Festivals and awards

Sitges does not programme a single “fantastic” cinema: how to read its sections as a dispute over the boundaries of genre

Sitges’s sections are not mere compartments for arranging screening times. They form an editorial vocabulary that distinguishes competition, experimentation, independent horror, neighbouring genres, historical recovery, non-fiction and audience development. Reading that vocabulary makes it easier to find one’s way around and to debate what lies within—or at the edge of—the fantastic.

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Calling all of Sitges “fantastic” is useful as an institutional description, but insufficient as a viewing method. The festival defines itself as specialising in genre cinema while also dividing its programme according to criteria that are not solely generic: national premieres, competition, independence, formal experimentation, intended audiences, historical provenance and restoration status. The consequence is significant: a film comes to Sitges not simply because it resembles another, but because it occupies a position within an architecture of discovery, prestige and memory.

This text proposes reading the sections as programming hypotheses, rather than as definitive truths about films. Official documentation makes it possible to reconstruct what each label promises; on its own, it does not authorise us to assign psychological intentions to a programmer or turn a label into an aesthetic judgement. Nor could legal access to complete copies of a limited sample of titles be verified in order to support shot-by-shot analysis. Accordingly, the examples of films and screening schedules serve here as evidence of programming relationships, not as a substitute for accredited critical viewing.

From the institutional umbrella to a map of functions

The Official Fantastic Competition section concentrates the most visible hierarchy: Spanish premieres, an international jury and a deliberately broad formulation of genre, linked to quality and trend-setting creation. Yet it is not the only centre of gravity. Sitges Collection and the special screenings organise galas, tributes, guests and event screenings; in other words, they make clear that the value of a screening may arise as much from its exhibition context as from the film itself.

Around them are distinct functions. Noves Visions denotes experimentation, new languages, formats and hybridisation. Panorama is reserved for independently minded fantastic cinema and horror. Midnight X-treme intensifies that axis towards more extreme independent horror. Òrbita shifts the perimeter towards thrillers, action, adventure, martial arts and black comedy. Anima’t establishes a technical route; Documenta, a non-fiction route; and Sitges Family, created in 2023, a route for developing child, teen and family audiences. These are not synonyms for subgenres: they are different reasons for programming.

Changes and continuities: do not mistake a section for an essence

A documentary comparison requires us to avoid a static image of the festival. The 2022 rules listed Official Fantastic, special screenings, Òrbita, Noves Visions, Panorama Fantàstic, Anima’t, Seven Chances, Midnight X-Treme, Brigadoon, Sitges Classics, Coming Soon and Documenta. In 2024, the rules added Sitges Family and identified Sitges Collection as a non-competitive official section, while the current website retains that designation and presents Panorama without the “Fantàstic” suffix.

There have also been internal transformations. In 2016 and 2017, the awards distinguished Noves Visions One and Noves Visions Plus; the later structure simplifies the name to Noves Visions and retains Petit Format for short films. Òrbita, meanwhile, was reinstated in 2022 after two years’ absence, according to the festival’s announcement. These changes do not prove that the meaning of each label has been reversed, but they do prevent us from speaking of an eternal taxonomy. Before comparing editions, it is necessary to check which sections actually existed that year and which rules described them.

The dispute emerges in the overlaps

The most revealing fact is not that Sitges encompasses many genres, but that it allows several logics to run through the same programme. The Focus Àsia, Méliès d’Argent and Blood Window awards may go to films included in different sections, provided they meet territorial or genre-related criteria set by the festival. These cross-cutting labels show that “section”, “award”, “industrial origin” and “genre” are separate layers.

Seven Chances articulates this complexity explicitly: it programmes fantastic cinema in the broad sense and related genres, but does so through historical reassessment, distinction from the canon and, where applicable, original or restored prints. Brigadoon combines premieres, retrospectives, tributes and cult cinema. The festival therefore does not merely select new releases: it also proposes which works should be seen again and under what material conditions. That is an intervention in the canon, though it should not be confused with a definitive verdict on genre history.

How to navigate an edition without obeying a single label

A critical itinerary can begin with a question rather than a favourite section. If the boundary between horror and independent cinema is of interest, Panorama and Midnight X-treme should be considered in relation to one another. If the elasticity of the fantastic is the focus, the useful contrast is between Official Fantastic, Noves Visions and Òrbita: the first declares a broad competitive remit; the second privileges hybridisation and formal inquiry; the third admits adjacent genres.

Next, three pieces of information should be read for every screening: the section, its premiere or recovery status, and cross-cutting award or focus labels. In the 2022 programme, for instance, Noves Visions, Òrbita, Panorama Fantàstic, Documenta, Anima’t and Classics shared days and venues with the official competition. That temporal design makes it possible to build double bills that confront criteria, rather than merely films. An action film in Òrbita does not cease to matter to the fantastic because it sits outside the main competition; instead, it prompts the question of what kind of proximity the festival is proposing.

A necessary caution when reading institutional texts

Official documentation is not entirely stable in its wording. The current sections page describes Panorama using the same text as Noves Visions—experimentation, new languages, formats and hybridisation—whereas the 2024 rules define Panorama as independently oriented fantastic cinema and horror. Faced with this discrepancy, the contemporaneous rules and each edition’s programmes are more precise evidence for reconstructing operational criteria; the general page is better used for orientation, but should be checked before being used as a conclusive definition.

The final guideline is simple: do not ask only “what genre is this film?”, but “why is it here, and what relationship does it propose with nearby films?” The answer should remain provisional, tested against the catalogue, schedule, rules, curatorial texts and, where legitimate access exists, full viewing. Sitges is best understood as a network of passages between genres, audiences, formats and memories, rather than as a single shelf called fantastic.

Key takeaways

  • At Sitges, the label “fantastic” operates as an institutional specialisation, not as a sufficient description of every film or section.
  • The sections organise distinct functions: competition, experimentation, independence, neighbouring genres, animation, archive, documentary and audience development.
  • Comparing editions requires checking each year’s names and rules: the structures change.
  • Cross-cutting awards and focuses show that a film can simultaneously belong to a section and to a separate territorial, historical or circulation logic.
  • The general sections page contains an inconsistency in its definition of Panorama; dated rules and programmes should take precedence for historical or operational claims.
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