2023 will be a fallow year for the Seville European Film Festival. Just when it was going to celebrate its 20th anniversary, the newly launched municipal government of the Andalusian capital (PP) has decided to postpone its edition to the spring. This is the first significant measure related to the city’s cultural activity that has been adopted by the new delegate of that area of the corporation, Minerva Salas, and which has been justified by the fact that it coincides with the Latin Grammy gala, which also It is home to the town of Seville and will be held on November 16, making both events “incompatible.”
Salas has announced the change of dates this Wednesday in the program Today Seville, of the SER Chain: “The cultural autumn is going to be very marked by the presence of the Latin Grammys in the city and we do not want it to take away any type of prominence from a film festival that is celebrating its anniversary and that we have to promote.” A municipal spokesperson has confirmed to this newspaper that in 2024 only the edition scheduled for November would be held because there is no budget for two festivals in the same year and leaves in the air the possibility that the 2025 event will also be held in spring.
The transfer to the spring of this competition – increasingly established and which had become a benchmark on the festival circuit, in addition to being the venue chosen by the European Film Academy every November for the annual announcement of its candidacies for The continental film awards – so that it does not lose focus – has caused surprise and amazement in the sector, which has manifested itself en masse through social networks, since at that time of year Seville celebrates Holy Week and the Fair, two events that literally interrupt the daily life of the Andalusian capital and of the Sevillians and their visitors, overshadowing almost any other activity in the capital.
The festival is usually held in the first half of November and the Latin Recording Academy Awards will be awarded on the 16th of that month, although there will be other events from the 12th. “The celebration of the festival was incompatible with the Grammys. “We want to reactivate it and not let it be hidden by the Grammys,” says a municipal spokesperson, who insists that spring covers a long period of time and points out that the film contest could be held “at the end of April or beginning of May, just before the Cannes Film Festival.”
This decision has been received with deep discomfort by the leader of the opposition in the City Council, the former socialist mayor Antonio Muñoz, who, in statements to this newspaper, has warned that the change of date represents above all “a lack of respect to the cinema-loving public of Seville.” For Muñoz, one of the main supporters of the Film Festival, the measure is a “real nonsense” that not only “puts the continuity” of the event at risk, but also distorts what had become a “consolidated event on the agenda.” culture of Seville, Spain and Europe.”
The argument of incompatibility with the Grammy gala also shows, for the socialist leader, “a catheterization” by the team of the new popular mayor. “This city has shown in recent years that it has the muscle, organizational capacity and diversity of the public to host different cultural events at the same time,” Muñoz stressed.
The Seville Film Festival It had become a must-see event in the Sevillian autumn, to the point of attracting 75,000 visitors in the last edition. The European Film Academy had agreed to announce its awards within the framework of the Seville competition, an announcement that contributed to giving greater visibility to the festival and which this year will have to change venue.
That roots among the Sevillian public has also focused the criticism expressed by the sector on social networks throughout this Wednesday, questioning the prevalence of an “imported event” or “a franchised culture” over an event that has been consolidated by the commitment and effort of the city.
The unexpected departure of its last director, José Luis Cienfuegos, last April took the Seville City Council by surprise, which, however, appointed Ildefonso in May – shortly before the municipal elections – TitusRodríguez in office, who, after being contacted by this newspaper, has declined to comment on the decision to change the dates of the festival.
From the current corporation, directed by the popular José Luis Sanz, the absence of a closed planning of the film program is cited as another reason for delaying the celebration of the contest. “There was no signed contract, there was no festival,” he points out. In the festival circuit, the speed in signing contracts with production companies guarantees that the chosen films can be included in their planning to present their films. The speed in closing agreements in these weeks was also vital for the success of its 20th edition.
Directors of the new mayor’s trust
The municipal spokesperson also points to another reason behind the postponement: “The normal thing when a new Government arrives is that those responsible put people they trust in charge of the projects and Sanz wants to give the festival a new look,” he indicates. the interlocutor.
The announcement comes in the midst of controversy over the departure, just one month after his appointment, of José Lucas Chaves, as the new director of the Institute of Culture and Arts of Seville (Icas), the entity dependent on the City Council responsible for the management and cultural programming of municipal theaters and museums. The resignation of Chaves, who has alleged personal reasons, leaves in the air the presentation of the agenda of the Sevillian Cultural Autumn, which on these dates should have already been presented and which includes the programming of the Lope de Vega theater or the Book Fair, which precisely it was also moved to October due to the incompatibility of the spring festivals. The PSOE has accused the City Council of “improvisation and lack of cultural projects”.
The management of the Culture area of the Seville City Council is the first big shadow that has fallen over the Sanz Government since it took office last June. The decision to postpone the Film Festival has also not helped to mitigate the enormous skepticism with which the Sevillian culture and arts sector welcomed its leader, Minerva Salas, a representative of soccer players – as she herself insists on presenting herself – and who She entered the Junta de Andalucía in this legislature as delegate of Culture, Tourism and Sports ―position that continues to appear on your Facebook account, even though he no longer exercises it. That is the only experience of hers in the field of culture that is known until the PP placed her as number two of the party’s candidacy for mayor of Seville.
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