Punto de Vista: a responsible festival

Punto de Vista sets out to be a socially responsible cultural event. This is why, gradually and year after year, it seeks to improve the impact it has in different areas. This is just the beginning of a long journey of constant improvement, but we want to share it with you because we make the festival between all of us.

Environmental sustainability

On the one hand, the festival is aware of the need for all individuals, institutions and organisations to commit to environmental sustainability. The effects of climate change and the deterioration of nature are more and more obvious. All human activities have an environmental impact and we are all responsible for being aware of this and doing all we can to reduce these impacts. At Punto de Vista we have striven for years to improve in this sense. In fact Baluarte, our main venue, uses 100% renewable energy and has an environmental management system which is audited by independent bodies every year. Also, in 2022 we are starting to identify our biggest impacts, hand in hand with environmental experts, with a view to reducing them. For example, we prioritise rail travel for guests at the festival, or provide information about sustainable, public transport options to help attendees and the general public to move about between our venues with the minimum possible impact. We have also reduced the materials we produce for the festival to a minimum, and we make sure everything we can't re-use is disposed of properly at clean waste disposal points. We also support the local economy through cooperation agreements with local suppliers and establishments in different areas.

At this year's edition we want to take a step further by calculating and offsetting our carbon footprint, for which we will be relying on our team and everybody attending the festival.

Equality and Work-Life Balance

Right from the start Punto de Vista has been a festival attentive to the need to ensure real gender equality in its field of action. Unfortunately, the film industry is still working on mitigating inequality, so it is essential to strive to change this situation. The need to programme films made by both male and female directors, use inclusive language and highlight women film-makers whose work has not been sufficiently recognised forms part of Punto de Vista's everyday work.

NICDO, the body organising the festival, has an Equality Plan with guidelines on inclusive language and since 2019 has had a protocol for action to prevent sexual harassment and harassment at work which is common to all public companies.

Also, since 2022 the festival has worked to be a family-friendly event by setting up the Punto de Vista Playscheme: The Red Balloon. This gives it a place for children between six months and twelve years old that can be used by staff, festival pass holders and the general public over several days of the festival. This initiative, set up jointly with CIMA, the association of women film-makers and audiovisual media, and the Parenting at Film Festivals group, is run by Ludoteka Zorionak Kids & Party.