Ventana Cinéfila

The Ventana Cinéfila Educational Project Opens Registration for Its Fifth Edition

This initiative, unprecedented within the European festival scene, will offer seven feature films and two short film programs, bringing together the Valladolid, Malaga, Seville, Huelva, and Sitges film competitions through ProFestivales21.

The Valladolid International Film Festival, the Sitges - International Fantastic Film Festival of Catalonia, the Seville European Film Festival, the Huelva Ibero-American Film Festival and the Malaga Film Festival, united under the ProFestivales21 umbrella, have launched the Ventana Cinéfila (Cinephile Window) project, a free online film channel in collaboration with the FILMIN platform aimed at educational centers that seeks to promote film education among the viewers of the future, who will be able to register starting this Monday, September 16.

This unique project brings together five of the most important film festivals for the purpose of expanding the social perspective and aesthetic sensibility of young people through a lineup of films selected and agreed upon by the respective programmers, featuring a selection of recently produced international films that prioritize quality and thematic and aesthetic balance, in keeping with the different age groups from each grade level.

This year, Ventana Cinéfila's lineup features seven feature films and two programs of six short films each by contemporary international filmmakers. These films address issues that resonate with the current reality of any student from different perspectives and narrative approaches, fostering an active and cross-disciplinary approach to multiple subjects.

The selected feature films are Beautiful Thing, by Hettie MacDonald (United Kingdom, 1996), a story of initiation about the romantic awakening of two gay teenagers in the complicated environment of a marginal district of London, fearing rejection due to their sexual orientation; The New Kid, by Rudi Rosenberg (France, 2015), a coming-of-age story brimming with humor and tenderness, acclaimed by critics and audiences alike, winner of the New Directors Award at the San Sebastián Film Festival, about a new boy who arrives at a school where no one pays any attention to him; or La suprema, by Felipe Holguín (Colombia, 2023), winner of the Audience Choice Award at the Huelva Film Festival, a story about a teenage girl from a remote and isolated village in Colombia who dreams of becoming a boxer.

Animation will also be featured in Ventana Cinéfila with Calamity, a Childhood of Martha Jane Cannary, by Rémi Chayé (France, 2020), an initiatory western about a heroine in the conquest of the Wild West, winner of the Annecy Festival; Lonely Castle in the Mirror, by Francesca Calo, Keiichi Hara, and Takakazu Nagatomo (Japan, 2022), an extraordinary anime about a group of teenagers with complicated and lonely lives who access a wondrous castle through the mirrors in their bedrooms; As Aventuras do Pequeno Colombo, by Rodrigo Gava (Brazil, 2016), where three young friends—Christopher Columbus, Leo Da Vinci, and Mona Lisa—set sail for an island in Brazil where, according to legend, there's a hidden treasure; and My Grandfather's Demons, by Nuno Beato (Portugal/Spain/France, 2022), a story nominated for the Goya Award about a young, big-city woman who reconnects with her rural roots through letters and clues left behind by her recently deceased grandfather, who wants her to make amends for his past mistakes.

The short film programs also include animated and live-action films. In the program designed for elementary schools, there is a strong focus on both nature and the environment, as well as themes such as the animal world, friendship and empathy, and female empowerment. Meanwhile, the films selected for high schools touch on issues such as gender identity, sexual diversity, awareness of climate change, and the power of social media over teenagers.

New for this year's edition, the screenings will be introduced by the programmers responsible for selecting the films, who will offer students some key points to consider when watching the film and highlight the merits of each one of them. Ventana Cinéfila will be available on FILMIN from October 15th to November 30th. Schools in Castile and León, Andalusia, and Catalonia will be able to access the content after registration, which opens on Monday, September 16th. Schools that wish to register can do so through the Festival's website.

Teaching Guides

Each school interested in participating will also receive a comprehensive teaching guide for each film, produced by Drac Màgic, a social initiative cooperative founded in 1971 and devoted to the study and dissemination of audiovisual culture. One of its most notable projects is the distribution company Pack Màgic, which specializes in children's films. These guides are designed to spark curiosity about each film and encourage a love of cinema from an early age.

Teachers can use these teaching guides to work with students and enrich classroom discussion before and after viewing, as well as to explore subjects such as history, natural sciences, languages, and art more in depth and across different disciplines, appealing to the present reality of any student through new approaches and narrative perspectives.

This initiative, with the participation of Primary, Secondary, and High School students, was launched in 2020 by Seminci, the Valladolid International Film Festival, and the Seville European Film Festival, which were later joined by the Huelva, Malaga, and Sitges Film Festivals under the Profestivales21 Brand. In its first four editions, Ventana Cinéfila programmed more than 32 feature films and 43 short films—grouped into different programs for each age range—including both animation and live action and covering a wide range of topics and current social issues.

Last year, this pioneering program reached 366,938 viewers and included the participation of more than a thousand teachers from Castile and León, Andalusia, and Catalonia.

If you would like to register, please fill out this form.

Feature Films

Short Films for Elementary Schools

Juan Viento, by Carlos Farina (Argentina, 2020)
The Masked Avenger, by Lluna Strmotić (Croatia, 2021)
The Chameleon, by Pim Ter Braak (Netherlands, 2022)
Suzie in the Garden, by Lucie Sunková (Czech Republic, 2022)
Out There, by Judit Orosz (Hungary, 2020)
Funny Birds, by Charlie Belin (France, 2022)

Short Films for High Schools

Trumpets In The Sky, by Rayan Makasi (Palestine/Lebanon/France/Belgium, 2021)
La Prima Cosa, by Omar Al Abdul Razzak & Shira Ukrainitz (Spain/France, 2021)
Taste of Love, by Emma Benestan (France, 2016)
Last Days of Summer, by Stenzin Tankong (India/France, 2023)
By Flávio, by Pedro Cabeleira (Portugal/France, 2022)
Las infantas, by Andrea H. Catalá (Spain, 2021)