Inauguración
For several years now, the Muestra de Cine de Lanzarote has conceived its opening as something more than a mere inaugural event. Ever since 2018, when the festival was dedicated to the theme of the volcano and the opening was held in the heart of the Cueva de los Verdes, our goal has been to find singular spaces on the island, often little known even to local inhabitants, and to highlight them in an unexpected way. In this sense, in recent editions we have agreed on a meeting point near the headquarters of the Cabildo, where invited guests gather without knowing exactly where they will be taken. And then the journey begins: a bus ride that not only reduces the CO₂ footprint but also offers something even more valuable: the experience of seeing the island with new eyes.
Interestingly enough, the trip from the esplanade of the Cabildo to the event’s final destination actually creates a shared experience filled with questions, conversations and memories: Where are we going this year? Will the opening take place in this or that site related to water? Will it be held in some space that we almost never have access to? The journey itself thus becomes part of the opening of an event which, among other things, seeks to offer a new perspective of an island that, precisely because we see it every day, we often forget to look at it with the attention it deserves.
In 2025, the point of arrival is a traditional farmhouse in the village of Teseguite, where extraordinary gavias bear witness to the prosperity of other times. In this place, known as Casa El Hacedor, one can also find, wonderfully maintained by its current owner, one of the most beautiful and important aljibes in Lanzarote; a structure that proudly embodies the island’s hydraulic heritage. Built around 1700, before the eruptions of Timanfaya, for centuries the cistern housed the island’s most precious resource: water. Its walls noticed the years of drought and times of abundance. Its ochre lime layers record the value of every bucket ever pulled up. Its pillars and vaults treasure the deepest memory of the entire island.