This film festival marks its 20th anniversary with a four-day celebration from May 15 to May 18, bringing together cinema fans, creators, and communities in a shared love of storytelling on the big screen. The organizers, including the Spanish federation of cinemas and its network of distributors, have announced a special reduced ticket price of 3.50 euros to welcome audiences from across Canada and the United States who are curious to explore a curated program that blends bold premieres with enduring favorites. The festival remains committed to making cinema accessible and social, turning theaters into lively hubs where discussions, reactions, and spontaneous discoveries fuel a broader conversation about film culture today. It is a moment to reflect on how moviegoing can still feel like a communal ritual, even as streaming habits evolve and audiences seek immersive, in-person experiences.
This year’s advance sale runs from May 10 through the festival window, online and at the box office. Attendees who have participated in the festival before can pre-register on the festival’s official site as usual, with a warm reminder that the discount and pre-registration policy continue to welcome most audiences. Children and teens under 14 as well as seniors over 60 are accommodated with simplified access rules, ensuring that families and aging enthusiasts alike can plan ahead. The streamlined process is designed to reduce queuing at peak times and to encourage spontaneous visits by those who discover a title they love during the advance listings. The festival team emphasizes that early planning helps maintain smooth operations, clearer seating options, and a more relaxed experience for everyone who buys a seat in advance.
The event has grown from its modest beginnings in June 2009 into a twice-yearly highlight that revived after interruptions caused by recent global health challenges. Since 2011, the festival has become a reliable fixture on the cultural calendar, balancing new work with retrospective screenings, debates, and industry talks that bring together filmmakers, distributors, critics, and fans. When the pandemic paused in-person gatherings, the festival adapted while preserving its spirit, eventually returning to the big screen with renewed energy and a stronger sense of community. This resilience underlines the festival’s mission to keep cinema accessible as a shared cultural experience rather than a solitary pastime.
The most recent edition, held last October, drew a remarkable crowd and recorded attendance figures that far exceeded the year prior, underscoring a strong rebound in audience engagement. More than a million people followed four days of screenings, conversations, and premieres, reflecting a hopeful return to live events after the disruption of the pandemic. The numbers highlighted a broad appeal across genres and formats, from intimate dramas to bold genre films, and demonstrated the festival’s ability to adapt programming to audience tastes while maintaining high standards of curation. The current edition builds on that momentum with new premieres and a lineup that promises to resonate with viewers across North America and beyond.
Upcoming among the festival’s premieres are a mix of high-profile titles and local productions. Audiences will have the chance to see Guardians of the Galaxy: Volume 3 in a showcase that pairs blockbuster spectacle with a thoughtful ensemble cast. In addition, The Lost King by Stephen Frears offers a compelling real-world mystery translated to the screen with his characteristic human touch. The western The Bounty Hunter, featuring Christoph Waltz and Willem Dafoe, brings a classic genre flavor to the lineup, while Spanish films such as Fatum, Asedio, the comedy Vaya vacaciones, and the quirky 20,000 species of bees broaden the festival’s international palette. These selections aim to engage diverse tastes and spark conversations about storytelling, production, and performance across languages and cultures.