Start-up Spanish distributor ABL Augusta has joined with twopartners to launch new distribution company Notro Films to reach the Spanish,Portuguese and possibly Latin American markets.

The partners, who made their announcement at the SanSebastian International Film Festival (Sept 17-25), include ABL founder AdolfoBlanco, and Jose Maria Irisarri and Marcos Fernandez of property developerParquesol Inmobiliaria.

The new company aims to acquire rights for Spain, Portugaland possibly territories in Latin America, then subdistribute on atitle-by-title basis through local theatrical and video handlers.

Notro seeks 'popular arthouse' films:independent or arthouse titles with clear crossover potential. The company alsoplans to acquire rights to classic movies to re-release them theatrically, andwill oversee marketing on all its pick-ups.

The partners also aim to enter production: 'We intendto produce feature films, but we're taking things step-by-step,'said Blanco. 'Only if we find something really interesting will we getstarted producing this year.'

Notro already has six films lined up for theatrical releasebetween October 2004 and spring 2005, all acquisitions made by Blanco throughABL. They include: Morgan Spurlock's Super Size Me, Gianni Mina's Travelling With CheGuevara, Japanese terror OneMissed Call; Shane Carruth's Sundancehit Primer; KevinWillmott's CSA: Confederate States Of America; and Fernando Eimbcke's Temporada DePatos, set to compete in next month‚sValladolid Film Festival.