Panoramica is a VoD platform that aims to widen the reach of the new generation of Spanish filmmakers by providing ready-made curated programmes to festivals and programmers worldwide.
The curated programmes are created from a catalogue of more than 40 features, including several films that have already found success on the international film festival circuit. The goal is to extend the lifespan of these features while putting them in a context, or allowing programmers to rediscover earlier works by acclaimed Spanish talents, for instance Carla Simón, winner of Berlin’s Golden Bear in 2022 with Alcarràs.
Simón’s 2017 debut featureSummer 1993 is one of the 40-plus films on offer on the Panoramica platform. Other Panoramica titles include Anchor And Hope, 10,000 Km and The Days To Come by Carlos Marques-Marcet, winner of this year’s Toronto Platform award for They Will Be Dust; Arima by Jaoine Camborda, who won San Sebastian’s Golden Shell in 2023 with The Rye Horn; Arantxa Echevarría’s Carmen & Lola, which premiered in Directors’ Fortnight at Cannes in 2018; and Julia Ist, the 2017 debut feature Elena Martín Gimeno whose second film Creatura went on to be selected by Directors’ Fortnight in 2023.
Xavier Garcia Puerto, Panoramica’s director and programmer as well as artistic director of the REC Tarragona International Film Festival in southern Catalonia, says the on-demand service was established as a way to give further visibility to contemporary Spanish cinema.
“In a context of surplus production, we thought we could help sustain new talents, expand the lifespan of films in the international circuit and help rediscover hidden gems, especially in the current highly creative moment in our industry,” he says. “The main goal is to give the talent as much visibility as possible as well as highlighting the key role of film curation.”
Panoramica’s team of curators group four or five titles together under the same banner to present options for programmers and festivals when navigating the catalogue. For instance, Rebels With A Cause is a collection of more experimental titles; Bésame Mucho offers contemporary takes on love and relationships; and Feminine Plural includes features by directors who are part of the Catalan New Wave, including Neus Ballús’ The Plague and Elena Martín Gimeno’s Julia Ist. The Feminine Plural selection has already screened at the Reykjavik and Shanghai international film festivals as well as universities worldwide through the Catalan cultural Institute Ramon Llull.
Working alongside García Puerto as curators at Panoramica are: Isona Admetlla, coordinator of the Berlinale-World Cinema Fund; Miquel Escudero, a programmer for Cannes Critics’ Week; Mercedes Martínez-Abarca, programmer and consultant for Rotterdam and Ventana Sur; and Jim Kolmar, advisor for South by Southwest Film Festival (SXSW).
RECLab
While Panoramica provides opportunity for finished films, Garcia Puerto and his team have also been invested in promoting new Spanish talents though the RECLab, the industry section of the REC Film Festival in Tarragona aimed at fostering projects at different stages of production since 2014.
Looking back at the 10 editions of the lab, which takes place in early December, Garcia Puerto has been impressed by “the diversity of stories, themes, genres and formats in contemporary Spanish cinema. One of the most significant changes has been the growing presence and visibility of women. Now, you can find an all-women creative team behind a film.”
Primer Test (First Test) is the RECLab work-in-progress section, and features a selection of around 10 Spanish productions or co-productions presented to a group of international programmers, sales agents and industry professionals.
Titles that have taken part in Primer Test include the debut features of Estibaliz Urresola Solaguren, 20,000 Species Of Bees which premiered in Berlinale competition in 2023, and Mikel Gurrea’s Cork, which was selected for San Sebastian’s competition in 2022. Producer Valerie Delpierre celebrates her experience at the lab with productions such as 20,000 Species Of Bees: “It offered the opportunity to share our films in a safe and professional environment, and to have the advice and support you need at the delicate stage of editing.”
Three new sections were added to the Lab this year to coincide with its 10th anniversary: RECMatch, a reverse-casting meeting where well-known actors have the chance to encounter upcoming filmmakers and give them advice; RECPush, which features new producers aiming to meet other producers in an unusual way, for developing their careers internationally; and RECVision, the REC’s audience lab, where new audience-oriented projects connect with international success stories in the field of exhibition, education and audience creation.
The Panoramica platform also joins this anniversary with RECLab10!, a section dedicated to titles that took part in RECLab before their festival premieres.
Find out more at panoramica.film
