2nd edition Cines del Sur festival

The second edition of the Granada Film Festival, Cines del Sur, solidifies its position as a splendid reality, building on the success of its inaugural event. From its very genesis, the Junta de Andalucía has firmly supported this project, which is destined to become an annual meeting point for the cinemas of Southern countries. The festival aligns with cultural cooperation and dialogue initiatives with the South, based on the conviction that cinema can weave stable networks of communication and understanding between societies that share a common history and future, thereby establishing strong foundations for international relations.

In 2008, Cines del Sur takes another step forward, expanding its presence in the city and its content offerings, without abandoning its core essence: fostering direct encounters between audiences and creators, discovering new perspectives, and providing diverse, high-quality programming rarely found in commercial circuits. The Official Section brings together fourteen feature films, previously unreleased in Spain, selected from the best of the year from Southern countries, while Itineraries offers a journey through some of the season's most outstanding works, combining auteur cinema with vibrant popular cinema that rarely reaches our screens. This approach once again addresses the urgent need to create meeting spaces that facilitate this increasingly necessary dialogue between civilizations, operating from the firm conviction that culture can establish effective communication networks that lay the groundwork for fluid international relations—a strong desire and an obligation imposed by a shared history and future.

The program also includes sections that delve into key issues of our time: the tribute to Mohsen Makhmalbaf highlights the power of a committed creator, a beacon for so many honest and independent filmmakers; The Dream of Europe addresses migration and the immigrant's perspective on the European continent; and the new Mediterréneos section awards television productions that explore interculturality and dialogue between civilizations in the Mediterranean region. Added to these is TransCine, a space for “other cinemas” from the South, encompassing film essays, video art, and creative documentaries, which questions traditional narrative forms and expands the boundaries of cinematic expression.

Granada once again serves as the privileged setting for this journey to the South, a natural blend of city and festival that invites one to embark on a path simply by sitting before a blank canvas that fills with images and light. The inauguration at the Palace of Charles V in the Alhambra, the open-air screenings of Pantalla Abierta in Plaza de las Pasiegas, the Palacio de los Córdova and the Corral del Carbón, or the Interculturality Tent in Plaza Bibarrambla transform the start of summer into a grand open-air cinema celebration, complete with workshops, thematic screenings, and encounters that introduce both Granada residents and visitors to other realities, languages, and cultures, where monuments and images engage in an equal dialogue.

The program also includes sections that delve into key issues of our time: the tribute to Mohsen Makhmalbaf highlights the power of a committed creator, a benchmark for so many honest and independent filmmakers; The Dream of Europe addresses migration and the immigrant's perspective on the European continent; and the new Mediterréneos section awards television productions that explore interculturality and dialogue between civilizations in the Mediterranean region. Added to these is TransCine, a space dedicated to “other cinemas” from the South, encompassing film essays, video art, and creative documentaries, which questions traditional narrative forms and expands the boundaries of cinematic expression.

This offering is rounded out by the educational project Aula Sur, which uses cinema as a pedagogical tool to foster values and interculturality, and parallel activities such as Africa in the Gaze, dedicated to the work of Ryszard Kapuściński, which emphasizes the ethical dimension of looking at “the other.” Also included are A Window to the South and other exhibition initiatives that bring less visible African and Latin American visual art to Granada, extending the festival's spirit beyond the screening rooms.

In this way, Cines del Sur emphasizes that the South is not merely a geographical reference, but a sensibility and a way of understanding life that the festival aims to champion and share. From Granada, a city historically open to cultural exchange and now a true contemporary melting pot, the event invites attendees to “lose their bearings” to discover, on screen and in the city's streets, the complexity and dazzling allure of cinemas from the South, destined to take their rightful place on the international stage.