Valladolid's Indie Film Market Emerges as Spain's Premier Showcase

Merci Valladolid, Spain's premier indie film market, is set to take place from October 29-31 this year. The event, organized by Seminci (Semana Internacional de Cine de Valladolid) and Adicine (Spain's Association of Independent Film Distributors), has quickly emerged as a go-to platform for showcasing arthouse titles.

The fifth edition of Merci is expected to bring together over 150 professionals, including programmers, exhibitors, streaming buyers, and TV commissioners. The market offers exclusive screenings of upcoming 2025-26 releases, as well as roundtables and presentations focused on new marketing and theatrical promotion tools.

"This opportunity to show films directly to programmers, platforms and TV buyers is a privilege," says Enrique Costa Ríos, co-president of Adicine. Merci has become "a great initiative which has consolidated as an ideal framework for independent cinema," according to Stefan Schmidt, founder of Avalon.

The market's focus on the industry rather than the public has helped create a sense of continuity and trust. "We've achieved a feeling of certainty -- that Valladolid is our space to present the best of what we have each year," Costa Ríos explains.

Alongside Merci, Seminci Industria also hosts the Europa Cinemas Audience Lab, a hands-on workshop for exhibitors aimed at audience growth and community partnerships. The festival's industrial strategy under director José Luis Cienfuegos has become sharper and more collaborative, strengthening ties between distributors, exhibitors, and the next generation of professionals.