“This country keeps producing fantastic filmmakers,” as Cannes general delegate Thierry Frémaux put it at the unveiling of this year’s official selection in Paris.
He went on to announce three films by Spanish directors in Competition — Pedro Almodovar’s Bitter Christmas, Rodrigo Sorogoyen’s The Beloved and directing duo Javier Calvo and Javier Ambrossi’s La Bola Negra. They are joined by rising talents in sidebar sections and an industry going full steam ahead at the market.
The features embrace a diversity of styles and showcase different generations of filmmakers. Almodovar is a Cannes veteran who has now been in Competition on seven occasions including All About My Mother in 1999, when he won the best director award, along with Volver, Broken Embraces, The Skin I Live In, Julieta and Pain And Glory.
Bitter Christmas, released in Spain in March, sees the filmmaker explore his creative process before the camera. Produced by the Almodovar brothers’ Madrid-based outfit El Deseo, the film intertwines two plot lines and timeframes: one with a commercial director in the early 2000s, played by Barbara Lennie; and one with a filmmaker working on a screenplay in 2025, played by Leonardo Sbaraglia.
A filmmaker is also at the core of The Beloved by Sorogoyen, who previously screened The Beasts in Cannes Premiere in 2022, going on to win France’s César award for best foreign film, and nine Goya awards.
Javier Bardem — one of the country’s biggest international stars alongside Penélope Cruz, who stars in La Bola Negra — plays the lead in The Beloved, a director who reunites with his actress daughter (Victoria Luengo) for the shoot of a film.
Caballo Films and El Ser Querido AIE have produced The Beloved with the backing of Movistar Plus+ and France’s Le Pacte and Canal+. A Contracorriente Films is distributing in Spain.
Flying the flag for rising Spanish talent are Javier Calvo and Javier Ambrossi, aka filmmaking duo Los Javis. La Bola Negra is their second feature, though they are also known for creating and producing hit TV series such as La Mesías. Named after an unfinished play by poet and playwright Federico Garcia Lorca, La Bola Negra explores queer desire throughout different periods of Spanish history. The cast includes newcomers including musician Guitarricadelafuente and Carlos Gonzalez, alongside Cruz and Glenn Close.
The film is produced by Suma Content with El Deseo, Atresmedia and France’s Le Pacte, with backing from Movistar Plus+. Elastica Films has Spanish rights.
On stream
With investment in The Beloved, La Bola Negra and Bitter Christmas, Spanish streamer Movistar Plus+ has confirmed its role as a key backer for Spanish films since moving into feature production in 2024. It recently garnered success with Oliver Laxe’s Sirât and Alauda Ruiz de Azua’s Sundays, which won the Golden Shell at San Sebastian last year. Both films have performed well at the local box office.
“The original strategy for features is a follow-up of what we did with the series,” says Guillermo Farre, head of original films and Spanish cinema at Movistar Plus+. “We are lucky to have done so in a context of a talent boom.
“The aim is to give the tools to make these films possible and support their launch too. We invest in established talents, projects that can resonate with audiences and we also consider some projects that have an element of surprise. The riskier project we had last year, Sirât, had an exceptional international career, has worked in cinemas and has been a success on our platform. Sirât’s biggest lesson is that it’s worth taking risks.
“The idea,” continues Farre, “is to carry on and announce more projects we are working on in 2026.”
This is welcome news for producers who fear a shift in Movistar Plus+ strategy following changes in the management structure at the pay-TV and SVoD operator. Just a year after Domingo Corral was replaced as head of content on April 30, 2025, Daniel Domenjo left his role as CEO. Domenjo himself has now been replaced by Alfonso Gomez Palacio, Telefonica’s head of operations for Latin America.
On the Croisette
Beyond the three films in Competition, the Cannes selection illustrates the scope of Spain’s creative boom with new talents and a cohort of international co-productions.
First-time feature director Aina Clotet has Alive, produced by Ikiru Films and Funicular Films, premiering in Critics’ Week, while Spain-born, UK-based Maria Martinez Bayona brings her debut The End Of It, starring Rebecca Hall, Noomi Rapace and Gael Garcia Bernal, to Cannes Premiere. The End Of It is one of the three films co-produced by Barcelona-based Fasten Films selected for Cannes, alongside Laïla Marrakchi’s Strawberries in Un Certain Regard and Pegah Ahangarani’s Rehearsals For A Revolution in Special Screenings.
Other titles involving Spanish production companies include Manuela Martinelli’s The Meltdown in Un Certain Regard (Elastica Films); Diego Luna’s Ashes (Inicia Films) in Special Screenings; Juan Cabral and Santiago Franco’s The Match (Blurr Stories) in Cannes Premiere; and Bruno Dumont’s Red Rocks (Andergraun Films) in Directors’ Fortnight.
Short film Me, You And The Cow, directed by Aina Callejon and produced by Escac Films, is being showcased in La Cinéf film school’s official selection.
Meanwhile, the Spanish industry and institutions present at the market are still reeling from the death of Ignasi Camos, director general of ICAA, on April 23.
Since taking up the role in June 2023, he had overseen a period of post-pandemic recovery and production growth, supported by existing selective and general aid schemes and tax incentives, and the integration of film policy within the broader Spain Audiovisual Hub strategy.
Camos’s successor will inherit a robust but strained ecosystem: Spain produces more than 300 films annually, though only around a third secure releases on more than 20 screens. Pressure on public support remains high, while the industry continues adapting to platforms and international co-production.
Spain’s box office reached $532m (€453m) and 65 million admissions in 2025, according to figures from Comscore. Spanish films grossed a total of $93m (€79m) and 12.3 million admissions, down 3.2% in revenues and 5.4% in admissions year on year, although the decline compares favourably with an 8% average drop internationally.
Standout arthouse titles included Sirât, which grossed $3.5m (€3m) in Spain and $12.5m worldwide, and Ruiz de Azua’s Sundays, which grossed $6.4m at home.
The first quarter of 2026 has been boosted by the release of the latest film in Santiago Segura’s hugely popular Torrente series, Torrente For President, which has grossed $33m (€28m) for Sony Pictures Releasing España. The second highest-grossing Spanish film of the year so far is Aída: The Movie, which has taken $6.1m (€5.2m), and is also released by Sony.
These successes have helped to drive total box office in Spain to $200m (€170m) from January to March 2026, up 40% year-on-year. Spanish titles surpassed $47m (€40m), capturing a strong 29% market share.
On platforms, local content has accounted for 15%-20% of monthly viewing in the first quarter, with higher shares in series.
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