[5][6] In May 1996 the Entidad Mercantil Artístico-Musical Teatro Municipal Jovellanos de Gijón, S.A., body in charge of the organization of the event together with the City Council, was founded, and changed its name later into Divertia S.A..

[7] In 2012, a huge scandal happened when the local authorities dismissed the director José Luis Cienfuegos and his team and appointed Nacho Carballo.

[5][8] Despite a 7.5 times rise in attendance that the festival achieved under Cienfuegos and a wide international acclaim, the authorities decided to ‘change the direction’ and make it a "more Asturian event".

[6] In the media it was called a shock move,[9] soon more that 400 prominent filmmakers (including Pedro Almodóvar, Abel Ferrara, Fernando Trueba, Agustí Villaronga, Jaime Rosales, Alex de la Iglesia, Isabel Coixet, etc.)

[14][15] Throughout the years, some of the most prestigious professionals in independent filmmaking have attended the festival, such as Abbas Kiarostami, Aki Kaurismäki, Todd Haynes, Pedro Costa, Paul Schrader, João César Monteiro, Seijun Suzuki, Jem Cohen, Kenneth Anger, Ulrich Seidl, Hal Hartley, Lukas Moodysson, Tsai Ming-liang, Claire Denis, Todd Solondz, Bertrand Bonello, Apichatpong Weerasethakul, Whit Stillman, Eugène Green or Philippe Garrel.

[citation needed] Among the festival's national and international guests, either as members of the International Jury or presenting their films in the various sections of the festival, are John Cale, Maria Schneider, Monte Hellman, Nicolas Winding Refn, Darren Aronofsky, Víctor Erice, Isabel Coixet or Carla Simón.

[citation needed] Gijón International Film Festival also comprises a series of events, such as courses, panel discussions, q&a's and daily concerts, as well as live music parties.