Cineteca Madrid, part of the Culture, Tourism, and Sport Area located in Matadero Madrid, has prepared an intense program for October. Activities include the commemoration of Spanish Cinema Day, a review of the influence of Spanish exile in Mexico, and retrospectives dedicated to filmmakers Bruno Lázaro Pacheco and Jacinto Esteva, as well as Argentine director Lucía Seles.
On October 6th, Spanish Cinema Day will be celebrated with the screening of the restored documentary by Fernando Trueba, Mientras el cuerpo aguante (1982), about Chicho Sánchez Ferlosio. The following day, Pequeño diccionario de gramática de las nubes (2026), a production from the Escuela Dentro Cine, will premiere, aiming to showcase a diverse and inclusive future for Spanish cinema.
As part of the Madrid es Paisaje initiative by the Ayuntamiento de Madrid, which highlights urban landscapes and public art, Cineteca will organize three consecutive sessions of encounters exploring the relationship between public space and citizen experience.
The ‘Exilios’ (Exiles) cycle, in collaboration with the Casa de México and UNAM España, will address the impact of Spanish exile in Mexico. The restored film Redondo (Raúl Busteros, 1986), based on the novel by Paco Ignacio Taibo, will premiere, alongside the screening of En el balcón vacío (Jomi García Ascot, 1962), a masterpiece of Spanish exile.
From October 3rd to 11th, a retrospective dedicated to Canadian-Spanish filmmaker Bruno Lázaro Pacheco will cover his work, marked by cultural duality and the memory of exile. Titles such as Hate to Love (1982), There Are No Outdoor Ice Rinks In Madrid (2011), and his latest feature film, August So Tragic and Tender (2025), will be presented.
A tribute to Jacinto Esteva, a key figure of the School of Barcelona, will celebrate the 90th anniversary of his birth from October 3rd to 6th. His works will be revisited, including early short films about Spanish emigration and his seminal work Lejos de los árboles.
The retrospective ‘Puente aéreo: el cine de Warren Sonbert’ (Air Bridge: The Cinema of Warren Sonbert), from October 16th to 18th, will engage in a dialogue between his avant-garde work and classics by Dziga Vertov, Alfred Hitchcock, and Douglas Sirk.
Between October 14th and 16th, a tribute will be paid to Eugènia Balcells, a pioneer of experimental cinema and audiovisual art in Spain, exploring her questioning of imagery and female representation.
The most comprehensive retrospective in Spain of Argentine filmmaker Lucía Seles will take place from October 27th to November 1st, showcasing her unclassifiable and experimental work.
To celebrate Halloween, Cineteca Madrid will feature a special program curated by Alberto Sedano, including restored gems of Spanish horror cinema such as La endemoniada (1975) and Las melancólicas (1971), as well as Invasión travesti (2000).
The Another Way Film Festival returns for its 12th edition from October 20th to 25th, presenting documentary cinema on sustainable progress, covering themes like activism, renewable energy, and rural life.
