The San Sebastián Film Festival has begun screening a spot produced by the Argentine Academy of Cinematographic Arts and Sciences opposing the reform of the funding system of the National Institute of Cinema and Audiovisual Arts (INCAA), before screenings of Argentine films programmed at the festival outside the Official Selection.

The announcement opens with the question, “Can you imagine a world without films?” and uses footage from Argentine films to warn about the consequences that, according to the campaign, will result from the reform promoted by the government of Javier Milei. The spot states that a law that “defunds INCAA and destroys Argentine cinema” will come into effect on January 1, 2028, and concludes with a call for its repeal.

The initiative by the Argentine Academy of Cinema has the backing of the San Sebastián Film Festival itself. Its director, José Luis Rebordinos, told the EFE news agency that the reform “is the final blow” to Argentine cinema and said that the festival decided to support the campaign by screening the announcement during the festival. “We are at a moment when Milei is trying to put an end to Argentine cinema,” he said.

The spot is not shown before films in the Official Selection due to regulations established by the International Federation of Film Producers Associations (FIAPF), Rebordinos explained. San Sebastián has also added two screenings at the Velodrome to further promote the campaign. So far, neither the Argentine Academy of Cinema nor the San Sebastián Film Festival has published an online version of the full spot.