The screenings will take place at the Rafael Serrano Cultural Centre, the epicentre of a festival that will once again turn the municipality into a meeting place for filmmakers, audiences and industry professionals
.
Calzada de Calatrava, 29 August 2025. Calzada de Calatrava is getting ready to experience, from 1 to 11 October, the twelfth edition of its Film Festival, an event already consolidated in the cultural calendar of Castilla-La Mancha, which this year presents important novelties both in its cinematographic programme and in its organisational structure. The screenings will take place at the Rafael Serrano Cultural Centre, the epicentre of a festival that will once again turn the municipality into a meeting place for filmmakers, audiences and industry professionals.
One of the main decisions of this edition has been the change of dates. The festival, traditionally held in August, has been moved to October for the first time. The mayoress of Calzada de Calatrava, Gema García, explained the reasons for this decision, among which both technical and strategic factors stand out. In August we coincided with different local festivities, which made it difficult to reconcile the agendas of groups and associations, as well as making a titanic effort to orchestrate the festival among so many events”. This was also decided because October is a month “that allows us to connect with the educational community, in the middle of the school year, favouring the formation of new audiences and the dissemination of film culture in schools and institutes”. In fact, “we have several initiatives with the students of our educational centres that will connect from the very first moment”, he added.
The mayoress underlined the opportunity for the town to revitalise the autumn with top-level events. It should be noted that “in August the town has a large influx of visitors because it is the holiday season, but we wanted Calzada also shine in October, a month in which we are committed to becoming a cultural reference, when so far we did not have any proposal for the October agenda”.
Twelfth edition
The director of the XII Calzada de Calatrava Film Festival, Hernán Valdés, has announced that this twelfth edition introduces “important innovations in its overall structure”, with the aim of reinforcing the quality of the programme and opening up new avenues of participation. “This year we have opted for a single national short film competition, in collaboration with CortoEspaña (Premios Fugaz), which guarantees the participation of works of all genres and techniques with a high artistic and technical level”. Specifically, “to speak of CortoEspaña is to speak of a safe bet, because it is an entity that works for more than a hundred festivals”.
The organisation maintains, as an essential part of the festival, the short film competition ‘Made in Castilla-La Mancha’, a section that is committed to the creators of the region and highlights both their talent and the landscapes of the region that have become filming locations. “Our land has a new generation of filmmakers who bring freshness, a critical eye and artistic sensitivity. The festival is an essential showcase for their dissemination,” explained Valdés. In addition, the director said that “we have broken the record for the number of works presented in this category, so we couldn’t be happier, as it shows that our Castilian-La Mancha products are very much taken into account by our festival”.
Another novelty will be the elimination of the feature film competition, which will be replaced by a film showcase. “We want the public of Calzada de Calatrava to enjoy films that have been recognised at world-renowned festivals, such as Cannes, Venice, Malaga or San Sebastian”, explained the director.
Calzada de Calatrava, a film village in autumn
The festival will not be limited to the screening rooms at the Rafael Serrano Cultural Centre. As in previous editions, a parallel agenda of activities has been prepared that will transform Calzada de Calatrava into a real “film village”. There will be meetings, tastings, workshops, conferences, exhibitions and innovative proposals aimed at bringing cinema closer to all audiences.
“We want the whole town to experience a cinematic atmosphere in October. The festival is not just a series of screenings, but a space for reflection and enjoyment of the seventh art. The public will be able to actively participate and feel that Calzada becomes an open set for ten days”, emphasised Gema García.
In this line, the mayoress of Calzada de Calatrava remarked that “cinema is part of Calzada’s DNA. We are a land of filmmakers and unique scenarios. We are committed to this event because we believe in culture as a driving force for cohesion, identity and economic development. The festival is a source of pride for the town and an opportunity to project our image to the world”.
The XII Calzada de Calatrava Film Festival will announce in the coming weeks all the details about the specific programme, the guests and the complementary activities, as well as its date to be officially presented to the media and the public.