ESCAC at the 71st Seminci in Valladolid
From 23 to 31 October, the Valladolid International Film Week celebrates its 71st edition, with more than 200 films in the programme. ESCAC is once again present at one of Europe’s longest-running festivals, which has been held continuously since 1956. This year, a group of more than 25 students of screenwriting, directing and Film Studies travels to Valladolid to experience Seminci from the inside: watching films and short films, attending discussions and pitching sessions, and enjoying parties.
20 years of Ópera Prima
Cinema is full of firsts, and this year ESCAC’s Ópera Prima Lab is celebrating some of its own at Seminci. As part of its 20th anniversary, the initiative is taking part in the Valladolid festival for the first time, presenting up to eight projects developed at the school: feature-film debuts, series and new formats, both fiction and documentary. Their creators will have the opportunity to share their proposals in pitching sessions with producers, distributors, platforms and other industry professionals, with the aim of finding partners and opening up new avenues for production. Over these two decades, Ópera Prima has supported the early careers of filmmakers who today shape Spain’s audiovisual landscape, including Mar Coll, Kike Maíllo and Elena Trapé.
ESCAC Talent
ESCAC talent is once again making its mark on the Seminci programme, with a notable presence in various festival sections. The Spanish Short Film Official Section features El desencanto, by Marta Martín; L’enterrament de la sardina, by Mariona Martínez; and La Pegaso, by María Martos, all productions of ESCAC Films, as well as Al vespre llegeixo, by Carlota González-Adrio, an ESCAC alumna. They are joined by Aho Beltza, by Alba Lozano, also an ESCAC alumna, in the International Short Film Official Section.
The school’s presence also extends to the feature film Salen las lobas, by Claudia Estrada Tarsacó, which is showing in Punto de Encuentro, while Camionero, by Francisco Marise, is part of Tiempo de Historia. Both projects emerged from the Ópera Prima Lab, which is marking its twentieth anniversary by championing new stories and supporting filmmakers on the journey towards their first films.
A long-standing relationship
Since 2007, Seminci has dedicated a space to ESCAC short films, and at its 70th edition it awarded us the Honorary Spike. This year, the collaboration has gone beyond the festival: in March, OFF ESCAC and Seminci organised their first intensive Introduction to Film Directing workshop in Valladolid, with Mar Coll.
And in 2026, for the second year in a row, the Valladolid Festival is presenting the ESCAC Award for Best New Fiction Director as part of the Punto de Encuentro Official Section. Endowed with 5.000 euros contributed by the school, the award recognises the director of a first or second film, with the aim of supporting and encouraging filmmakers in the early stages of their careers. Established in 2025, the award reaffirms ESCAC’s commitment to new voices in cinema.
