Cinema Jove (officially the Valencia International Film Festival â Cinema Jove; ) is an annual film festival held in Valencia, Spain, typically during the last week of June. Established in 1986, the festival is dedicated to promoting emerging international filmmakers, restricting its official competition sections to directors under the age of 40. It is accredited by the International Federation of Film Producers Associations (FIAPF) in the category of "Specialised Competitive Festivals".
Cinema Jove is organised by the Generalitat Valenciana through the Institut Valenciàde Cultura (IVC), with additional support from the Valencia City Council, the Diputació de València, and the ICAA of the Spanish Ministry of Culture.
The origins of Cinema Jove trace back to 1985, when educators Adolfo Bellido and Mario Viché organised a screening of student-made films at the offices of the Conselleria de Cultura y Educación of the Generalitat Valenciana. The following year, the Servei de Joventut of the Conselleria officially established the event under the name Certamen de Cine y VÃÂdeo Juvenil de la Comunidad Valenciana (Youth Film and Video Contest of the Valencian Community), with Viché as director.
The festival was conceived with a pedagogical purpose: to support audiovisual education in schools across the Valencian Community, encourage student engagement with filmmaking tools, and provide a forum for presenting student work.
Within four years, the festival expanded from a local initiative to a national and international event. An Official Short Film Section was established, and the festival's duration was extended to one full week. In 1991, an Official Feature Film Section was added.
Cinema Jove subsequently gained FIAPF accreditation as a specialised competitive festival, solidifying its position among internationally recognised film events. According to Unifrance, it became one of the leading specialised film festivals in Spain, with its alumni regularly going on to receive recognition at major festivals worldwide.
A competitive section for web series was introduced in 2016. In 2023, the festival added the ÃÂrbites section, dedicated to non-fiction and experimental works. The 40th edition took place from 19 to 28 June 2025, with Romanian filmmaker Radu Jude receiving the Luna de Valencia career award.
Cinema Jove features five official competitive sections, each with its own professional jury and a Jurat Jove (Young Jury) composed of students:
The festival also programmes several recurring non-competitive sections:
Cinema Jove includes two industry-oriented sections:
The principal awards at Cinema Jove are known as the Luna de Valencia (Moon of Valencia). The main competition prizes include:
Since 2010, Cinema Jove has presented the Luna de Valencia career award to honour a filmmaker recognised for a distinctive cinematographic style and significant contribution to contemporary cinema. The recipient visits the festival for a public meeting and a full retrospective of their work is screened.
Since 1993, Cinema Jove has presented the Un Futuro de Cine (A Future of Cinema) award to recognise the trajectory of young filmmakers or performers.
Over its history, Cinema Jove has featured the work of filmmakers who subsequently achieved international prominence. Directors who participated in the festival during the early stages of their careers include Lynne Ramsay, Mia Hansen-Løve, Miguel Gomes, Pablo Trapero, Lone Scherfig, Tomas Alfredson, Ruben ÃÂstlund, ÃÂlex de la Iglesia, IcÃÂar BollaÃÂn, Alejandro Amenábar, Juanma Bajo Ulloa, Marc Recha, Rithy Panh, Matteo Garrone, Thomas Vinterberg, Stephen Frears, Daniel Calparsoro, and Miguel Albaladejo.
Lynne Ramsay, for example, competed at Cinema Jove with her first two feature films, Ratcatcher and Morvern Callar, before going on to direct We Need to Talk About Kevin and You Were Never Really Here. Radu Jude's first short film, The Lamp with a Cap (2006), won an award at Cinema Jove before he went on to win the Golden Bear at the Berlin International Film Festival.
Cinema Jove screenings and events take place at several locations across Valencia, including the Teatro Principal, the Teatre Rialto and Edificio Rialto (the festival's main venue and headquarters), the Centre del Carme Cultura ContemporÃÂ nia (CCCC), and the Palau de les Arts Reina SofÃÂa. The festival offices are located at Plaza de la Almoina, 4, 1st floor, Valencia.