The 22nd Seville European Film Festival further strengthens its expanded big-tent model of city-wide venues, wider audiences and an enhanced industry platform, as nominations for the European Film Awards once again flock to Seville.
The 2025 edition, which will be shown from November 7th to 15th, opens with Anders Thomas Jensen’s The Last Viking, with Mads Mikkelsen at the top, and Juliette Binoche’s directorial debut, In-I in Giraldi Ross of Honor will pay homage to four intergenerational heavyweights: France-based master Costa-Gavras, Irish writer Jim Sheridan, and Seville-born Juliette Binoche, who will be screening “Motion.” Alberto Rodriguez (“Marshland,” “Los Tigres”).
“This is a year of integration, a year of showing off the city and telling the whole story of European cinema,” says festival director Manuel Cristobal. “The big change happened last year,” he claims. “This year is about scale, reliability and availability.”
Cristobal defines “integration” in concrete and local terms. “The most important thing is to bring the festival closer to the city and take pride in it,” he says. “We also want to offer European cinema in the broadest sense of the word. It’s not niche and it’s much more diverse than we are often given credit for.”
new competitive europe short section
For the first time, Seville’s Official Selection will introduce a European competitive short section spanning live-action and animation. This is a talent pipeline that complements the Rampa launch for emerging managers in 2024.
The festival will also develop an immersive cinema showcase at the Cartuja Center CITE, strengthening strategic partnerships with venues. With a 180 square meter screen and Meyer sound, the Cartuja Center is a technological flagship for turning heads.
The outward push is also ritualistic. On November 8, the festival will host the Puerta América Awards reception at the Real Alcazar Palace, highlighting the European films that represent their countries in the Oscar race.
The return of EFA candidates to the city on November 18 is loaded with symbolism. “This means a lot,” Cristobal said. “Above all, this festival is back after the crisis brought on by the previous municipal team. And not only back to Seville, but also back to one of the most attractive places in the city, the Real Alcázar.”
european film exhibition conference
Frame Sevilla, the festival’s professional hub, will feature over 30 carefully selected sessions including keynotes, case studies, finance labs and networking.
The centerpiece innovation will be the first European Film Exhibition Conference, co-organized with the Spanish exhibitors federation FECE, with four blocks of discussion reflected in a public report on policy, financing methods and audience evolution.
This industry event will be attended by a strong roster of EU and national bodies, including UNIC, Eurocinema, Italy’s ANEC and Spain’s ICAA. “Exhibitors keep theaters open, and we have to listen to them and treat them with respect,” Cristobal said.
Alliances and growth paths
Cristobal emphasizes new and deepening partnerships. “We are looking for partners, and above all, we aim to serve the industry and cinema,” he says.
Seville boasts an agreement with European Film Promotions for the Future Frames program and works with Spanish rights organization Egged to raise awareness of the producers’ work.
On the industry front, the festival will look north with opening night “The Last Viking” and “Gazes to Denmark,” which ties in with the recent awards surge. “The Girl with the Needle” directed by Magnus von Horn.
Frame, in collaboration with the Danish Film Institute and the Danish Embassy, unravels the Nordic production financing model and analyzes recent co-production workflows.
Netflix will participate in sessions on innovation and sustainability, while Secuoya Content Group and Sevilla Film & Events will present Sevilla Content City, which will promote local stages and services.
The Return Finance Roundtable “El Parne/Show Me the Money” provides first-look strategies for packaging and closing deals. The discovery pipeline is powered by EFP’s Future Frames, a spin-out in Hamburg and Seville in partnership with Karlovy Vary, which brings young helmsmen into the SEFF ecosystem through shorts spotlights and talent meetings.
opening night comedy
For Spanish distributor Avalon, Seville’s choice of an opening night comedy like “The Last Viking” signals commercial intent.
“We’re especially excited that a festival of this size is betting on comedy as its opening film,” says Avalon founder Stefan Schmitz. “This sanctifies the film as a potential event film for a wide audience and gives it significant publicity ahead of its commercial release in March.”
Wide range of Spanish and Andalusian works
The lineup includes signatures from Spain and Andalusia. Rodriguez brought Giraldillo together as a Movistar Plus+ original film, “Los Tigres,” which was distributed in Spain by Buena Vista International and screened as a special screening. Meanwhile, Rodriguez’s longtime co-screenwriter Rafael Cobos has brought his feature debut thriller Golpes, co-produced by France’s Playtime and Vaca Film, to the Panorama Andalus sidebar.
Elsewhere, Andalusian nonfiction ranges from legitimizing Gypsy history (Pendaripen by Alfonso Sánchez) to artistic portraits (Luis Gordillo Manual de Instracciones) to music-driven journeys (Fandango), amplifying Seville’s cross-section of southern voices.
European writers and up-and-coming writers
European writers and up-and-coming writers collide in different fields. The official selection includes live-action and animation films such as Sylvain Chomet’s La Ville, as well as works by high-profile festival alumni. Among them is La petite dernière, directed by Hafsia Herzi, starring Cannes Film Festival Best Actress winner Nadia Metti. Dag Johan Haugerd’s Berlinale Golden Bear Award winning work “Dreams (Sex Love)”. And Laurent Cantet’s posthumous work “Enzo” completed by Robin Campillo.
Meanwhile, Michał Kwieczyński’s lavish biopic “Chopin, Chopin!”, distributed by Playtime and acquired for Spain by Lazona Pictures, closed the festival uncompetitively.
In Embrujo’s sidebar (formerly Las Nuevas Olas), Sevilla features more daring linguistic expressions, from Momoko Seto’s dialogue-free environmental fable “The Dandelion Odyssey” to Sophia Petersen’s 16mm reverie “Olivia.”
Rampa’s first and second novels span genres and personal histories. God Will Not Help, directed by Croatian helmer Hana Jusic, winner of the Locarno Prize, My Father’s Shadow, directed by Cannes award-winning Nigerian filmmaker Akinola Davis Jr., and Imago, directed by Deni Umar Pitsaev, winner of Cannes’ French Touch/Ouille d’Or Award.
“We need movies for different audiences. Not every title is for everyone, but everyone should be able to find a movie that’s right for them,” Cristobal says.
This is in line with Seville’s reinforced promise to be a launching pad for both author discovery and wide-audience titles released after the festival. Examples include Mediaset España’s new installment of the hit musical saga, Todos los rados de la cama, and Studiocanal and Bamboo’s dramatic Daniel Sánchez Arévalo’s Rondalas, distributed by Beta Fiction Spain.
