José Luis Cienfuegos, director of the Valladolid International Film Week (Seminci), died on December 2, 2025, at age 60 from a cerebral hemorrhage in Madrid. Born in Avilés, he transformed key Spanish film festivals over three decades. His legacy includes renewing the events in Gijón, Sevilla, and Valladolid.
José Luis Cienfuegos, born in Avilés in 1964, began his career in the press department of the Gijón Festival in the 1990s. In 1995, he took over as director of the Asturian event, staying for 16 years until 2011, turning it into a reference for independent and contemporary cinema. He introduced filmmakers like Aki Kaurismäki, Abbas Kiarostami, and Todd Haynes to Spain, and promoted cycles of new cinemas.
In 2012, he moved to direct the Sevilla Festival, strengthening its ties with the European and Spanish industry. He arrived at Seminci in 2023, directing three editions, including the 70th, considered one of the most successful. Under his leadership, the festival regained audiences and bet on documentaries and heterodox programming, seeing it as a space for dialogue and encounter.
Cienfuegos was admitted to a Madrid hospital on the night of December 1 and died the next day from a cerebral aneurysm. The funeral will be held in Oviedo, where his family resides, and Seminci will organize a tribute. "A festival is not just a place to watch movies. Above all, it is a space for encounter, dialogue, confrontation too, and always, always, recognition," he used to say.
The film world expressed condolences. Valladolid's mayor, Jesús Julio Carnero, described him as "a lover of life and people, an enthusiast full of illusion." Jaume Ripoll of Filmin called him "the best festival director in our country over the last 25 years." Institutions like the Ministry of Culture, the Film Academy, and festivals such as San Sebastián and Málaga mourned his loss, highlighting his commitment to auteur cinema.
