Film noir showcase Novembre Negre 2026 in Sagunto: theatre, dinner and contests
The 17th Novembre Negre brings film noir to Sagunto from 6 to 30 November: nine free films, a play, an exhibition, a dinner and contests.
From 6 to 30 November 2026, Sagunto hosts the 17th edition of the Novembre Negre film noir showcase (Muestra de Género Negro), a 25-day programme run by the Youth and Children's Department of Sagunto City Council. The programme combines free screenings, a play, an exhibition, a themed dinner, two writing contests and a short film festival. The Culture Department and several local groups collaborate, and the Casal Jove (municipal youth centre) in Puerto de Sagunto (coastal district) hosts many of the events.
The first day, Friday 6 November, packs two events into that same youth centre: the film Yo te creo at 7 pm and the play Misery at 8:30 pm. The company Saga Producciones stages William Goldman's adaptation of the Stephen King novel. José Saiz directs, and the cast is Carmen Conesa, Marcial Álvarez and Alberto Vázquez. The performance is also part of the Culture Department's quarterly programme. Tickets cost €9 and can be bought on the Servientradas website or at the box office.
Film screenings fall mostly on Fridays and Saturdays. All nine screenings are free and in the original language. The Casal Jove in Puerto de Sagunto shows, at 7 pm, in addition to Yo te creo, Águilas de El Cairo (7 November), La chica de la aguja (14 November), La huella del mal (20 November), Hugo 24 (27 November) and Mallorca confidencial (28 November). The Casal Jove de Sagunto programmes two titles, Incógnito on 13 November and Una ballena on 21 November; the council's announcement does not give the time of those two sessions. The Nautilus association ends the screenings on Monday 30 November at 6:30 pm in the Casa Municipal de Cultura (municipal cultural centre) with La jungla de asfalto (The Asphalt Jungle), a John Huston classic.
For those who prefer to write, there are two events. The tenth Concurso de Relato Rápido Negro (a quick-writing test) takes place on Saturday 14 November at 10 am. The third Certamen de Microrrelato Negre & Jove, aimed at young people, accepts texts until 18 November. More information on both is on the Novembre Negre website.
On Sunday 29 November at 6 pm, the Casal Jove in Puerto de Sagunto hosts the 14th Novembre Negre Short Film Festival. The four finalists for the Audience Prize are screened, those attending vote for their favourite at the end, and the session closes with the work chosen by the jury. Anyone who wants to enter a short film has until 7 November to register online, which is 15 days from the publication of this article.
Beyond cinema, the showcase adds one artistic event and one gastronomic. From 19 November to 6 January 2027, the Centro Cívico Antiguo Sanatorio (civic centre) in Puerto de Sagunto shows Mi familia y otros animales, family portraits, drawings and paintings by Elena Uriel and Sento Llobell, with the collaboration of SPLASH, the Valencian Community comics festival. On Friday 27 November at 9:45 pm, Restaurante La Costanera serves the annual Carvalho dinner, a tribute to the writer Manuel Vázquez Montalbán and his detective: the full menu is based on recipes that appear in the novels. Places can be booked by contacting the restaurant from 7 November.
Besides the Culture Department, the collaborators are Philip & Sam, SPLASH, Cineclub Pausa Zulú, Nautilus, Ágora Puerto Cultural, the Valencian Youth Institute (IVAJ) and Click for Festivals.
The showcase has a track record. As elperiodic.com reported in November 2021, the twelfth edition ran from 5 to 29 November with nine films, two exhibitions, a play, the Carvalho Dinner and four contests. A year earlier, the same outlet reported that the eleventh edition, from 7 to 30 November 2020, screened 18 films and paid tribute to Fanny Ardant, Simone Signoret and Martin Scorsese. The 2026 line-up, with nine titles, equals 2021 and is half the size of 2020.
According to Sagunto City Council, with additional data from elperiodic.com on the 2020 and 2021 editions.