festival history
The Cines del Sur Festival was born in Granada with a clear mission: to be the European window to the cinemas of Asia, Africa, and Latin America. Since its founding, the event has established itself as a space for intercultural dialogue that champions the richness and diversity of the geopolitical South, moving away from conventional commercial circuits to introduce audiences to authentic, courageous, and essential perspectives.
Granada, with its historical legacy and its status as a crossroads, is the natural setting for this encounter. The festival not only screens films but also builds bridges between cultures, fostering mutual understanding through the screen. Its programming champions emerging talent and the great masters from these regions, transforming the city into an international benchmark for cinema that moves, exposes, and transforms.
Our History
Since its first edition in 2007, Cines del Sur has brought top-tier figures to Granada. A journey through its history is a trip through the cinematic memory of three continents:
great masters
The festival has paid tribute to undisputed legends of cinema, starting in its early days with the Egyptian Youssef Chahine and continuing with key figures such as the Iranian Mohsen Makhmalbaf, the Malian Souleymane Cissé, the Egyptian Omar Sharif, the Chinese Zhang Yuan, and the Cambodian Rithy Panh.
unique retrospectives
Exclusive series have been dedicated to rediscovering essential cinematographies and filmmakers, such as 40 years of Filipino cinema, Bollywood Noir and the work of Argentine documentarian Andrés Di Tella, the Japanese Shochiku New Wave with Kijū Yoshida, and the cinema of Ritwik Ghatak.
commitment and current affairs
The festival has always kept its finger on the pulse of social reality. Notable thematic focuses include “The Dream of Europe” on migration, the tribute to Jafar Panahi in a particularly turbulent year (2010), and the Central America 21st Century series, which uncensoredly addressed gang violence and drug trafficking. Furthermore, the 2018 edition marked a milestone in gender perspective with the creation of the AAMMA Award for Equality, granted for the first time to The Song of Scorpions, and maintained its focus on current conflicts with the screening of the acclaimed Syrian documentary Last Men in Aleppo.
iconic spaces
Beyond the cinemas, the festival has made history by bringing film to unique spaces in the city of Granada, transforming locations such as the Palace of Charles V in the Alhambra, the Plaza de las Pasiegas at the foot of its Cathedral, and the Corral del Carbón, a declared National Monument, into open-air cinemas where the public could enjoy premieres under the Granada sky.
