Delegation of Culture
y Educación
Palacio de los Condes de Gabia
Plaza de los Girones, 1
18009 Granada (España)
Condes de Gabia hosts ‘Perlas de la Alhambra’ from July 20 to 24
The Cines del Sur International Film Festival, one of Granada’s major cultural events, returns to the city from 17 to 24 July after an eight-year break. The festival is now celebrating its twelfth edition, organised by Granada City Council as part of its Granada 2031 cultural strategy, with the support of Granada Provincial Council, the Regional Government of Andalusia, the University of Granada, the Alhambra and Generalife Board, and the “La Caixa” Foundation.
Group photo of the organisers and sponsors. Photo: Lucía Rivas / Film in Granada
The festival will open on Friday 17 July at 9 p.m. at the Teatro del Generalife with the Spanish premiere of the documentary “Para vivir. El implacable tiempo de Pablo Milanés”, written and directed by Fabien Pisani, Pablo Milanés’ godson. Before the screening, Japanese director Naomi Kawase will receive the festival’s highest award, the Alhambra de Honor. The filmmaker, known for her intimate style and her sensitive exploration of time, fragility and silence, will receive this major award ahead of the retrospective that the festival is dedicating to her work, with screenings of “Suzaku” (1997), “Still the Water” (2014), “Radiance” (2017) and “True Mothers” (2020).
Japanese filmmaker Naomi Kawase (Nara, 1969). Photo: Festival Cines del Sur
The Official Competition will bring together some of the most notable films in contemporary international cinema. These include the Mexican film “La reserva”, by Pablo Pérez Lombardini; the Brazilian “The Showcases”, by Flávia Castro; the Turkish “Early Winter”, by Özcan Alper; the Tunisian “Exile”, by Mehdi Hmili; the Chinese “The Sun Rises on Us All”, by Cai Shangjun; as well as “Crocodile”, from Nigeria, and “Funky Freaky Freaks”, from South Korea. These films will compete for the traditional Alhambra de Oro and the Audience Award. One of the main new features of the 2026 edition is the new competitive section Llaves del Sur, created as a natural extension of the Official Competition and dedicated to co-productions between European countries and countries from the Global South.
All screenings and activities will take place across six cultural and heritage venues in Granada. In addition to the Teatro del Generalife, the festival will also be held at the Teatro Isabel la Católica, which will host the closing ceremony on Friday 24 July; the Centro Federico García Lorca; the Corral del Carbón; Plaza de las Pasiegas; and the Palacio de los Condes de Gabia.
The screening room at the Palacio de Condes de Gabia will host screenings in the Perlas de La Alhambra section from Monday 20 to Friday 24 July at 7 p.m. The programme includes five films that made a special impact in previous editions and received different awards. All screenings are free, with admission until full capacity is reached.
Monday 20: Lipstick Under My Burkha (Alankrita Shrivastava, 2016); Tuesday 21: The Other Bank (George Ovashvili, 2009); Wednesday 22: Crossing The Dust (Shawkat Amin Korki, 2006); Thursday 23: Jogo De Cena (Eduardo Coutinho, 2007); and Friday 24: Nairobi Half Life (David Tosh Gitonga, 2012).
In addition, the Diputación de Granada and the Festival will bring back the Programa de Extensión a la provincia, which includes screenings of films that are rarely shown in commercial cinemas but have been screened at festivals and film events around the world. The programme will take place in November in several towns across the province of Granada.
The Cines del Sur International Film Festival was created in 2007 to bring films to Granada that audiences would otherwise not be possible to see in the city. It was an unusual festival in Andalusia because commercial interests were not its priority, and it moved away from the industry-focused approach of other festivals by focusing on a different kind of cinema, with different realities and themes. It also aimed to connect with audiences and encourage their solidarity and involvement.
‘Tuya’s Marriage’, the film that opened the first edition of Cines del Sur in 2007. Photo: Lucía Rivas / Ideal