La Mostra recovers its ‘Mostreta’ educational section with an interactive experience merging cinema and musical composition. The festival will celebrate the 25th anniversary of ‘Yoyes’ with the presence of its director, Helena Taberna. The Mostra de València-Cinema del Mediterrani, scheduled from November 3 to 15 and organized by the Palau de la Música, recovers its ‘Mostreta’ section in its 41st edition to reconnect the festival with its school and family audiences.

As the festival director, Sara Mansanet, explains, “Through the Sub-directorate of Cinematography and Audiovisuals of the Palau de la Música, we want to reopen the festival’s doors to educational centres and share with children and young people an experience to discover, enjoy, and think about cinema in a different way.”

The Mostra de València is bringing back its Mostreta educational programme, an initiative designed to bring cinema and audiovisual culture closer to children and youth through two proposals: Mostreta Menuda and Mostreta Jove. The programme combines film screenings, educational materials, colloquiums, and participatory activities to spark the curiosity of educational audiences, stimulate their creativity, and encourage a critical view of cinema and the world around them.

Mostreta Menuda, aimed at Early Childhood and Primary Education centers for ages 3 to 12, will take place on November 9 and 10 at Cines Babel. The programming will include four internationally acclaimed short films: ‘Gilbert’ (Spain, 2024), by Alex Salu, Arturo Lacal, and Jordi Jiménez, winner of the Goya Award for Best Animated Short Film; ‘Alike’ (Spain, 2015), by Daniel Martínez Lara and Rafael Cano Méndez, winner of the Goya for Best Animated Short Film; ‘The Orchestra’ (Australia, 2025), by Mikey Hill, a renowned animation proposal; and ‘Shackle’ (United Kingdom, 2022), by Ainslie Henderson, an award-winning animation.

As a new feature, Mostreta Menuda incorporates an educational activity in collaboration with the Conservatori Superior de Música de València (CSMV), which will allow children to discover the relationship between cinema and music. During a short film session, CSMV students will be present in the theater to explain live how the musical instruments appearing on screen work, bringing their characteristics and sonic possibilities closer to the youngest viewers through a participatory experience adapted to their age.

Meanwhile, Mostreta Jove, aimed at students in Compulsory Secondary Education (ESO), Baccalaureate, and vocational training, will also be held during the morning sessions on November 9 and 10 at Cines Babel. The proposal will focus on young talent and professional career paths in the audiovisual sector, featuring a selection of short films made by film students from Barreira A+D.
Following the screenings, the Barreira A+D students will present their works and lead a colloquium with the attendees to share their experience and open a dialogue regarding film professions and audiovisual training. It is an opportunity to bring young viewers closer to the creative processes and professional possibilities of an industry in constant evolution.
Tribute to the 25th anniversary of ‘Yoyes’.

Among the Mostra’s Special Screenings and marking the 25th anniversary of the release of ‘Yoyes’, the festival will screen Helena Taberna’s acclaimed debut feature at La Filmoteca. The event will feature the director, who will participate in a subsequent colloquium with the audience—led by journalist Álvaro G. Devís—to delve into the details and legacy of this key film in contemporary social cinema. The film’s return to the big screen coincides with the commemoration of the 40th anniversary of the tragic end of its real-life protagonist. Released in the year 2000, the film focuses its narrative on the life and harrowing murder at the hands of ETA of María Dolores González Katarain, “Yoyes,” the first woman to hold leadership positions within the terrorist organization, who was executed by her former comrades after deciding to distance herself from the group.

In addition, the Mostra will also celebrate Taberna’s career, recognized for her cinema of strong social commitment and for being a co-founder of the Association of Women Filmmakers and Audiovisual Media (CIMA), with the screening of ‘Nosotros’ (2025), her most recent production. A work inspired by Isaac Rosa’s novel ‘Feliz final’ that portrays the various stages and realities of contemporary romantic relationships.

Cinema with memory: the legacy of Jocelyne Saab and Youssef Chahine
The Mostra’s ‘Focus’ section will turn its attention to Franco-Lebanese war reporter Jocelyne Saab and Egyptian filmmaker Youssef Chahine. La Filmoteca will screen some of their works, with the collaboration of the Festival Dona i Cinema in the case of Saab. Under the title ‘Jocelyne Saab: war, memory, and resistance,’ the festival will bring the work of this conflict reporting pioneer closer through two sessions. The first will address the value of the documentary as a testimony and tool for preserving the memory of peoples against oblivion with the short films ‘Les Femmes Palestiniennes’ (‘Palestinian Women’, 1974), ‘Beyrouth, jamais plus’ (‘Beirut, Never Again’, 1976), and ‘Le Front du refus –ou les Commando-suicides’ (‘The Front of Refusal – or the Suicide Commandos’, 1975). The second session will offer a more personal and intimate look at Lebanon with films such as ‘Les Enfants de la Guerre’ (‘Children of War’, 1976), ‘Beyrouth, ma ville’ (‘Beirut, My City’, 1982), and ‘Sud Liban, Histoire d’un village assiégé’ (‘South Lebanon: Story of a Besieged Village’, 1976).

As part of its commitment to highlighting the legacy of the great creators of the Mediterranean area who have shaped cinema history, Focus will also pay tribute to the master of humanist cinema and pioneer of Middle Eastern cinematography, Youssef Chahine, thanks to the collaboration of La Filmoteca. His extensive body of work, which earned a special career achievement award at Cannes, spanned neorealism, melodrama, musical comedy, and autobiographical narrative. La Filmoteca will offer a journey through a filmography with which he challenged censorship and the commercial molds of his time through films such as ‘Duel in the Valley’ (1954), which marked the film debut of Omar Sharif; the port drama ‘Duel on the Docks’ (1956); his masterpiece ‘Central Station’ (1958); the political portrait ‘The Dawn of a New Day’ (1964); his musical ‘The Return of the Prodigal Son’ (1976); the autobiographical proposal ‘An Egyptian Story’ (1982); and the international co-production ‘Destiny’ (1997).

Report by ’24/7 Valencia’ team

Article copyright ’24/7 Valencia’

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