Mafiz, the industry zone of the Malaga Film Festival, opens today (March 13) and is bigger than ever. It has a work-in-progress pitching platform, co-production market and huge number of Spanish-language projects and finished titles in search of co-production partners, buyers, sellers and international festival slots.
The Work in Progress section is highlighting 16 features from Spain and Latin America, while there are 34 projects are in the co-production market, MAFF, the Malaga Festival Fund and Co-Production Event. Mafiz’s regional focus is on Catalonia while the county focus is Peru. The latter programme will see 11 projects pitched to potential partners and a showcase of the some recent titles.
Animation Day will present five Spanish works in progress. There will also be talks and panels exploring the country’s animation sector, looking at financing channels, business opportunities, as well as a new line of support for innovative projects presented by the Ibermedia program.
Spanish Screenings Content
Central to the activity is the second edition of Spanish Screenings Content, part of Spanish Screenings XXL, part of the ‘Spain, Audiovisual hub of Europe’ plan, promoted by the Ministry of Culture and Sports and the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Digital Transformation. It was launched as part of the government’s national pandemic recovery strategy and Spanish Screenings XXL is backed by Spain’s film body ICAA, Spanish Trade Commission ICEX and the San Sebastian and Málaga film festivals.
Some 195 Spanish films will screen to international buyers in Malaga under the banner ‘Talent, Diversity, Opportunities’.
“The Spanish Screenings have become a very powerful tool for our industry, a clear commitment to the growth of our talent and an extremely useful platform to internationalise our cinema,” says Beatriz Navas, head of the ICAA. “With the budget of the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Funds, our aim was to expand them, make an ‘XXL’ version, and serve as a platform to support more links in the value chain.”
The promotion of Spanish content around the world is already reaping rewards. Spanish arthouse films and talent are finding festival success around the world. Carla Simón’s Alcarràs won the Golden Bear at Berlin in 2022, and Estíbaliz Urresola’s 20,000 Species Of Bees picked up the Silver Bear for best actor for Sofía Otero this year. Now the family drama is playing in competition in Malaga.
At the international box office, Rodrigo Sorogoyen’s local hit and big Goya winner The Beasts, garnered nearly $2m in France for Le Pacte last year while this year Jesús García Galocha’s animated feature Mummies, has grossed $35m and counting, including $6m in France alone, as well as over $2m in both Poland and Germany, $1.5m in Italy and $1.7m in the Netherlands, while Albert Serra’s Cannes 2022 competition title Pacifiction scored nine nominations at the César awards, as a Spain-France co-production.
“For the first time there is a real country-wide effort,” says Málaga festival director Juan Antonio Vigar. “More than 100 people went to Argentina’s Ventana Sur with many different actions, and we had the feeling and pride of supporting the Spanish audiovisual together and in a strategic way.”
Vigar confirmed the 2023 Screenings on Tour may include the Asian Contents & Film Market in Busan. “We feel that the Asian market is full of promise,” he says. “We want to show what we are doing in Spain.”
A delegation of buyers, programmers and platforms from South Korea, China, Singapore and Japan, are attending Mafiz this week, thanks to ICEX. Twenty-five attendees have come from Korea alone.
Mafiz uncovered
The sheer amount of industry activity in Malaga is a big pull for visiting industry executives. “The very wide offer of this year is extremely appealing to meet all international distribution needs,” says José Ramón Ganchegui, of Flordia-based Somostv, which specialises in Spanish-language content.
Dena Blakeman, acquisitions executive at UK’s New Wave Films, is a Malaga regular. “It’s a good way to catch up with Spanish and Latam films that one might have missed in other markets such as Berlin,” she says. “We’re looking for specific arthouse documentaries and fiction films, which we feel are not only quality films but that will travel well to the UK and Ireland.”
No comments yet