Explore Screen’s overview of the Spanish film market, the hot films coming out of the country in 2014 and a focus on low-budget filmmakers.

Click on the headlines below to read the features…

  • Bust. Or boom?
    Will Spain’s economic crisis actually prove a good thing for its film industry in the long term?

  • Hot titles
    The hottest Spanish productions of 2014 range from a $50m sci-fi epic to a Penelope Cruz tragicomedy and a live-action film with talking dogs.

  • Low-buget film
    An underground cinema is emerging in Spain and injecting the territory with a shot of vitality. Screen reports on the low-budget filmmakers earning international plaudits.

It’s no secret Spain has been hurt by the economic crisis, and financing films there is much tougher than it was a decade ago.

But there is a silver lining to the country’s financial woes in terms of filmmaking – every producer working in Spain today has to be smarter than they were a few years ago.

Across the industry, there is now a greater emphasis on audience-focused films and a more market-savvy approach. There may be fewer films being made, but they are better films. Quality rises to the top.

There are vibrant creative talents from Spain operating on a global stage, some like Juan Cavestany (People in Places) and Fernando Franco (Wounded) work successfully with low-budget models.

Local hits at the box office in 2013 included Zip & Zap And the Marble Gang, Witching And Bitching, Family United andJustin and the Knights of Valour.

Screen’s Spain correspondent, Juan Sarda, also previews some of the hottest Spanish productions of 2014, from the exciting combination of Penelope Cruz and Julio Medem in ma ma, to 3D fable Capture The Flag, to Antonio Banderas’ $50m sci-fi project Automata. Indeed, Spanish quality is rising to the top.

Wendy Mitchell, Editor

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