The first edition of the old Festival, held biennially, was held in Badalona in 1969. The Amateur Film Section of the Museum of Badalona organised that international festival under the name Badalona Amateur Film World Event and also held other competitions such as Imágenes (for members of the organisation), the National Filmed Song Festival (covering Spain) and the Religious and Human Values Film Event (covering Spain). The organisation maintained cooperation with the main amateur film festivals in Catalonia, such as those held in Barcelona (Union of Amateur Film-makers, the Catalan Ramblers’ Centre and the Photographic Group) and others from Figueres, Terrassa, Valls, Mataró and Manresa, among others.
These festivals showed films in 8 mm, super 8, single 8 and 16 mm, highlighting works by the amateur film-makers Tomás Mallol, Rafael Marcó, Manuel Esparbé, Enrique Menal, Toni Esparbé, Jan Baca, Toni Garriga, Tomás Freixas, Arnal Licer, José Parra, Enrique Montón y Agustín and Rafael Argelich, among others.
At the end of the eighties, a new association was set up under the name Independent Filmmakers of Badalona, which took charge of the new Festival –the Badalona International Film and Video Festival– until the end of the nineties.
In 2001, Badalona City Council and Badalona Comunicació, S.A., with the support of long-standing members of the festival, organised the 27th festival, under the new name FILMETS Badalona Film Festival. That year, 400 short films were entered and there were 2,000 spectators and the new festival became a starting point and new reference for short film festivals in Catalonia.
Since then, the FILMETS Badalona Film Festival has not only become a reference for the most popular and important international film festivals, but also a meeting point for film-makers and directors from around the world.
