Between 9 and 17 November, Seville will play host to the 15^th edition of its European Film Festival, headed up once again by José Luis Cienfuegos. What’s more, on this occasion it will do so with particular enthusiasm, vigour and excitement, as barely one month later, on 15 December, the very same Andalusian city will get dressed up to the nines to host the awards ceremony for the 31^st edition of the prizes handed out by the European Film Academy (the nominations for which will be revealed on 10 November at this very festival). Therefore, this year’s gathering will be particularly special, with a wide variety of screenings, activities and meetings that will push the schedules to breaking point.

Cienfuegos pointed out, “This edition is more radical and political than ever – so much so that many European filmmakers want to make the journey to Seville with their movies, as it’s a place where we expect participation, debate and discussion.” A total of 200 films – 35 of which will be world premieres – make up the more than 400 screenings on the festival’s programme. The event will welcome, among countless others, filmmakers of the likes of Roy Andersson, Ildikó Enyedi and Ula Stöckl, who will receive some well-deserved tributes and retrospectives.

Spanish cinema will enjoy a major presence in the programme of the Seville Film Festival: actor Alberto San Juan will premiere his first directorial effort, El Rey [+lire aussi :
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fiche film], a movie about the theatrical work of the same name by the Teatro del Barrio cooperative in Madrid, starring Luis Bermejo and Willy Toledo, which was shot in a week and will form part of the new Endless Revolutions section; Xavier Artigas and Xapo Ortega (Ciutat morta) are back with another damnatory documentary, Idrissa, crónica de una muerte cualquiera [+lire aussi :
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fiche film]; and with The Hidden City [+lire aussi :
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interview : Víctor Moreno
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León Siminiani will be bringing along Notes for a Heist Film [+lire aussi :
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interview : León Siminiani
fiche film] together with Avalon (a distributor that will be screening up to six titles on its slate at the gathering), Isaki Lacuesta will be showing off his award-winning Between Two Waters [+lire aussi :
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interview : Isaki Lacuesta
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Another title that will be presented is Happy Sad [+lire aussi :
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fiche film], a drama by producer-director Ibon Cormenzana, starring Roberto Álamo, Andrés Gertrúdix and Maggie Civantos in the lead roles. Pablo Llorca is coming back to the event for the second year in a row (last year saw his Tenderness and the Third Person [+lire aussi :
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fiche film]. María Antón is also returning to Seville, as she first attended as a member of the collective lacasinegra with Pas à Genève and will now be showing off her first solo film, <3 [+lire aussi :
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fiche film]. Samuel Alarcón will be bringing along Goya’s Skull [+lire aussi :
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fiche film], a documentary on the titular painter, and Hernán Zin will present Dying to Tell [+lire aussi :
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interview : Alberto Gracia
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interview : Armand Rovira
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Nor will there be any lack of prestigious European names, such as Turkey’s Nuri Bilge Ceylan, who will introduce his latest feature, The Wild Pear Tree [+lire aussi :
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fiche film]; France’s Christophe Honoré will bring along Sorry Angel [+lire aussi :
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Q&A : Christophe Honoré
fiche film], toplined by Vincent Lacoste and Pierre Deladonchamps; and Russia’s Aleksey German Jr will rock up brandishing Dovlatov [+lire aussi :
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interview : Milan Maric
fiche film]. Yet more distinguished names that will be exhibiting their latest works at Seville include Olivier Assayas (who has been given the honour of opening the festival with Non-Fiction [+lire aussi :
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interview : Olivier Assayas
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interview : Mia Hansen-Løve
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interview : László Nemes
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interview : Richard Billingham
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More information, including a detailed programme, can be found on the festival’s website.