Gijón International Film Festival started out in 1963 as a competition for children and young people – a spirit which has remained alive over the years through the Enfants Terribles section. However, Gijón is also interested in innovation, as evidenced by sections such as FICXLab, DocuFICX, AnimaFICX and Convergencias, which complement the official section by showing the most significant independent films and seek to bring audiences films that are not released in commercial theatres.