Presentation of the edition

The reputation of the Muestra de Cine de Lanzarote has been growing steadily over recent years, both in Spain and abroad. The project is now one the most highly valued festivals among the many public events announced by the Government of the Canaries and the Spanish Ministry of Culture in 2022. This public evaluation, coupled with the praise of film critics, provides crucial support to help us continue working hard in a small island where the cultural sector nearly always has to struggle to get by.

As major studies have proven for decades, whenever it is serious and professionalised, culture can be an excellent way of connecting with the education, social dilemmas and the economic progress of the place in which it is developed. In our case, the mission is shared by the Muestra de Cine de Lanzarote and Asociación Tenique Cultural, the association behind the project. It is an initiative whose main goal is to ensure a direct connection between research and avant-garde culture, represented by innovative international approaches, and the reality of the people of our island.

As from 2018, that aim to connect the most rigorous culture with the historical, social and natural specificities of Lanzarote has been evinced particularly through the Trasfoco section. Trasfoco, and all its attendant activities such as lectures, debates, guided hikes, courses and family sessions, has been successively dedicated to issues that are key to our island: volcanoes, salt, crises, the wind. Subject matters that shape the identity of Lanzarote and also that of other fascinating places around the world.

Fishing is the subject chosen for this 12th event. Through cinema, we wish to explore what this trade and way of life meant in the past, what it means today and will mean in the future for our island and for humankind as a whole. As we shall see in many of the films on view and the activities in which we will take part over the coming days, fishing is one of the most pressing issues affecting our present-day world.

Similar to previous years, the Muestra also includes other programmes that are key to contemporary culture, like the competitive Official Section or screenings of the latest productions to come from the Canaries. There will also be guided hikes, sessions for children and screenings in several towns and villages. In short: eleven days full of activities, debates and, above all, the best international cinema, in many cases presented by the directors of the films. Eleven unrepeatable days to enjoy but, most importantly, also to learn, share, think and get a better knowledge of our context through many different gazes. Let’s make the most of it!

Javier Fuentes Feo
Artistic Director