The Last Viking

Source: Venice Film Festival

‘The Last Viking’

The Last Viking, the dark comedy by Danish director Anders Thomas Jensen, starring Mads Mikkelsen and Nikolaj Lie Kaas, will open the 22nd Seville European Film Festival (SEFF) tonight, November 7.

The festival aims to help launch some of the biggest European films from international festivals throughout the year into the Spanish market. Official selection competition titles include Hafsia Herzi’s Little Sister, Ulises Porra’s Under The Same Sun, Robin Campillo’s Enzo, Dag Johan Haugerud’s Berlinale winner Dreams, and Sylvain Chomet’s feature animation A Magnificent Life.

UK producer Lynda Myles, whose credits include The Commitments, will chair the jury of the official competition, with US marketing executive Bonnie Voland, filmmaker and storyboard artist John Coven, mk2 Spain representative Nacho Martínez-Useros, and Spanish filmmaker and producer Laura Hojman of Summer Films.

Additionally, the new Rampa competition will spotlight first and second features. Highlights include UK director Imran Perretta’s coming-of-age drama Ish, Arjun Talwar‘s documentary Letters From Wolf Street, actress-director Hana Jušić’s God Will Not Help, and Carolina Cavalli’s The Kidnapping Of Arabella.

The Alumbramiento strand focuses on films seeking distribution in Spain, while Panorama Andaluz will celebrate locally produced features with international ambition.

Organised in collaboration with the European Film Academy, the EFA programme is showcasing titles in the running for European Film Awards nominations.

Another new strand, Embrujo, replacing the former Las Nuevas Olas, will highlight the most daring contemporary European voices.

Honorary awards

This year’s honorary Giraldillo de Oro awards will go to Juliette Binoche, who will present a screening of her directorial debut In-I-Motion,  Irish filmmaker Jim Sheridan, and Spanish thriller maestro Alberto Rodríguez, the Seville-born director behind Marshland, The Plague, and his latest feature Los Tigres.

A further Giraldillo will be presented to Costa-Gavras, renowned for political thrillers including Z and State Of Siege.

Industry programme

To strengthen its role as an industry hub, the festival will host the inaugural European Film Exhibition Conference, gathering distributors, exhibitors and policymakers to discuss the state of cinema and audience demand.

The goal is “to understand what kind of films Europe should be producing — and what films audiences truly want to see,” said festival director Manuel Cristóbal.

Conference attendees include Álvaro Postigo, president of Spain’s exhibitors’ lobby FECE; Simone Gialdini, director general of ANEC, Italy’s national association of cinema exhibitors; and Aurélie Delage, vice president of the French National Federation of Cinemas.

According to organisers, more than 350 industry professionals have been accredited for an edition showcasing over 150 films across six competitive sections.

Seville is also hosting the 2025 European Film Award nominations on November 18. To accompany the event, the festival is screening 13 films preselected for the EFAs, including Oliver Laxe’s Sirāt, Simón Mesa Soto’s A Poet, Agnieszka Holland’s Franz, and Richard Linklater’s Nouvelle Vague.

 

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