- FICValdivia has made its guidelines officially available to filmmakers from around the world.
- The festival also announces the feature by Sanaz Sohrabi as the opening film of its upcoming edition.
The Valdivia International Film Festival (FICValdivia) officially opens its 2026 call for entries and announces AN INCOMPLETE CALENDAR as its Opening Film, the new feature by Iranian artist and researcher based in Canada, Sanaz Sohrabi. The film, which will have its world premiere at the documentary festival Cinéma du Réel, arrives in Valdivia as one of the most meaningful works in contemporary non-fiction cinema.
“An Incomplete Calendar” (Canada, Iran, Turkey, Venezuela. 2026. 77′) reconstructs the history of the vinyl record “Rhymes and Songs for OPEC”, recorded in 1980 by the Concert Choir of the Central University of Venezuela to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), which was founded during the Baghdad Conference in 1960. Through archives and forgotten songs, the film proposes oil not as a commodity, but as a political tool for liberation struggles in Palestine and the construction of pan-Arab solidarity between 1960 and 1970.
The filmmaker closes, with this film,a trilogy that started in 2020 with “One Image, Two Acts”, which received the Special Jury Mention at FICValdivia 2021, and continued in 2023 with “Scenes of Extraction”, consolidating a project that connects essay film, archive footage, and critical reflection on the visual history of oil extraction in Iran and West Asia.
Director Sanaz Sohrabi states her connection to Chile and what it means for her to screen her work in Valdivia: “We grew up with a deep awareness of Chile’s political history due to its similarities with what Iran has experienced: imperialist interventions, coups d’état, and extractivism. In 2021, when I screened ‘One Image, Two Acts’ at FICValdivia, I felt that the film had found a critical audience in Chile. I knew the images and the history would feel familiar, and receiving the Special Jury Mention was truly special. I was unable to attend the festival in 2021 due to the pandemic, so attending Valdivia in person and having ‘An Incomplete Calendar’ as the Opening Film of the festival is deeply meaningful to me and stands as a testament to the importance of these shared histories, especially as military interventions and attacks continue as a stark reminder of the consequences of colonial energy interests in the Middle East and Latin America.”
In this way, FICValdivia reaffirms its curatorial profile focused on promoting works that engage with contemporary debates on history, sovereignty, and representation. Likewise, the director of the Valdivia International Film Festival, Raúl Camargo, commented: “For us, it is extremely important to highlight cinema from Africa, the Middle East, Latin America, and the Caribbean, whose territories have historically joined forces in pursuing decolonial struggles of the Global South. This tricontinental character made it clear that a different conception of the world was possible beyond the traditional axis defined by Cold War superpowers, while also showing that it was possible to imagine a different kind of art and cinema from the South. For this reason, it emerged as essential that our Opening Film be “An Incomplete Calendar”, as it marks a continuity and honors that possibility of thinking and making a different cinema, artistically recovering a forgotten history that also resonates with the current global situation. We are, therefore, very proud that Sanaz Sohrabi has accepted our invitation and will be able to present it in person in Valdivia.”
2026 CALL FOR ENTRIES
The guidelines for the 33rd Valdivia International Film Festival (FICValdivia) are now available, featuring an Official Selection formed by five competitive categories: Feature Film, Youth Feature Film, Short Film from Latin America and the Caribbean, Children’s Short Film from Latin America and the Caribbean, and Chilean Short Film for Film Students.
Founded by the Universidad Austral de Chile, produced by the Centro Cultural de Promoción Cinematográfica de Valdivia, and invited by the Ilustre Municipalidad de Valdivia, the Los Ríos Regional Government, and the Ministry of Cultures, Arts and Heritage, FICValdivia offers filmmakers an opportunity for exhibition and competition, as well as promoting national and international artistic quality filmmaking. The festival will take place between October 12 and 18, 2025.
Films completed from March 1, 2025 onwards may participate, provided that their Chilean premiere takes place at FICValdivia. All submitted works in the different categories will undergo a selection process carried out by the festival’s international programming team. The Official Selection will be announced in September on the official website www.ficvaldivia.cl.
Submissions will be open on Festhome from Monday, March 9 until Friday, April 24, 2026 at 18:00 (Chile continental time, UTC-4).
For questions or inquiries regarding the call for entries, please contact convocatoria@ficv.cl.
ABOUT FICVALDIVIA
Founded by the Universidad Austral de Chile, produced by the Centro Cultural de Promoción Cinematográfica de Valdivia, and invited by the Ilustre Municipalidad de Valdivia, the Los Ríos Regional Government, and Codeproval. It is funded by the Audiovisual Fund of the Ministry of Cultures, Arts and Heritage and supported by the Los Ríos Development Committee of Corfo. FICValdivia offers filmmakers a space for dissemination and competition, while promoting national and international audiovisual production of artistic quality. Project supported by the Cultural Donations Law. The festival will take place between October 12 and 18, 2026
