The Malaga Festival will once again roll out the big red carpet for Spanish cinema at its 27th edition, to be held from the 1^st to the 10^th March, with a programme that will include almost 250 audiovisual productions in all its sections (fiction feature films, documentaries, short films, TV series, etc.) and a wide variety of content and parallel activities for all ages. Likewise, the Malaga event will once again become a meeting point for Spanish audiovisual productions in its consolidated MAFIZ Industry area.
 
The presentation of this edition took place today at Teatro Echegaray in Malaga. The event, chaired by the Mayor of Malaga, Francisco de la Torre, was attended by the Director General of Documentary and Bibliographic Heritage and Cultural Innovation and Promotion, Mario Martín; the Vice-President for Culture of Malaga Provincial Council, Manuel López Mestanza; the Councillor for Culture and Historical Heritage of Malaga City Council, Mariana Pineda; the Manager of Sustainable Leisure Sponsorship of Repsol, Ana Bella García; the Deputy Director of Cinema of the RTVE Corporation, Gervasio Iglesias; the producer of Atresmedia Cine, Rosa Pérez; the territorial manager in Andalusia, Ceuta and Melilla of ‘la Caixa’ Foundation; the producer of Atresmedia Cine, Rosa Pérez; the territorial manager of ‘la Caixa’ Foundation in Andalusia, Ceuta and Melilla, Juan Carlos Barroso; Head of Business Area of Caixabank in Malaga, Antonio Caballero; the head of External Relations of Cervezas Victoria, Sergio Ragel; the director of Diario Sur, Manuel Castillo, and Juan Antonio Vigar, manager of Málaga Procultura and of the Malaga Festival, as well as representatives of different entities collaborating with the Festival. The Mayor thanked all of them for their important commitment and support to culture, to Malaga and to the Festival.
 
Juan Antonio Vigar described the contents of this new edition of the Malaga Festival. Regarding the participation, this year 2,557 audiovisual productions have been registered (compared to 2,322 last year, 10% more), for a total of 246 selected audiovisual productions from 67 countries. It shows the important international position of the festival, with a set of titles that are an X-ray of Spanish audiovisual productions recently.
 
The Festival director highlighted that ‘some very interesting data, which constitute the X-ray of our festival’: ‘65% of the registrations are Spanish, which shows that we are the Festival of reference for Spanish cinema. In addition, we have received 900 Latin American audiovisual productions, which shows the important prestige and our growing position in the territory. 7% are co-productions, a true reflection of the dynamism of Spanish co-productions (182). And a fact that we particularly like is that  we are a festival that continues to promote emerging talent, with 30%, almost 800 first works, of those registered’. ‘In other words, every year, we notice, and data proves it, a growing interest in participating in the Malaga Festival, with more registrations, which leads us to a greater selection, made up of audiovisual productions from more countries. Therefore, more international’, added Vigar.
 
Regarding this year's selection process, he reported that the selection committee has watched 172 Spanish feature films, 23 co-productions and 224 Latin American films. ‘This vision makes us notice that talent continues to be an extraordinary driving force for our industry. But our perception of Spanish cinema also shows us that, relating to production, the industrial framework now appears to be more solid and diverse, favouring greater employment, increasing the offering and creating more efficient partnerships. All of this is based on the exponential increase in audiovisual consumption on platforms and the dynamism shown by our producers after the difficult times of the pandemic,’ he said.
 
Vigar highlighted that, of the 2,557 films registered, 970 were directed by women, which represents 37.9% of the total; while of those selected, 91 were directed by women, 37.6%, ‘which means almost the same average number of registered films directed by women, so we keep the proportionality and, with it, the already historic commitment to films made by women’.
 
Contents
 
According to Juan Antonio Vigar, with this participation data, the competition has achieved a selection of audiovisual productions that responds to the model that the Malaga Festival is committed to: ‘Our individuality is the generality. And all kinds of views, sensibilities, and narratives have to fit into it’.
 
The Official Section of the competition will include 19 films (11 Spanish and 8 Latin American). To these must be added 18 films (15 Spanish and 3 Latin American) in the non-competitive Official Selection, including the closing film.
 
In addition to the already announced Spanish films Dragonkeeper (Guardiana de dragones), by Salvador Simó, the animated film opening the Festival; El hombre bueno, by David Trueba; Los pequeños amores, by Celia Rico, and Segundo Premio, by Isaki Lacuesta and Pol Rodríguez, we must add Tratamos demasiado bien a las mujeres by Clara Bilbao; Un hipster en la España vacía by Emilio Martínez-Lázaro; La Casa by Alex Montoya; La abadesa by Antonio Chavarrías; Nina by Andrea Jaurrieta; Pájaros by Pau Durà; and As Neves by Sonia Méndez.
 
Alongside these, we find the Latin American films Yana-Wara by Óscar Catacora (posthumously) and Tito Catacora (Peru); Lluvia by Rodrigo García Saiz (Mexico); Naufragios by Vanina Spataro (Argentina, Uruguay); Radical by Christopher Zalla (Mexico); La mujer salvaje by Alán González (Cuba); Golán by Orlando Culzat (Colombia); Descansar en paz by Sebastián Borensztein (Argentina); and Los terrenos by Verónica Chen (Argentina, Uruguay).
 
