Movistar Plus, which backed three Cannes competition titles this year, including La Bola Negra, has confirmed its support for film production after recent changes to its management team unsettled the local film industry.
The Spanish pay-TV and streaming giant also announced a number of new projects.
Movistar Plus CEO Alfonso Gómez Palacio and content division head Juan Andrés García Ropero talked to the press this week about its film strategy at the San Sebastián film festival.
“The DNA of our company hasn’t changed. We are very proud of the work done, so we will carry on supporting ambitious projects and quality Spanish cinema”, said Goméz Palacio.
“Our policy remains intact, and if an auteur project comes to us and we find it interesting, we’ll be happy to get involved.”
Asked about Movistar Plus’ strategy toward film production after the departure of Domingo Corral as head of fiction and entertainment in 2025 and further changes in the management team, both Gómez Palacio and García Ropero insisted the plan was to maintain support for the Spanish film industry.
It coincided with the Spanish premiere of Javier Calvo and Javier Ambrossi’s La Bola Negra and the news the film had won the coveted People’s Choice Award at Toronto. It had previously won the best director award for Calvo and Ambrossi in Cannes, ex aequo with Pawel Pawlikowski for Fatherland.
The screening came ahead of the film’s release in Spain via Elastica on September 25.
The slate of upcoming features includes an untitled project by actor-director Paco León, Sandra Romero’s Una Visita Familiar, and Daniel Monzón’s 250 Metros, starring Luis Tosar.
Upcoming TV series include Fernando León de Aranoa’s La Náufraga starring Belén Cuesta and an untitled project by the creative directing and producing team Moriarti that will star Anna Castillo, Pol López and Eduard Fernández.
Alongside La Bola Negra, Movistar Plus also backed Cannes competition titles The Beloved by Rodrigo Sorogoyen and Bitter Christmas by Pedro Almodóvar.
Movistar was also behind 2025 Oscar-nominated Sirât by Oliver Laxe, last year’s Golden Shell winner Sundays by Alauda Ruiz de Azúa, and this year’s San Sebastian competition title 5 More Minutes by Javier Ruiz Caldera, as well as series El Castillo (The Castle) in the official selection out of competition.
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