Spain's Alquimia Cinema and France's Fidelite Productions have signed a two-picture co-production deal likely to be expanded to include two further forthcoming titles.

Included in the deal are Alquimia's Euros 6m Utopia, a thriller from director Maria Ripoll (Tortilla Soup), and Fidelite's $6m Cronique Des Anees De Baist, a chronicle of the end of France's 1970's porn industry from director Francois Cognard.

The other two films still in talks are Alquimia's Euros 3.3m Incautos, shooting in October with actress Cecilia Roth, and Fidelite's $7m Janis & John.

The deal was negotiated in Cannes by Alquimia chief Francisco Ramos and Fidelite heads Marc Missonnier and Olivier Delbost.

Fast becoming one of Spain's most prolific producers, Alquimia was launched in 2000 and complements home-grown fare with high-profile international co-productions such as Matthew Parkhill's Dot The I and Franco Zeffirelli's forthcoming Callas Forever.

Fidelite recently saw great success with its Berlin International Film Festival award-winner 8 Women from regular directing partner Francois Ozon.

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