The festival has been awarded the status of Socially Responsible Valencian Entity during its 10th anniversary year, reinforcing a strategy that integrates sustainability, social responsibility and a long-term commitment to the future of the audiovisual sector.
Benidorm, July 2026. – Skyline Benidorm Film Festival has received a new recognition that reflects a vision extending far beyond cinema itself. The Skyline Festival Association has been awarded the Socially Responsible Valencian Entity distinction by the Regional Government of Valencia (Generalitat Valenciana) and has been officially registered under number 2026/45. The recognition acknowledges organisations that embed social, environmental, ethical and good governance principles throughout their management and operations.
The accreditation comes in the same year that Skyline celebrated its 10th edition, consolidating its position as a Goya Awards qualifying festival and as one of Spain’s leading international short film festivals. For Skyline, however, this distinction represents something that goes well beyond film programming.
Throughout the festival’s first decade, one guiding principle has shaped its growth: culture also has a responsibility to generate a positive impact on society.
“This recognition highlights years of work carried out quietly behind the scenes. Our goal has never been to obtain a certification, but to build a festival that is consistent with the values we believe in and to ensure those values are reflected in the way Skyline is managed,” explains Beatriz Hernández, Director of Skyline Benidorm Film Festival.
Ten years building a responsible festival model
Rather than treating sustainability as a standalone initiative, Skyline has progressively integrated it into every aspect of the festival’s way of working.
Accessibility, equal opportunities, support for emerging talent, collaboration with cultural and business stakeholders, transparency, internationalisation and commitment to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) all form part of the same philosophy: demonstrating that a film festival can grow while creating value for the city, the audiovisual industry and society as a whole.
This long-term commitment is precisely what the Generalitat Valenciana has now recognised by awarding Skyline the Socially Responsible Valencian Entity distinction.
“This recognition belongs to the entire Skyline team. Many people have been naturally incorporating these values into their daily work for years. It reflects a shared vision of what Skyline is and what we want it to continue becoming with every new edition,” Hernández adds.
Measuring in order to improve
One of the clearest examples of this philosophy is Skyline’s commitment to measuring its carbon footprint.
The festival became one of the first film festivals in Spain to publish a dedicated carbon footprint report in 2025. Rather than remaining a one-off initiative, the 2026 edition represented a significant methodological step forward by expanding the scope of the emissions inventory and incorporating additional emission sources in accordance with internationally recognised standards such as the GHG Protocol and ISO 14064-1.
The updated study includes emissions generated by staff, jury members and guest travel, organisation-operated vehicles, a detailed assessment of energy consumption across festival venues, the actual weighing of separately collected waste and a much more accurate characterisation of the different emission sources.
As a result, the 2026 assessment provides a far more comprehensive and rigorous picture of Skyline’s environmental impact, making it possible to identify improvement opportunities with greater precision and establish a solid baseline for future emissions reduction strategies.
The report also identifies where the greatest opportunities for improvement lie. Mobility accounts for approximately 61% of the festival’s total carbon footprint, followed by catering and accommodation. These findings will help guide decision-making in future editions.
“We know there is still a long way to go, but we firmly believe improvement begins with measuring, analysing and being transparent. Only by understanding our impact can we make better decisions to reduce it in the future.”
A commitment that also looks towards the future of filmmaking
Skyline’s sustainability strategy goes beyond organising the festival itself. It also seeks to help embed a culture of responsibility among the next generation of audiovisual professionals.
Since 2023, the festival has collaborated with Echar a Rodar, an organisation specialising in sustainability for the audiovisual sector. As part of the Shortpitch Competition, the organisation provides specialised guidance and sustainability expertise to selected projects throughout their development process.
The objective is not simply to make the festival itself more sustainable, but to encourage future film projects to integrate sustainability from their earliest stages.
“Since 2023, Echar a Rodar has brought specialised expertise in audiovisual sustainability to our Shortpitch Competition. For us, it is essential that future film projects begin considering sustainability during development, because we believe it should become a natural part of both the creative and production processes.”
She continues:
“Our ambition is not only to organise a more sustainable festival. We also want to encourage filmmakers developing new projects today to incorporate this perspective from the pre-production stage onwards. If we can help build that awareness among the next generation of filmmakers, the impact will be far greater than that of our own festival.”
Looking ahead to 2027
While celebrating this recognition, Skyline Benidorm Film Festival is already preparing for its next edition.
The festival’s 11th edition will take place from 10 to 17 April 2027, once again bringing filmmakers, industry professionals and emerging talent together in Benidorm, while continuing to strengthen a festival model that aspires to grow without compromising the values that have defined Skyline since its beginnings.
More than organising a film festival
Over the past decade, Skyline Benidorm Film Festival has evolved from an emerging event into one of Spain’s leading short film festivals, an important meeting point for the audiovisual industry and a platform for new filmmakers.
Yet, as its director explains, the festival has never measured success solely through attendance figures, premieres or celebrity guests.
“Ten years on, we still believe that a festival’s success is measured by the positive impact it leaves on people, on the local community and on the audiovisual sector. That is the Skyline we want to continue building.”
For Skyline, sustainability is not simply another section in an annual report—it is a way of understanding culture itself. According to Beatriz Hernández, this commitment should become an everyday practice throughout the audiovisual industry.
“We want sustainability to stop being seen as something exceptional and instead become a natural part of the audiovisual sector. Just as nobody today questions the importance of accessibility, equality or transparency, we believe environmental responsibility should also be fully integrated into the way culture is created, produced and organised. If Skyline can contribute, even modestly, to accelerating that change, we will have fulfilled a very important part of our mission.”
