2025 arrives filled with moving images with a new edition of the PROYECTOR Festival: New Hertzog Da Silva Awards and the 3rd Edition of VERTICAL <25

The PROYECTOR platform showcases and distributes the most experimental and cutting-edge proposals from the international scene. The Festival is known for its non-cinemanormative works—pieces that fall outside traditional formats and engage directly with space and the active viewer.

From September 10 to 21, 2025, more than twenty venues across Madrid will intersect to present new languages and formats through around 100 works of expanded cinema, performance, video art, site-specific pieces, interactive installations, and unique premieres presented for the first time at the Festival.

PROYECTOR collaborates with both independent and established spaces, spanning from the city center to surrounding neighborhoods of the capital. These venues are filled with video art proposals curated by the PROYECTOR platform as well as by the galleries and museums that form part of the OFF Circuit.

Additionally, PROYECTOR works with other festivals focused on experimental video art and moving image, such as Loops.Expanded, FIVA, PLAY, and Fonlad.

But there’s more!

In its 18th edition, the Hertzog Da Silva Awards return! A total of 6 prizes will be awarded to works selected through the public call by this edition’s jury. Each year, the jury is made up of international professionals specializing in experimental video art. For this edition, the jury includes both artists and curators.

Thanks to Hertzog Da Silva, we are also launching—for the second year—the call for young creators who think vertically: VERTICAL <25. With a new public voting system via social media, you can help choose the winner of a production residency in 2026!

PROYECTOR continues to champion Madrid’s contemporary art scene by collaborating with the Platform of Independent Contemporary Creation Spaces, featuring 10 new venues this year and, for the first time, opening the doors to artists’ studios.

The Festival is committed to equality and to the internationalization of a free and accessible culture. That’s why each year, more than half of the selected works are by women artists from up to 30 different countries, and all festival activities are free of charge.

Additionally, all events—including openings, talks, performances, and workshops—will be streamed online (via YouTube and Vimeo) to ensure international accessibility.

The platform collaborates with universities, offering younger generations the opportunity to gain training and integrate into the cultural sector. We are grateful for the support and sponsorship of associations, galleries, foundations, private companies, embassies, venues, and above all, the artists who make it all possible.

Rebeca M Urizar