Salamanca is a set in itself, a unique stage for any audiovisual production. It is one big museum that transports us to different stages of its history. The old city embodies this in its old walls and brings natives and visitors closer to it.

Salamanca houses the headquarters of the Filmoteca de la Junta de Castilla y León (Film Library of Castile and León) that looks after the conservation and cataloguing of films and the restoration of documentaries, movies, etc. It works on occasions with the Filmoteca Española (Spanish Film Library) to carry out some of these projects. The library presently holds the Collection "Devices to fascinate", where you can see devices used in filmmaking in the past and today, with corresponding images on different mediums. This display was donated by the film director Basilio Martín Patino.

Guijuelo Short Film Contest.

The Salamanca town of Guijuelo holds the Pata Negra short film festival. It was created in 2004, and has a double goal: to provide the province with a nationally recognized film event and to serve as a show window for the most outstanding works in film production.

On this basis the contest seeks to consolidate itself as a point of reference in the panorama of national cinema festivals. For this reason great care was taken in everything related to the image and philosophy of the Pata Negra Guijuelo.

From its beginning, one of the principles that the 1 st Short Film 'Pata Negra Guijuelo' Contest was based on was supporting youth values in the world of cinema. This will to support the creators carries with it the recognition of the effort and excitement that they put into their work, and that they don't always have the appropriate economic support. To reward this initiative the Contest offers prizes that will recognize the value of the projects submitted to the competition. This should stimulate the realization of future projects.

For five days, the town of Guijuelo welcomes the participants in the sections for competition in the contest, both cinema and videotape, and to individuals related to the Spanish film industry.

Historical of filmings:

Salamanca is a perfect stage for filming. It was chosen by Buñuel to film “The Hurdes (Earth without bread)” in1932. Later on it grew to become the headquarters of a generation of directors known as the New Spanish Cinema (1965) determined to show the social reality of the moment. Among these were: Manuel Summers, Miguel Picazo, Carlos Saura, José Luis Borau, etc., whose experiences have been captured recently by the Salamanca producer Chema de la Peña in the documentary "From Salamanca To Nowhere" (2002). From among all of these, the one that stands out is by another Salamantino named Basilio Martín Patino, whose first work "Nine Letters to Berta" (1965) was awarded the Shell of Silver in the San Sebastián Festival (1966).

Salamanca due to it structure has welcomed productions set in different historical times. It had been the stage of movies as different as: "El Rey Pasmado"(1991) by Imanol Uribe, winner of eight Goyas; " La Marrana " (1992) and "El Bosque Animado" (1987) winner of five Goyas, both directed by José Luis Cuerda; "Octavia" (2001) of Basilio Martín Patino and "El Lute Camina O Revienta" (1987) by Vicente Aranda; Salamanca has also always had its doors open to foreign films, including major motion picture productions like "Chistopher Columbus: The discovery" (1992), with Marlon Brandon and "1492, The Conquest of Paradise" (1992) directed by Ridley Scott.

The city, far from being type-cast as a city for historical movies, sets the stage for different genres set at the present time; for example, the drama: "Jamón, Jamón" (1992) by Bigas Luna; the comedy: "¿Por qué lo llaman amor cuando quieren decir sexo?" (1992) by Manuel Gómez Pereira; the terror: "Tuno Negro" (2000) by Pedro L Barber and Vicente J. Martín; the thriller: "Lisboa" (1998) by Antonio Hernández and the rock "Shacky Carmine" (1999) by Chema de la Peña.

Salamanca has not only received feature films, it has also been the stage of countless documentaries - most of them favored by the customs and the landscapes of the province which make it a unique stage for these audiovisual projects. The city has been the place where some new producers began, since Salamanca has always facilitated filming. This is the case of Chema de la Peña whose first short film "Lourdes de Segunda Mano" (1996) opened the doors for him toward making feature films, like his recent success "ISI/DISI"