Huelva’s First 50 Years: A Timeline Taking in Luis Buñuel, Maria Félix, Cantinflas and Now Paz Vega

From the day that Christopher Columbus set sail from Huelva to beach up in the Caribbean, the Spanish city has always had strong ties to Latin America.

With Spain still laboring under the dictatorship of Francisco Franco, when a group of young film buffs at Huelva's Film Club aimed to galvanize the city's culture, "It was logical that we looked to the richness and plenitude of culture that came from abroad," recalls José Luis Ruíz Díaz, Huelva's first director. "It was also logical that we had a large interest in Latin America, adds Vicente Quiroga, its longtime head of press. Relaxing, censorship in Spain also allowed access to a suddenly broader sweep of foreign titles.

Huelva's first 50 editions have proved a faithful reflection of the evolution of cinema in Latin America, Portugal and Spain. Some milestones:

Ruíz Díaz launches Huelva's first Ibero-American Film Week with Argentina's "La Raulito." Its first edition is a roaring success with local audiences.

Highlighting movies made by opponents of dictatorships spreading across Latin America – Miguel Littin was among winners, Brazil's Carlos Diegues' "Quilombo" screened there – Huelva launched uncertain if it would obtain import licenses for its movies. It did, establishing a militancy in its lineups, which lasts to this day.

Accompanied by Jean-Claude Carrière, Luis Buñuel , a towering figure in Spanish cinema, receives Huelva's first tribute. A round table analyses his work. "But nobody dared to ask him directly any question," Ruíz Díaz recalls.

A friendly, anecdotal María Félix dazzles Huelva in one of its most memorable star visits.

Adolfo Aristarain's hitman drama "Last Days of the Victim" wins Huelva's top Colón de Oro. Emerging from dictatorship, Argentina repeats the honor for five of the next nine years.

Huelva launches a film market.

Cantiflas hits Huelva for a tribute.

Run privately, Huelva's financial resources begin to suffer. It is rescued first by Huelva's Town Hall. Later, Spain's Ministry of Culture steps in in to co-fund, ensuring current economic stability.

Ruiz's final edition. Mario Vargas Llosa, a Nobel Prize for Literature, forms part of the Festival jury. Two other Nobel Prize winners, José Saramago and Camilo José Cela, have also visited the festival.

The festival launches the Ciudad de Huelva Award, received by Edward James Olmos and María Conchita Alonso in its first edition. Federico Luppi (2000), Manoel de Oliveira (2005), Dario Grandinetti (2017) and Fernando Trueba (2021) count among its recipients.

Huelva as a place of record: Chilean-Italian Marco Bechís wins the Golden Columbus for "Garage Olimpo," an unyielding depiction of torture under Argentina's military junta. Benjamin Avila wins the top prize in 2012 for "Clandestine Childhood," another semi-autobiographical portrait of life under the dictatorship, here as a child of two urban guerrilla opponents to the regime.

Huelva picks up on the talent of Brazil's Karim Aïnouz, now one of Brazil's most prominent film directors, having scored Cannes Competition berths in 2023 and 2024, wading him its Golden Columbus.

Huelva gives its top prize to Carlos Reygadas for "Silent Light," and one year later, Chile's Andrés Wood for "The Good Light," recognizing two directors who have helped rebuild Latin American cinema.

A co-founder of La Claqueta, one of Andalusia's top production companies, Manuel H. Martín, is appointed Huelva festival director.

Martín nixes Huelva's Co-Production Forum: Other Festivals stage such events with far larger budgets, he argues.

"Miriam Miente," an early Dominican arthouse movie, takes the Golden Columbus, establishing a Huelva-Dominican Republic connection, which flowers into a framework industry deal in 2022.

The Huelva Festival and Dominican state film agency DRCine sign an industry accord for the Spanish festival to organize showcases of Dominican film projects honed at a Film Residency Program.

Huelva's top prize goes to Angeles Cruz's "Valentina or the Serenity," about a young Indigenous girl processing her father's death, anticipating a rich vein of filmmaking in Latin America that has yet to build in most parts.

Huelva will screen 147 titles. In line with multiple festivals, Huelva is "condensing the programming. We don't screen as many films as 10 years ago, but attendance has increased," says Martín.