Salamanca, City of Festivals
Currently, the three most important festivals held in the city are: “The Manhattan Short Film Festival,” the “Salamanca Short Film Festival on Video,” and “The International Home Movie/Video Day”
Most of the festivals have been born from a private, non-profit initiative, which found support in the Salamanca City Council, through Salamanca Film Commission
Most of the festivals have been born from a private, non-profit initiative, which found support in the Salamanca City Council, through Salamanca Film Commission
In recent years, Salamanca has become one of the cities with the most activity in short film festivals. Although it lacks a major festival, the small events held ensure that the public can enjoy a wide range of screenings throughout the year. Most of the festivals have been born from private, non-profit initiatives that found support in the City Council through Salamanca Film Commission, as well as other institutions that lend their spaces for the activity to come to fruition.
Public acceptance has been such that most of the screenings have been maintained over time, repeating year after year. Currently, the three most important festivals held in the city are the following:
The Manhattan Short Film Festival
Managed exclusively by Salamanca Film Commission, it is one of the most prestigious short film festivals worldwide. Ten short films are screened simultaneously for one week, between September and October, in over 250 cities across five continents. Once the screening is over, attendees act as judges, casting their vote for the best short film and actor or actress; the results are made public almost immediately. The prize received by the winner is the screening of the work on a New York neighborhood street, attended by the city's main film producers as guests.
The first celebration took place in 2009, in the auditorium of Hospedería Fonseca, and had the peculiarity that one of the ten short films chosen as a finalist was “Miente” by Isabel de O´Campo, awarded a Goya prize that same year. For the presentation of the festival, actor Canco Rodríguez collaborated as master of ceremonies.
Subsequently, the festival has found accommodation in different historical buildings of the city, such as the auditorium of the Pontifical University (2010), the Casa de las Conchas (2011-2012) or the Museum of Commerce (2013).
This year, and due to the enormous acceptance it has had among the public, as all editions have displayed a 'full house' sign, it will be held at the Museum of Commerce. The finalist short films and screening dates will be announced soon by the organization.
Salamanca Short Film Festival on Video
It began in 2007 as a collaboration between the Granero bar and the audiovisual association CORTOSdeMENTES. Before the existence of this festival, both parties already worked together offering free screenings of short films made by the association, as well as by other amateur filmmakers from Salamanca.
The first editions had an approximate participation of between 50 and 100 short films received, and the winning films were screened inside the bar during the months of April and May.
Starting from the third edition, the festival became organized solely by Carlos Lobato (Granero bar) and Javier Díez; it was then that the FÁCyL Festival included the competition as part of its activities. The final and awards ceremony took place in the courtyard of the Casa de las Conchas during the Castilla y León Arts Festival, with the collaboration repeating for two more years, drawing a massive audience. Antonio Muñoz de Mesa was the master of ceremonies in the third and fourth editions, and Ion Aramendi in the fifth.
The sixth edition was held in Plaza del Oeste, as an open-air summer cinema, with a presentation by the Aramendi brothers (Ion and Santi), again enjoying great public success.
After a one-year hiatus in 2014, the festival resumed this year with its seventh edition (held between May and July) where all screenings took place outdoors in Calle Granero, tripling the number of attendees. In this edition, the festival received over five hundred short films for competition, being able to select only 30 of national and international character.
The awards have always been maintained with a Jury Prize of €550 and an Audience Award of €200. Many personalities from Salamanca's cultural world have participated in the festival, collaborating as jury members and regular attendees, such as Roberto G. Encinas, Ángel González Quesada, Enrique Cantabrana, Miguel Martín, or Miguel Ángel Refoyo.
The festival has always had the collaboration of Salamanca Film Commission, as well as dozens of institutions that selflessly help the festival in different ways. In the last edition, it also had the sponsorship of some private companies that made its realization possible.
The International Home Movie/Video Day
With a broad North American tradition, it originated from the custom of neighbors gathering in homes to watch family recordings that could range from a typical wedding to attending a political rally, which led to the creation of Home Movie Day, celebrated since 2003 in different countries around the world such as the USA, Japan, Canada, Argentina, Mexico, Australia, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, or Slovenia.
In our city, and for the first time nationwide, it landed in 2010 thanks to creatives Chema Alonso and Carlos TMori. Among the event's many followers are film professionals such as Martin Scorsese, John Waters, Ken Burns, Cory Doctorow, Leonard Maltin, or Steve Martin.
The first edition of the festival (2010) had its venues at the Museum of Commerce, Casa de las Conchas, CITA, and the Torrente Ballester Public Library. Since then, different editions of the event have been developed, which not only restrict themselves to the screening of documents provided by citizens themselves but also program activities, workshops, and conferences open to the general public. Over the years, numerous figures linked to the world of film have participated in the festival, such as Gabriel Velázquez, Alberto García, Javier Frutos, or Xurco Rico.
Currently, the fifth edition is being prepared, which will start in October and will again have Casa de las Conchas as the central hub for its activities. However, the variety of programmed activities is such that in previous editions, it has been necessary to have more spaces open to the public, such as Da2.
Salamanca was the pioneer in holding the festival in Spain in 2010, which has had a significant national impact, as cities like Cáceres, Valladolid, Vitoria, or Murcia have joined the event, in addition to the creation of the home cinema network.
