The winners of the 18th edition of My First Film Festival have been revealed
Festival
My First Film Festival receives the Special Mention for an Initiative at the 2025 FECE Awards
Mi Primer Festival de Cine has been honoured with the Special Mention for an Initiative at the 2025 FECE Awards, presented by the Federation of Cinemas of Spain (FECE), which represents more than 85% of the Spanish exhibition market. The award recognises the festival’s strong commitment to children’s cinema, audience development and the cultural revitalisation of movie theatres.
The awards ceremony took place on 11 December at Cinesa Proyecciones in Madrid, bringing together more than one hundred professionals from across the industry, including exhibitors, distributors, producers, filmmakers and institutional representatives. The FECE Awards have become one of the most important annual events in the Spanish cinema calendar since their creation in 2022.
Recognition at a pivotal moment for cinema exhibition
As reported by film industry outlet Kinótico, this year’s FECE Awards also served as a forum to reflect on the current challenges facing the exhibition sector and the need to strengthen the cinema-going experience. Hosted by journalist Silvia Jato, the ceremony highlighted the importance of unity across the industry in order to bring audiences back to cinemas.
Among this year’s award winners were Lilo & Stitch, named Foreign Film with the Highest Attendance, and Padre no hay más que uno 5, awarded Most Successful Spanish Film at the Box Office. In distribution, The Walt Disney Company Iberia received the award for Distributor of the Year, while DeAPlaneta was recognised as Best Independent Distributor.
FECE also granted several special mentions selected by its members, including Mi Primer Festival, Los domingos by Alauda Ruiz de Azúa, producer María Zamora, and De Película, a programme by Spain’s national radio broadcaster RNE.
Children and young audiences at the heart of the discussion
According to Kinótico, many of the award recipients used their speeches to stress the importance of protecting cinema exhibition and fostering new audiences, particularly among children and young people. In this context, Marta Martínez Falcón, co-director of Mi Primer Festival, underlined that the initiative places children at the centre in order to defend “the experience of watching films together, in the darkness of the cinema and on the big screen.”
FECE president Álvaro Postigo also addressed the “complex times” currently facing the industry, referring to declining attendance, market concentration and overproduction. Despite these challenges, he expressed optimism about Europe’s ability to protect both its cinemas and its national film production, calling for public policies aimed at audience development and the long-term sustainability of the audiovisual ecosystem.
A boost to keep moving forward
For Mi Primer Festival, this Special Mention represents a significant boost and a recognition of its ongoing work to bring high-quality, international and artistically ambitious cinema to children, while promoting film education and reinforcing cinemas as essential cultural spaces.
