RMMLA 2026 Panel on 21st-Century Spanish Cinema (Rocky Mountain Modern Language Association 2026)
Ogden, Utah
Organization: Rocky Mountain Modern Language Association
Event: Rocky Mountain Modern Language Association 2026
Panel: New Spanish/Latin American Cinema-Spanish Peninsular
Theme: Celebrating 25 Years of Twenty-First-Century Spanish Cinema
Rocky Mountain Modern Language Association (RMMLA) 2026
Conference Dates: October 8–10, 2026
Location: Marriott Courtyard, Ogden, Utah
The first quarter of the twenty-first century has been one of the most dynamic and transformative periods in the history of Spanish cinema. Defined by bold aesthetic experimentation, renewed political engagement, and unprecedented international visibility, Spanish film today stands at the crossroads of tradition and innovation. This panel seeks proposals that examine how Spanish cinema from 2000 to the present has reimagined genres, narratives, and cinematic forms for a new century.
Over the past twenty-five years, established auteurs, Pedro Almodóvar, Alejandro Amenábar, Isabel Coixet, Icíar Bollaín, J. A. Bayona, Alberto Rodríguez, and Álex de la Iglesia, have reshaped the field through emotionally charged melodramas (Volver, 2006), political and historical epics (Mientras dure la guerra, 2019), supernatural thrillers (Los otros, 2001), and socially engaged dramas (Los lunes al sol, 2002). Alongside them, a vibrant new generation, including Carla Simón, Rodrigo Sorogoyen, Paula Ortiz, Pablo Berger, Chema García Ibarra, Arantxa Echevarría, and Alauda Ruiz de Azúa, has broadened Spanish cinema with intimate family portraits (Verano 1993, 2017), rural thrillers (As bestas, 2022), coming-of-age narratives (La maternal, 2022), experimental and uncanny genre play (Espíritu sagrado, 2021), and visually bold reinterpretations of classical and fantastical forms (Blancanieves, 2012; Robot Dreams, 2023).
This evolution is reflected in landmark films ranging from the poetic urban documentary En construcción (2001) to the visceral found-footage horror of [REC] (2007), the high-intensity prison thriller Celda 211 (2009), and the blockbuster romantic comedy Ocho apellidos vascos (2014). Spanish cinema has embraced formal and thematic innovation across fiction, documentary, animation, hybrid non-fiction, and commercial genres, demonstrating a field that is both popular and artistically adventurous. Co-productions across Europe and Latin America have further expanded Spanish cinema’s narrative models, industrial frameworks, and global reach, amplifying its presence at major festivals and awards from Cannes to the Oscars.
We invite proposals that engage critically with this vibrant body of work and illuminate the creative, cultural, and political forces reshaping Spanish cinema in the twenty-first century. Approaches may draw from film and cultural studies, gender studies, ecocriticism, disability studies, transnational and memory studies, political history, media archaeology, and industry analysis.
Possible topics include, but are not limited to:
Aesthetic and narrative innovations across genres
New cinematic voices and emerging filmmakers
Spain–Latin America co-productions and hemispheric dialogue
Social realism and its reinventions
Historical memory, trauma, and political cinema
Documentary and hybrid non-fiction forms
Popular genres, comedy, and box-office phenomena
Gender, sexuality, identities, and embodiment
Ecocritical and environmental approaches
Disability representation and corporeality
Regional and multilingual cinemas within Spain
Digital experimentation, streaming platforms, and viewing practices
Global circulation, festivals, and media industries
Deadline for Abstracts: April 1, 2026
Chair: J. Eduardo Villalobos Graillet, Idaho State University
Email: josevillalobosgra@isu.edu
Please submit a 200-250-word abstract (in English or Spanish) to the email above.
Twenty-five years into the new millennium, Spanish cinema stands as one of the world’s most vibrant, diverse, and innovative film traditions, offering a fertile terrain for rethinking the aesthetic and ethical horizons of contemporary audiovisual culture.
Dr. José Eduardo Villalobos Graillet