The sixth Día del cine español brings Jaime Chávarri's El desencanto to more than fifty cities. Rural screenings and a guionista tribute widen the celebration beyond Madrid.
On 6 October, Spain's cinema celebration will reach more than fifty cities across five continents. Jaime Chávarri's 'El desencanto' will lead the international programme. The national schedule will also bring Spanish films to municipalities with limited access to screenings.
The sixth Día del cine español puts guionistas at the centre of its public debate. The event is organised by the ICAA, which is attached to the Secretaría de Estado de Cultura. Created in 2021, the celebration recognises the influence of Spanish cinema inside and outside the country.
The date links the event to 'Esa pareja feliz'. Juan Antonio Bardem and Luis García Berlanga directed and wrote that film. Fernando Fernán Gómez and Elvira Quintillá star in it. The film was completed on 6 October.
The date of 6 October links the national celebration to the historical chronology of 'Esa pareja feliz', whose completion is cited as the reason for choosing the day.
At Madrid's Cines Doré, the film will run in continuous sessions at 17.00, 18.25, 19.50 and 21.15. The anniversary starts there before the wider programme moves to international audiences.
The Instituto Cervantes is building the largest overseas screening network. 'El desencanto' will be shown in Cracovia, Dublín, Leeds, Albuquerque, Los Ángeles, Nueva York, Pekín, Shanghái, Tetuán and Sídney. Jaime Chávarri will travel to Praga to present the film. Guides and other materials will give audiences more context.
The international strand is attributed to the Instituto Cervantes and is intended to pair overseas screenings with contextual guides and accompanying materials. The complete list of participating cities and the dates of each screening should be read alongside the institute's programme information.
That film still matters.
Chávarri's work deals with reality and builds its story with unusual freedom. Fifty years after its release, it continues to examine memory, family relationships, identity and the stories people create about themselves. The ICAA sees that room for new readings as a reason to show the film to audiences in different countries and generations.
Authorship is the programme's second main focus. Filmoteca Española will host the round table 'La libertad creativa del guionista' at the Doré under the hashtag #GuionDondeEmpiezaTodo. Rodolf Giner, Josep Gatell, Jorge Sánchez-Cabezudo, Marina Parés, Tina Olivares and Ana Hormaetxea will take part. Their careers will shape a discussion about audiovisual writing, creative freedom, authorship and the conditions of the profession today.
The discussion gives the celebration a clear industry focus. It presents the guionista as more than an unseen stage before production. The writer is where the work begins. The programme also connects with Spanish cinema coverage from the San Sebastián festival, where international attention and questions about recognition have shared the same setting. That coverage appears in San Sebastián coverage.
Inside Spain, organisers are moving beyond the largest cultural centres. Six special presentations will take place between October and November. Three directors and three directoras will meet local audiences. Enrique Buleo will present 'Bodegón con fantasmas' in Quintanar del Rey on 15 October. Telmo Iragorri will show 'Traineras, pasión por el remo' in Artziniega on 18 October. Fany de la Chica will bring 'Tiempo entre olivos' to Filmoteca de Granada on 28 October.
The remaining stops are just as specific. Gala Gracia will present her first feature, 'Lo que queda de ti', in Arenas de San Pedro on 6 November. Alberto Morais will show 'La terra negra' in Garganta de los Montes on 7 November. Eduard Costa and Sònia Armengol will introduce 'Dones Muntanya' in Amer on 11 November.
Rural audiences are also part of 'Cine Vecino', which was presented in May to bring independent cinema to rural areas. PLATFO Filmoteca Española's platform was created a year ago and remains in beta. It is expected to make its historical film archive available to the public. The national programme pairs screenings in person with access to preserved material.
Two more screenings add historical depth. 'Canciones para después de una guerra' by Basilio Martín Patino will be shown at the same time in Madrid, Málaga and Santander. The film rebuilds post-war memory with archive material, NO-DO images, photographs, popular songs and radio recordings. Censorship banned it until its release in 1976. Filmoteca Española will also present the restoration of 'Angustia' (1947), directed by Jose Antonio Nieves Conde.
The editorial choice is clear. Spanish cinema is not being presented as one annual ceremony in Madrid. It is being treated as a living archive that must travel. 'El desencanto' gives the programme its international anchor. Rural screenings and the guionista debate bring the work closer to audiences and professionals. The sixth Día del cine español joins preservation, access and direct encounters in a programme that reaches beyond premieres and red carpets.
