Ensueno Films, the fledgling film division of Spanish free-to-air broadcaster Antena 3 Television, has confirmed plans to co-produce as many as ten feature films per year.

So far this year, the company, which launched in November 2000, says it has invested more than $27.6m (pts 5,100m) in the co-production or acquisition of broadcast rights to 21 Spanish feature films. Spain's new Cinema Law requires all broadcasters to reinvest 3% of their annual earnings into Spanish audiovisual product.

Teddy Villalba, Ensueno's general manager, says the company will get involved in co-productions at the script stage, but is not currently planning to develop films on its own. Ensueno aims to back veteran film directors as well as new talent, according to Villalba, and may consider international co-productions in the future.

The newest addition to Ensueno's slate is Mondays In The Sun (Los Lunes Al Sol), a drama about five men facing unemployment, starring Oscar-nominated actor Javier Bardem. Set to shoot in October or November with writer-director Fernando Leon, Mondays In The Sun is a co-production with Elias Querejeta PC.

Other Ensueno co-productions this year include:

Penelope Cruz and Victoria Abril-starrer No News From God (Sin Noticias De Dios) from award-winning director Agustin Diaz-Yanes
Albacete & Menkes' I Love You Baby
My Mother Likes Women (A Mi Madre Le Gustan Las Mujeres) starring Leonor Watling and Rosa Maria Sarda
Joaquin Oristrell's No Shame (Sin Verguenza), currently screening in Toronto
Ramon Salazar's directorial debut Stones (Piedras)
Youth comedy The Best Is Yet To Come (Lo Bueno Por Conocer)
Manuel Iborra's Clara And Elena (Clara Y Elena)
Newcomer Miguel Angel Vivas' Reflections (Reflejos).

In addition, Antena 3 backed 13 films this year, including Pedro Almodovar's Talk To Her (Hable Con Ella), Fernando Trueba's The Shanghai Spell (El Embrujo De Shanghai), Bigas Luna's Sound Of The Sea (Son De Mar) and the forthcoming Aphrodite, The Taste Of Love (Afrodita, El Sabor Del Amor), starring Stephen Rea, Cecilia Roth and Marisa Paredes.