Spanish Screenings on Tour arrives at AFM

Spanish cinema is out in force at this year’s American Film Market (AFM), which runs from November 5-10 in Las Vegas.

AFM is hosting the third edition of Spanish Screenings on Tour, the international showcase of Spain’s audiovisual industry (last year’s edition was held at Rome’s MIA market). It is the biggest Spanish delegation to date for Spanish Screenings on Tour, with more than 20 companies landing in Las Vegas.

The aim is to strengthen the country’s role as a hub for international productions and to extend the reach of the Spanish industry worldwide and in the US market in particular.

The initiative is backed by the Spanish government through its film body, the Institute of Cinematography and Audiovisual Arts, and ICEX Spain Trade and Investment, as well as the Malaga and San Sebastian film festivals.

“AFM is a strategic market for our industry, with big potential for growth,” says Annabelle Aramburu, head of the industry department at Malaga Film Festival (MAFIZ). “It’s a chance to meet up with buyers, decision-makers, investors and programmers that don’t necessarily come to the markets in Spain.

“This third edition of the Spanish Screenings on Tour is also about supporting Spanish sales agents and producers that have been previously coming to AFM. Broadening markets is key for us.”

Rising Spanish audiovisual talent will be on display in four key showcases — Animation, Fantastic Cinema, Remakes and Producers — under the banner Spanish Audio­visual: Creativity, Diversity & Success.

The Animation and Fantastic showcases will each present features and series with international appeal and in advanced stages of development, while Remakes offers up 12 remake opportunities from Spanish films and series.

The Producers showcase will focus on eight production companies in search of international expansion: La Charito Films, Zabriskie Films, Centuria Films, Aqui y Alli Films, 73140323 PC, Mediacrest Entertainment, Amore Cine and Garachico Film Service. They are all introducing their upcoming feature projects. The Producers showcase will also present 19 market screenings of recent productions (see sidebar, right).

Aramburu explains that this edition of Spanish Screenings on Tour is focused on talent and producers in particular. “It is showcasing strong and skilled Spanish companies, which are ready to work in the American market and can offer interesting financing models to co-produce with companies in the US, as well as attracting shoots to Spain,” she says.

Animation highlights

The Animation showcase comes at a time when Spanish animation is on a high after successes such as the Oscar nomination for Pablo Berger’s Robot Dreams. The showcase is presenting four projects, of which three are features. Dinogames, a Spain-Belgium co-production directed by Lorena Ares and Carlos F De Vigo, is about a group of friends trapped in a video game that becomes a real adventure. Spain-Peru co-productionLike! by director/producer Nacho La Casa ­— also behind upcoming Super­Klaus — tells the story of a 13-year-old football fan who faces cyberbullying. The Violinist, co-produced with Singapore, is the story of violinists Kai and Fei, whose dreams are shattered by the Japanese invasion of Malaysia during the Second World War. It is co-directed by Ervin Han and Spanish animator resident in Los Angeles Raul Garcia.

The Animation showcase has also selected the series Age Of Madness, eight animated stories inspired by HP Lovecraft targeting an adult audience and in keeping with Lovecraft’s universe; Helio Mira is directing.

Fantastic focus

Horror is another well-established genre in Spain, and the Fantastic showcase will highlight five works in progress in advanced stages of development that embrace the genre as well as science fiction.

17Khz, a series from Spain’s Alberto Ruiz Rojo and Finland’s Marja Pyykkö, is about misfit teens who attempt to stop a conspiracy that makes them look crazy in the fight against climate change.

The other four projects in the showcase are features. In The Flesh is a first film by Ainhoa Menéndez Goyoaga about Mara, a lonely woman who falls in love with nurse Sandra but whose fear of abandonment brings out her devouring impulse. Arthouse fantasy Monstro by Andrés Goteira is about a man who arrives at an isolated house in the wild and decides to settle in — before a monster calls. Nightfall is a drama-horror take on the poet and playwright Federico Garcia Lorca, murdered on the orders of right-wing military authorities in Granada in the first year of the Spanish Civil War. Fernando Franco, who was last in competition at San Sebastian Film Festival in 2022 with The Rite Of Spring, is directing. Horror feature The Lady Who Plays, set in 1974 and about a detainee at a police station who claims to have witnessed the invocation of his deceased wife, is directed by Jose Enrique March.

The remake market is thriving in Spain and 12 local films have been identified as ripe for international adaptations. The Remakes showcase includes five titles handled by Madrid-based Latido Films: dramas La Casa by Alex Montoya and Guts by Samuel Martin Mateos; thrillers All The Names Of God by David Calparsoro and At The End Of The Tunnel by Rodrigo Grande; and dark comedy My Masterpiece, a Venice competition title by Andres Duprat and Gaston Duprat.

Other titles on the list are: comedy Who Wants To Marry An Astronaut? handled by Damita Joe; psychological thrillers Callback and The Paramedic, both by Carles Torras and sold by Zabriskie Films; and Upon Entry by Alejandro Rojas and Juan Sebastian Vasquez, sold by Charades. The thrillers Rider by Ignacio Estaregui, Fraternity by Juan Gautier and As Neves by Sonia Mendez, all sold by Begin Again Films, are also available for remakes.

In addition, Spanish Screenings on Tour at AFM also includes four industry panels linked to each of the showcases: Spanish Producers on November 5, Animation and Fantastic Showcases on November 6, and Remakes on November 7.

Contact: screenings@malagaprocultura.com

Find out more: spanishscreenings.online/on-tour