FILM BY WOMEN MADRID 2026
The Film by Women Madrid Festival is an annual international feature film festival held in Madrid since 2018. The 9th edition will take place from October 27 to November 8, 2026.
Its primary goal is to highlight the work and perspective of women in filmmaking and the broader film industry. While open to all audiences, the festival pays special attention to future generations, showcasing female role models who can drive real change toward gender equity.
The festival is promoted by women and men who seek to enrich culture through a diverse and pluralistic lens, helping to reduce the gender gap in the film industry. It celebrates female directors’ ability to explore a wide range of themes and styles without the constraints of gender bias, far beyond stereotyped roles. In short, it is a film festival BY women—not FOR women, nor ABOUT women—as no such restrictive film genre exists.
For this 9th edition, we are preparing a diverse selection of approximately 70 international and Spanish feature films, spanning narrative fiction, animation, and documentaries. We remain committed to high-quality, pluralistic, and distinctive cinema, featuring films from Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Chile, France, Mexico, Netherlands, Norway, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Tunisia, the United Kingdom, the United States, and more.
The majority of these titles are award-winning works, many making their Madrid premiere—and some their Spanish premiere. All will screen across 18 prestigious venues in central Madrid. Additionally, a substantial portion of the program will be available online via Filmin, while the local television channel 8madrid TV will complement the event with a special cycle of women-directed films from its archive.
Each edition highlights a guest country to provide insight into recent film production from a specific region. This 9th edition features FOCUS MEXICO 2026, a showcase dedicated to Mexican female directors presented in collaboration with Fundación Casa de México en España and the Center for Mexican Studies in Spain (UNAM-España).
Professional and educational activities are key pillars of the festival's programming. Since our first edition, we have hosted industry gatherings, panel discussions, masterclasses, and Q&As/film presentations to underscore women’s roles across every stage of film production: creation, production, marketing, distribution, and consumption. We look forward to engaging in dialogue with the visiting professionals joining us this year.
