Gijón International Film Festival
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The Gijón International Film Festival ( or ''FICXixón'') is an annual
film festival A film festival is an organized, extended presentation of films in one or more movie theater, cinemas or screening venues, usually annually and in a single city or region. Some film festivals show films outdoors or online. Films may be of recent ...
held in Gijón, a city in northwest
Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...
. The festival is mainly concentrated on independent and auteur cinema. Gijón's International Short Film Competition qualifies for Oscar and the Goya Awards.


History


Foundation and first years

The festival's origins date back to 1963. In the beginning it was an initiative of the City Council of Gijón in co-operation with Caja de Ahorros de Asturias (Cajastur). Both entities co-operate with the Festival, the first as organizer and the second as sponsor. The first year it was held, it was called ''Certamen Internacional de Cine y TV Infantil'' (International Children's cinema and TV contest). Between 1964 and 1968 it still kept the same name, only the last part, “children's”, was substituted by “for children”. Between 1969 and 1976 this last part stopped appearing in the Festival's name. From 1977 till 1978 it received the name Certamen Internacional de Cine para la Infancia y la Juventud (International Cinema Contest for Children and Teens). Although in 1986 the Festival began to put the text Gijón International Film Festival in front of its name, it was not until 1988 that it officially adopted this name. Every year the Festival appoints a Young Jury made up of teens between 17 and 25 years among those, who request it. In 1995, José Luis Cienfuegos was appointed the festival's director. That year, the festival gained an attendance of 10,000. In May 1996 the Entidad Mercantil Artístico-Musical Teatro Municipal Jovellanos de Gijón, S.A., body in charge of the organization of the event together with the City Council, was founded, and changed its name later into Divertia S.A.. This institution is in charge of the theatre's running, the festivities department and the organization of the Film Festival.


XXI century

By the early 2012s, the Gijón International Film Festival had earned itself a reputation as one of the most prestigious independent film festivals in Spain and Europe and was referred to as the Spanish Sundance. In 2012, a huge scandal happened when the local authorities dismissed the director José Luis Cienfuegos and his team and appointed Nacho Carballo. Despite a 7.5 times rise in attendance that the festival achieved under Cienfuegos and a wide international acclaim, the authorities decided to ‘change the direction’ and make it a "more Asturian event". In the media it was called a shock move, soon more that 400 prominent filmmakers (including
Pedro Almodóvar Pedro Almodóvar Caballero (; born 25 September 1949) is a Spanish film director, screenwriter and author. His films are distinguished by Melodrama (film genre), melodrama, irreverent humour, bold colour, glossy décor, quotations from popular c ...
, Abel Ferrara,
Fernando Trueba Fernando Rodríguez Trueba (born 18 January 1955), known as Fernando Trueba, is a Spanish filmmaker, writer, producer and book editor. Career Between 1974 and 1979, Trueba worked as a film critic for Spain's leading daily newspaper '' El Paí ...
,
Agustí Villaronga Agustí Villaronga Riutort (; 4 March 1953 – 22 January 2023) was a Spanish film director, screenwriter and actor. He directed several feature films, a documentary, three projects for television and three shorts. His film ''Moon Child (1989 f ...
, Jaime Rosales, Alex de la Iglesia, Isabel Coixet, etc.) signed an open letter demanding reinstallment of Cienfuegos and his team or else they will boycott the event. The present director, Alejandro Díaz Castaño, was elected in 2017 after a public tender to replace Nacho Carballo. Along with Díaz Castaño, a whole new management team headed the festival and introduced a series of novelties to enrich the festival. Throughout the years, some of the most prestigious professionals in independent filmmaking have attended the festival, such as
Abbas Kiarostami Abbas Kiarostami ( ; 22 June 1940 – 4 July 2016) was an Iranian film director, screenwriter, poet, photographer, and film producer. An active filmmaker from 1970, Kiarostami had been involved in the production of over forty films, including s ...
, Aki Kaurismäki, Todd Haynes, Pedro Costa, Paul Schrader, João César Monteiro,
Seijun Suzuki , born (24 May 1923 – 13 February 2017), was a Japanese filmmaker, actor, and screenwriter. His films are known for their florid visual style, absurd humour, and a playful rejection of traditional film grammar. He made 40 predominately ...
, Jem Cohen,
Kenneth Anger Kenneth Anger (born Kenneth Wilbur Anglemyer, February 3, 1927 – May 11, 2023) was an American Underground film, underground experimental filmmaker, actor, and writer. Working exclusively in short films, he produced almost 40 works beginning i ...
, Ulrich Seidl, Hal Hartley, Lukas Moodysson,
Tsai Ming-liang Tsai Ming-liang (; born 27 October 1957) is a Malaysian filmmaker based in Taiwan. Tsai has written and directed 11 feature films, many short films, and television films. He is one of the most celebrated "Second New Wave" film directors of T ...
,
Claire Denis Claire Denis (; ; born 21 April 1946) is a French film director and screenwriter. Her feature film '' Beau Travail'' (1999) has been called one of the greatest films of the 1990s and of all time. Her work has dealt with themes of colonial and p ...
, Todd Solondz,
Bertrand Bonello Bertrand Bonello (; born 11 September 1968) is a French film director, screenwriter, producer, composer and actor. His work has been associated with the New French Extremity. He wrote and directed ''Something Organic'' (1998), '' The Pornographe ...
, Apichatpong Weerasethakul, Whit Stillman, Eugène Green or Philippe Garrel. Among the festival's national and international guests, either as members of the International Jury or presenting their films in the various sections of the festival, are John Cale, Maria Schneider, Monte Hellman, Nicolas Winding Refn,
Darren Aronofsky Darren Aronofsky (born February 12, 1969) is an American Filmmaking, filmmaker. His films are noted for their surreal, dramatic, and often disturbing elements, frequently in the form of psychological realism. His accolades include a Golden Lion ...
, Víctor Erice, Isabel Coixet or Carla Simón. Gijón International Film Festival also comprises a series of events, such as courses, panel discussions, q&a's and daily concerts, as well as live music parties. Since 2017, it has organized a series of activities for professionals, under the name of FICX Industry Days: Push Play Work-in-Progress section, Cineteca FICX (co-produced with the Universidad Laboral), etc. The festival awards various prizes in its competitive sections and collaborates in other initiatives with an aim to promote Asturian filmmaking industry. Said awards are decided upon by an International Jury (made up of at least 5 professionals from different countries), a Young Jury (50 young people between 17 and 26 years of age) and, since 2005, a
FIPRESCI The International Federation of Film Critics (FIPRESCI, short for ''Fédération Internationale de la Presse Cinématographique'') is an association of national organizations of professional film critics and film journalists from around the wor ...
jury.


