UK director Francesca Joseph's Stanley Tucci-starrer Four Last Songs will close the upcoming 10th annual edition of the Spanish Film Festival of Malaga (March 9-17).

The film, a Spanish co-production which was shot in Mallorca, co-stars Rhys Ifans, Hugh Bonneville and Marisa Paredes in the story of an American pianist of mediocre talents whose efforts to organise a concert on the Mediterranean island where he resides are met with interference by the locals. Joseph's follow-up to 2002 Cannes screener Tomorrow La Scala! will play out of competition in Malaga.

Fifteen other films, including five operas primas, will round out the official section, opening with out-of-competition title Lola, Miguel Hermoso's biopic about beloved flamenco star Lola Flores.

The operas primas include: Jaime Marques' Thieves (Ladrones) starring teen idol Juan Jose Ballesta and Maria Valverde; Rafa Cortes' Me (Yo), which he co-wrote and stars in with Alex Brendemuhl; Rodrigo Cortes' Leonardo Sbaraglia-starrer The Contestant (Concursante); award-winning short film director Felix Viscarret's Under The Stars (Bajo Las Estrellas); and actor Tristan Ulloa's directorial debut alongside brother David Ulloa, Pudor.

Competition titles from more veteran talents include Antonio Hernandez's The Lesser Evil (El Menor De Los Males) starring Carmen Maura, also the subject of a retrospective this year; and Anton Reixa's multilingual Hotel Tivoli. Previous Malaga best script and director winner Vicente Penarrocha (Out Of Body) returns with English-language Guantanamero starring Rupert Evans and Derek Jacobi.

Jacobi also co-stars in Italy-set Anastezsi, one of the remaining competition titles alongside Ricardo Macian's documentary The Eyes Of Ariana (Los Ojos De Ariana), about workers' efforts to save the contents of the National Film Archives of Afghanistan; Santiago Lorenzo's odd couple comedy Have A Nice Day (Un Buen Dia Lo Tiene Cualquiera); Azucena Rodriguez's relationship drama Atlas Of Human Geography (Atlas De Geografia Humana); Manuel Lombardero's Tuya Siempre, about a group of friends trying to survive in the city; and Alvaro Diaz Lorenzo's coming-of-age ensemble tale Cafe Solo O Con Ellas.

Parallel events include the Malaga Screenings market (March 15-17), where more than 70 international buyers from 30 countries - largely from Latin America and Europe - are expected to screen over 70 Spanish feature films. Other markets to take place after the festival itself, from May 3-5, include Mercadoc, TV Market, Art TV and Malaga TV.

Sidebar sections at Malaga include the feature and short film competition ZonaZine; a documentary competition with 18 feature-length contenders selected from 250 presented; and the competitive Territorio Latinoamericano section with two newly created prizes for best film, with a purse of $11,850 (Euros 9,000), and a special jury award, with a purse of $7900 (Euros 6,000).

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