With a huge injection of government support, the Spanish film industry is riding high as a source of films, partners, funding and locations for the international industry. Screen looks at where and how Spanish films are being showcased throughout Cannes.
Spain is ready for its close-up. Veteran filmmakers Pedro Almodovar and Victor Erice are in Cannes with new films in official selection, the second feature from rising star Elena Martin has been selected for Directors’ Fortnight, while Spain is the Cannes market’s country in focus.
Erice has returned with his first feature since The Quince Tree Sun in 1992: Close Your Eyes is screening in Cannes Premiere and is the story of an actor who goes missing during a shoot. His case is revived years later in a television programme. The film is written by Erice and Michel Gaztambide and stars Manolo Solo, Jose Coronado and Ana Torrent, who first worked with Erice as a child in 1973’s The Spirit Of The Beehive. Film Factory is handling sales.
Almodovar is presenting his English-language short film, western Strange Way Of Life starring Ethan Hawke and Pedro Pascal, as a Special Screening. The film draws its title from a fado by Amalia Rodrigues and was shot in Almeria, the legendary location of many spaghetti westerns. It promises to offer Almodovar’s unique take on the genre.
Another filmmaker exploring new territory is Pablo Berger with his first animation Robot Dreams (Special Screenings), while fresh names are also making their presence felt on the Croisette. Martin’s feature Creatura is in Directors’ Fortnight and Irati Gorostidi Agirretxe’s short Contadores plays Critics’ Week.
Cannes is also paying homage to director Carlos Saura, who died earlier this year, with a Cannes Classics screening of his 1983 film Carmen at the Cinéma de la Plage.
Market focus
In the market, activities include a presentation of Spanish government initiative ‘Spain, audiovisual hub of Europe’. The programme launched in 2021 to turbocharge the sector and is being supported by a $1.7bn (€1.6bn) investment to boost production 30% by 2025.
The Spanish Screenings programme has brought five projects to the market’s Goes to Cannes showcase. Three are co-productions with France: Benito Zambrano’s Jumping The Fence, a migration drama sold by Filmax and lead produced by Cine 365; Roya Sadat’s thriller Sima’s Song, produced by director/producer Alba Sotorra, about the relationship between two women on the eve of the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in the 1970s; and Clara Bilbao’s black comedy directorial debut We’ve Always Treated Women Too Well, starring Carmen Machi, Antonia de la Torre and Luis Tosar, produced by Ficcion Producciones and backed by Prime Video Spain, with Spanish writer/director Mateo Gil (Blackthorn) exec producing. France’s Noodles is co-producing Jumping The Fence and We’ve Always Treated Women Too Well, while Urban Factory is the French partner on Sima’s Song.
The two other projects are Pau Calpe’s coming-of-age tale Werewolf, produced by the director’s Galapagos Media, his second feature following A Piece Of Land; and Adrian Orr’s To Our Friends, produced by Santa Cruz de Tenerife’s El Viaje Films. It follows a young woman from a working-class neighbourhood as she searches for a different way of life.
Five cutting-edge Spanish producers are presenting their slates in the Producers Network. They are Paola Botran from Sideral, the new production and distribution company of Elamedia Estudios, whose credits include Pablo Maqueda’s thriller The Unknown; Marisa Fernandez Armenteros from Buenapinta Media, producer of Alauda Ruiz de Azua’s Lullaby; Luis Ferron at Lazona Producciones, whose credits include Enrique Urbizu’s Goya-winning No Rest For The Wicked; Xavier Font Pijuan at ZuZú Cinema, co-producer of Carla Subirana’s Berlinale 2023 title Sica; and Emilia Fort at Avalon, who was a producer on Alcarràs.
Spanish projects and completed features can also be seen in Cannes Docs, which features four Spanish documentaries, one of them co-directed by 10,000km’s Carlos Marques-Marcet, while the Annecy Animation Showcase includes Maria Trenor’s feature debut Rock Bottom, a musical produced by Alba Sotorra, inspired by the life and works of musician Robert Wyatt and lyricist-artist Alfreda Benge.
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