Sections and competitions


Main competitions

The deadline to present films is September 20, projects to apply to the Enfants Terribles sidebar are taken until August 25. ''Tierres en Trance Competition'' is dedicated to Ibero-American films, the section is judged by the FIPRESCI jury. ''Albar Competition'' is dedicated to established names in contemporary cinema. ''Retueyos Competition'' focuses on emerging talents and their first, second and third films.


Other awards and sections

Along with the three main competitions, the Gijón International Film Festival also presents: Audience Award, Enfants Terribles Award for Best Feature Film, several Young Jury’s Awards, DAMA Award for Best Script of a Spanish Film, AMAE Award for Best Editing of a Spanish Film, DCP Deluxe Award for Best Director of a Spanish Feature Film, CIMA Award for Best Feature Film Directed by a Woman, Principality of Asturias New Filmmakers Award, and many more. As a part of a non-competition program, the festival hosts retrospectives of various directors and audiovisual artists.


Nacho Martínez award

In 2002, the Gijón International Film Festival established a National Film Award named after 'Nacho Martínez' to honour people who have contributed significantly to the film industry. The statuette, awarded to the winners, is a unique sculpture made by Jaime Herrero. * 2002 – Juan Echanove, actor; * 2003 – Gonzalo Suárez, director; * 2004 – Eusebio Poncela, actor; * 2005 – Assumpta Serna, actress, she co-starred with him in ''Matador''; * 2006 – Maribel Verdú, actress; * 2007 – Marisa Paredes; * 2008 – Mercedes Sampietro, actress; * 2009 – Ángela Molina actress; * 2010 – Charo López actress; * 2011 – Montxo Armendáriz, film director and screenwriter; * 2012 – Luis San Narciso, artistic director; * 2013 – Carmelo Gómez, actor; * 2014 – Imanol Arias, actor; * 2015 – José Sacristán, actor; * 2016 – Lluís Homar, actor and theater director; * 2017 – Verónica Forqué, actress; * 2018 – Jaun Diego, Andalusian actor; * 2019 – Ernesto Alterio, actor; In 2020, when Jaime Herrero, an artist and the creator of the statuettes presented to the Nacho Martínez Award winners, passed away, the award was discontinued.


References


External links


Official site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gijon International Film Festival Film festivals in Spain Culture of Asturias Gijón Tourist attractions in Asturias