Salamanca Film Commission has been collaborating with the organization since the first edition, which has become a reference for one of the flagship cultural programs of Spanish television: “Metrópolis,” as it dedicates one of its episodes to it every year.
The progression of the different festivals held in Salamanca has had a very positive impact, not only in the cultural sphere, as short films are the first step for new filmmakers, but also in the area of entertainment, as viewers, today, can enjoy the screenings of these works completely free of charge from May to October.
Public acceptance has been such that most of the screenings have been maintained over time, repeating year after year. Currently, the three most important festivals held in the city are the following:
The Manhattan Short Film Festival
Managed exclusively by Salamanca Film Commission, it is one of the most prestigious short film festivals worldwide. Ten short films are screened simultaneously for one week, between September and October, in over 250 cities across five continents. Once the screening is over, attendees act as judges, casting their vote for the best short film and actor or actress; the results are made public almost immediately. The prize received by the winner is the screening of the work on a New York neighborhood street, attended by the city's main film producers as guests.
The first celebration took place in 2009, in the auditorium of Hospedería Fonseca, and had the peculiarity that one of the ten short films chosen as a finalist was “Miente” by Isabel de O´Campo, awarded a Goya prize that same year. For the presentation of the festival, actor Canco Rodríguez collaborated as master of ceremonies.
Subsequently, the festival has found accommodation in different historical buildings of the city, such as the auditorium of the Pontifical University (2010), the Casa de las Conchas (2011-2012) or the Museum of Commerce (2013).
This year, and due to the enormous acceptance it has had among the public, as all editions have displayed a 'full house' sign, it will be held at the Museum of Commerce. The finalist short films and screening dates will be announced soon by the organization.
Salamanca Short Film Festival on Video
It began in 2007 as a collaboration between the Granero bar and the audiovisual association CORTOSdeMENTES. Before the existence of this festival, both parties already worked together offering free screenings of short films made by the association, as well as by other amateur filmmakers from Salamanca.
The first editions had an approximate participation of between 50 and 100 short films received, and the winning films were screened inside the bar during the months of April and May.
Starting from the third edition, the festival became organized solely by Carlos Lobato (Granero bar) and Javier Díez; it was then that the FÁCyL Festival included the competition as part of its activities. The final and awards ceremony took place in the courtyard of the Casa de las Conchas during the Castilla y León Arts Festival, with the collaboration repeating for two more years, drawing a massive audience. Antonio Muñoz de Mesa was the master of ceremonies in the third and fourth editions, and Ion Aramendi in the fifth.
The sixth edition was held in Plaza del Oeste, as an open-air summer cinema, with a presentation by the Aramendi brothers (Ion and Santi), again enjoying great public success.
After a one-year hiatus in 2014, the festival resumed this year with its seventh edition (held between May and July) where all screenings took place outdoors in Calle Granero, tripling the number of attendees. In this edition, the festival received over five hundred short films for competition, being able to select only 30 of national and international character.
The awards have always been maintained with a Jury Prize of €550 and an Audience Award of €200. Many personalities from Salamanca's cultural world have participated in the festival, collaborating as jury members and regular attendees, such as Roberto G. Encinas, Ángel González Quesada, Enrique Cantabrana, Miguel Martín, or Miguel Ángel Refoyo.
The festival has always had the collaboration of Salamanca Film Commission, as well as dozens of institutions that selflessly help the festival in different ways. In the last edition, it also had the sponsorship of some private companies that made its realization possible.
The International Home Movie/Video Day
With a broad North American tradition, it originated from the custom of neighbors gathering in homes to watch family recordings that could range from a typical wedding to attending a political rally, which led to the creation of Home Movie Day, celebrated since 2003 in different countries around the world such as the USA, Japan, Canada, Argentina, Mexico, Australia, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, or Slovenia.
In our city, and for the first time nationwide, it landed in 2010 thanks to creatives Chema Alonso and Carlos TMori. Among the event's many followers are film professionals such as Martin Scorsese, John Waters, Ken Burns, Cory Doctorow, Leonard Maltin, or Steve Martin.
The first edition of the festival (2010) had its venues at the Museum of Commerce, Casa de las Conchas, CITA, and the Torrente Ballester Public Library. Since then, different editions of the event have been developed, which not only restrict themselves to the screening of documents provided by citizens themselves but also program activities, workshops, and conferences open to the general public. Over the years, numerous figures linked to the world of film have participated in the festival, such as Gabriel Velázquez, Alberto García, Javier Frutos, or Xurco Rico.
Currently, the fifth edition is being prepared, which will start in October and will again have Casa de las Conchas as the central hub for its activities. However, the variety of programmed activities is such that in previous editions, it has been necessary to have more spaces open to the public, such as Da2.
Salamanca was the pioneer in holding the festival in Spain in 2010, which has had a significant national impact, as cities like Cáceres, Valladolid, Vitoria, or Murcia have joined the event, in addition to the creation of the home cinema network.
Salamanca Film Commission has been collaborating with the organization since the first edition, which has become a reference for one of the flagship cultural programs of Spanish television: “Metrópolis,” as it dedicates one of its episodes to it every year.
The progression of the different festivals held in Salamanca has had a very positive impact, not only in the cultural sphere, as short films are the first step for new filmmakers, but also in the area of entertainment, as viewers, today, can enjoy the screenings of these works completely free of charge from May to October.