Spanish sellers discuss the evolving nature of physical markets, the ups and downs of Latin and North America as buyers and how strong local titles are being snapped up by foreign sales companies.
Spanish sales companies are hoping for another bumper year at the market, with 30 outfits attending under the banner of EFM’s Country in Focus.
Ivan Diaz, Filmax’s head of international, is upbeat. “Judging by the meetings we have scheduled, this year will be just as intense,” he says.
The company’s slate includes Shadi Adib’s animated adventure The Light Of Aisha, Laura Casabe’s horror film The Virgin Of The Quarry Lake, which premiered last month at Sundance, Mar Olid’s comedy From Good To The Hood, Aitor Echeverria’s family drama Dismantling An Elephant starring Emma Suarez, and Gemma Blasco’s directing debut Fury, which screens at SXSW in March.
Antonio Saura, whose Latido Films is handling sales for Eva Libertad’s Panorama title Deaf, remains cautiously optimistic while acknowledging the role of physical markets in the sales business is changing.
“Deals are closed in Berlin, but what used to happen years ago —where you would go with a contract and have it signed on the spot — doesn’t happen as often anymore,” says Saura. “Deals are now closed over the following weeks.
“For example, at Cannes last year, many deals were finalised in July and August. Another surprising trend we’re seeing at major markets is that the largest volume of business is actually done before the market even begins, thanks to video links.”
Alongside Deaf, Latido is handling Gala del Sol’s Rains Over Babel, a fantasy adventure film that premiered to acclaim at Sundance. Other titles include David Perez Sañudo’s suspense thriller The Harvester and Julio Medem’s love story 8, an eight-episode TV series.
Latido is also pre-selling two genre films: The Whisper, directed by horror master Gustavo Hernandez, and Re-creation, a procedural thriller by Jim Sheridan and David Merriman. “Genre always works,” says Saura with a smile.
Vicente Canales’ Film Factory Entertainment is also at EFM with a slate heaving with genre films, specifically thrillers. These include Mikaela, directed by action specialist Daniel Calparsoro, Albert Pinto’s suspense thriller Barren Land and Arantxa Echevarria’s Undercover, the terrorist thriller that was a box-office hit in Spain in 2024.
Just before Berlin, Film Factory acquired Polo Menarguez’s anticipated psychological thriller The Talent, a Mediapro Studio production, co-written and co-produced by Fernando Leon de Aranoa. In addition, the company is showcasing feelgood family films Wolfgang by Javier Ruiz Caldera, and time-travel romance The Goldsmith’s Secret from Olga Osorio and starring Mario Casas and Michelle Jenner.
“Thrillers, genre films and romantic films are in demand,” says Canales. “Distributors are also looking for movies that cater to a specific audience. Hybrid films with more undefined audiences don’t perform as well.” He also acknowledges the challenge of selling dramas — unless they have either screened at an A-list festival or have a strong cast. “The market seems to be shifting towards more commercial productions,” he adds.
Filmax’s Diaz concurs: “Genre films and animation are always in high demand, and are still genres you can pre-sell.” Filmax has traditionally excelled in both, and in addition to The Virgin Of The Quarry Lake, it is betting on comedies such as Alexis Morante’s May I Speak With The Enemy? and Spanish comedy maestro Cesc Gay’s My Friend Eva. His 2020 film The People Upstairs was remade for Italy, Switzerland, the Czech Republic and France.
Unpredictable trends
Sellers are cautious about making generalisations in a rapidly changing industry. “By the time my observations are published, the tide may have already shifted,” notes Saura. “Who would have thought that a film like Emilia Pérez, in Spanish — or what they call Spanish — with an unknown lead and a story that is essentially a soap opera, would achieve what it has?”
While Saura insists “every film is a specific case”, he notes Spanish films have seen their market share tumble in Latin America. “Even if you sell [to Latin America], prices have plummeted,” he says. “It is also becoming increasingly difficult to sell to South Korea, Asia in general, and especially to the US.”
“It may be the influence of streamers, but Latin America and the US are two markets that are becoming increasingly challenging for us,” agrees Canales. “As is Asia — although this is not exclusive to Spanish cinema. Most European territories are experiencing similar trends.”
Madrid-based boutique sales agent Begin Again is taking a slightly different approach: its slate combines highly curated auteur films with more accessible fare. Begin Again co-CEO Gloria Bretones says the company is having success in Latin America and the US by selling films — including Anna Cornudella’s sci-fi mockumentary hybrid The Human Hibernation and Ignacio Estaregui’s Rider — to streaming platforms and as limited theatrical releases.
“We are doing quite well, perhaps because we take on titles that most companies are reluctant to handle because they focus solely on global deals, [whereas] we work country by country,” suggests Bretones.
“What I need for the kind of films we represent are festival laurels. Even films that I consider excellent, if they haven’t been showcased at Berlin or Locarno, there’s nothing we can do.”
Begin Again has two new titles at EFM: Lorena Muñoz’s Fate Of Pines, about a double femicide that took place 70 years ago, and Ana Serret Ituarte’s Notes For A Consensual Fiction, inspired by the life of Swiss actor Isabelle Stoffel who also stars. The slate also includes Sonia Mendez’s rural youth thriller As Neves and Juan Gautier’s broad comedy Fraternity.
The market, however, is difficult to predict, and there are territories and films that can quickly take the industry by surprise. “Suddenly you sell well in Scandinavia but only a specific type of film,” says Latido’s Saura. “The same thing happens with the Anglo-Saxon market.”
Another relatively recent and unexpected success has been Patricia Font’s The Teacher Who Promised The Sea, which became a box-office hit in Australia — “a market that is not easy to crack,” says Filmax’s Diaz.
Pulling the rug
As Spanish films become more successful commercially, they are being snapped up by non-Spanish sales agents — a trend that is disconcerting to Spanish sellers. Rodrigo Sorogoyen’s The Beloved, starring Javier Bardem, is sold by France’s Goodfellas; Alejandro Amenabar’s The Captive, starring Julio Peña, is handled by the UK’s Film Constellation; and France’s Le Pacte is selling Alberto Vazquez’s animation Decorado.
Sellers say they have invested in these filmmakers’ careers, and the profits of films that have been financed partially by Spanish public funds are now being leveraged abroad. They also grumble about the lack of ongoing support for the international releases of Spanish films.
“It’s a shame because the level of Spanish cinema is considerably stronger than it was a few years ago,” says one executive.
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