer, Laia Costa or Antonio de la Torre.
Paula Ortiz, winner of the Pilar Miró Award at the 56th Week, will world premiere her film "Teresa", an adaptation of the play "La lengua en pezos" by Juan Mayorga, starring Blanca Portillo and Asier Etxeandia; Patricia Ortega, Espiga Arco Iris of the 63rd edition, will premiere "Mamacruz", with Kity Mánver as the protagonist of a story about the rediscovery of desire.
The Goya winner for best short film, Patricia Font, will present at a world premiere "The Master Who Promised the Sea", inspired by the life of the master Antoni Benaiges starring Laia Costa and Enric Auquer, while Lone Scherfig -Espiga de Oro from the 46 Week- will open the 68th edition with "La contadora de películas".
Punto de Encuentro, one of Seminci's great revelations, will offer the works of young Spanish filmmakers, such as "Negu hurblak", by Colectivo Negu, which addresses isolation and waiting through the story of an escape in the context of the end of terrorism in the Basque Country, with Jone Laspiur, winner of the Goya for Most Promising Actress for "Ane", as the protagonist.
"On the Go", by María Gisèle Royo and Julia de Castro, a provocative, naughty, independent and LGTBI-friendly road movie about friendship and love failure, starring Omar Ayuso, Chacha Huang and Julia de Castro; and "Muyeres", by Marta Lallana, a film about the memory and traditions of the Asturian mountains of Somiedo with the musician Raül Refree as the protagonist.
Finally, in History Time the proposals of Oskar Alegria ("Zinzindurrunkarratz", on the reconstruction of memory through sounds) will be shown; David Pantaleón and José Víctor Fuentes ("An inhabited volcano", which describes the impact on the population of the eruption of the La Palma volcano); and Virginia García del Pino ("The Love Scam", a film-performance that deconstructs the idea of romantic love
