First-time feature director Pablo Berger's Torremolinos 73 scooped four top awards at Spain's sixth annual Spanish Film Festival of Malaga, which ended Saturday night (April 25-May 3).

The 1970's-set dramedy about a couple's accidental spiral into the porno film industry won best film, director, actor (Javier Camara) and actress (Candela Pena).

Three other titles split the remaining awards: Pedro Olea's Stormy Weather (Tiempo De Tormenta) from Lolafilms won a special jury prize and best script; Laura Mana's Killing Words (Palabras Encadenadas) from Filmax took home best music and photography; and Juan Martinez Moreno's Two Tough Guys (Dos Tipos Duros) from Zebra Producciones, Impala and Ensueno Films won the coveted public's prize.

Special mentions went to the cast of youth drama 4th Floor (Planta 4a) and actress Mariola Fuentes, a Malaga native who co-starred in two competition titles, Danube Hotel (Hotel Danubio) and Two Tough Guys.

Torremolinos' sweep is also impressive considering that three of the film's backers - co-producers Telespan and Estudios Picasso, and distributor Buena Vista International Spain - were also behind last year's Malaga best film, director and public prize-winner, The Other Side Of The Bed (El Otro Lado De La Cama).

Torremolinos was co-produced by Mama Films and Denmark's Nimbus Films. Estudios Picasso handles international sales.

The festival's winning films were also among the titles garnering buzz at a parallel Market Screenings for international buyers, a fledgling event which participants agree is solidifying its standing as a place for "starting negotiations" and "revving engines" prior to Cannes.

Sellers reported talks underway on a handful of titles, particularly for Latin American territories, and Filmax announced sales on Killing Words to Mexico (Quality Films), Scandinavia (Nonstop) and Iceland (Good Times).

Meanwhile, the busier-than-ever, three-day Mercadoc documentary market earlier in the week saw 230 participants attending from 31 countries. Buyers racked up more than 770 video screenings.

Other industry highlights included meetings between Spanish producers and representatives of the British Film Council to discuss potential collaborations. A handful of leading Spanish cinema directors, including Pedro Almodovar via telephone, unveiled plans to create a new directors' association.

"There is nobody in the official institutions or the entire subsidy/production system who truly represents us," said David Trueba, in Malaga a day after receiving word from Cannes that his Salamina Soldiers (Soldados De Salamina) would screen in Un Certain Regard.