In addition, out of competition, the closing film will be La familia Benetón, by Joaquín Mazón, an amusing comedy starring Leo Harlem. And the remaining official screenings out of competition. The Spanish films Invasión, by David Martín-Porras; Puntos suspensivos, by David Marqués; Menudas piezas, by Nacho García Velilla; El salto, by Benito Zambrano; Matusalén, by David Galán Galindo; Calladita, by Miguel Faus; El molino, by Alfonso Cortés-Cavanillas; Historias, by Paco Sepúlveda; La bandera, by Martín Cuervo; La mujer dormida, by Laura Alvea; Solos en la noche, by Guillermo Rojas; Yo no soy ésa, by María Ripoll; Disco, Ibiza, Locomía, by Kike Maíllo; and Por tus muertos, by Sayago Ayuso.
 
And the Latin films Como el mar, by Nicolás Gil Lavedra (Argentina, Uruguay); La sombra del sol, by Miguel Ángel Ferrer (Venezuela, United States); and Un pájaro azul, by Ariel Rotter (Argentina, Uruguay).
 
The Official Section’s Jury will consist  of the Argentine writer, screenwriter, and playwright Claudia Piñeiro (president); the director of the San Sebastian Festival, José Luis Rebordinos; the Chilean actress Antonia Zegers; the Bolivian filmmaker Alejandro Loayza Grisi; the Spanish film director Javier Ruiz Caldera and the Argentinean film director and screenwriter Daniela Fejerman.
 
In addition, we will have Zonazine, a commitment to new cinema that turns 22 years; the Short Films, Documentaries and Mosaico: Internacional Scene, where we will be able to enjoy seven non-Latin American films that have won important awards at festivals.
 
We will have a selection of Series (non-competitive), with the participation of: Nos vemos en otra vida, by Jorge and Alberto Sánchez-Cabezudo for Disney; Operación Barrio Inglés, by Chiqui Carabante and José Ramón Ayerra for RTVE; Eva y Nicole, by David Molina, Antonio Hernández and Álvaro Vicario; and Un nuevo amanecer, by Jose Corbacho and Belén Macías, both for Atresmedia.
 
As for the Festival's gastronomic section, Cinema Cocina, in collaboration with Lumen, Producciones Gastronómicas, this year will be sponsored by Cervezas Victoria. In this section will participate unpublished Spanish and Latin American feature films and short documentaries. There will be a total of 17 documentaries from 8 countries competing for the Biznagas de Plata Awards in this section, which will also include the usual round tables, tastings, and our Gala Dinner at the Gran Hotel Miramar.
 
Juan Antonio Vigar also highlighted a strategic project for the Festival, the MAFIZ Industry area. It is made up of events that promote the financing, co-production, distribution and sale of Spanish films, all based on the support and promotion of new Ibero-American audiovisual talent as a cross-cutting objective for this broad industrial area.
 
One of the highlights in the Industry area is Spanish Screenings Content (from the 4^th to the 8^th of March), our audiovisual market, which is being held thanks to the budget allocated as part of the Recovery, Transformation, and Resilience Plan to strengthen Spain's role as an audiovisual hub in Europe. Thus, with the support of the Ministry of Culture and Sport through the ICAA, and the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Digital Transformation through ICEX España Exportación e Inversiones, and the collaboration of the San Sebastian Festival, this event continues to be part of the framework of 'Spanish Screenings XXL. An international market for Spanish audiovisual production'. 
 
In addition, Latin-American Focus, the bilateral co-production forum, will this year feature Paraguay, Country of Honour at the 27th edition. And in the Territorios section, dedicated to productions from our autonomous communities, the Canary Islands, the autonomous community of reference in this section, will occupy a preferential place.
 
Tributes, publications, and concerts
 
As for the tributes, the Malaga-Sur Award will go to actor Javier Cámara; the Ricardo Franco-Academia de Cine Award will go to art director Ana Alvargonzález; the Málaga Talent-La Opinión de Málaga Award will go to Pilar Palomero; the Retrospectiva-Málaga Hoy Award will go to Argentinian director Marcelo Piñeyro and the Biznaga Ciudad de Paraíso, for essential Spanish filmmakers, will go to Lola Herrera.
 
The Festival will pay tribute to the recently deceased directors Ventura Pons and Patricia Ferreira, and the actress Itziar Castro.
 
In addition, as every year, the Festival will host the presentation of the Canal Sur’s Talento Andaluz Award, whose winner will be announced soon.
 
The Golden Film of the 27th Malaga Festival will be Los nuevos españoles, a 1974 classic directed by Roberto Bodegas. 
 
The Festival will publish the book La reinvención del cine español, by Carlos Heredero, in collaboration with the magazine Caimán Cuadernos de Cine. 
 
And we will have two new sections, framed within the Festival's objective of recovering Spanish film heritage: La cápsula del tiempo and Underground andaluz, the latter carried out by Alberto Rodríguez.
 
Once again, Plaza de la Merced will feature the Espacio Solidario, organised by the Festival with the Department of Social Rights, Equality, Accessibility and Inclusive Policies of Malaga City Council in collaboration with the ‘la Caixa’ Foundation. It aims to open up the Festival to different social groups and promote their inclusion.
 
For the second year, we will have a cycle in the MaF's extended programme, Neópolis, which during the festival will bring together six activities that will connect the audiovisual arts with science and technology.
 
On the musical side, the event is bringing back its FM Festival concerts, with four dates in Sala Paris 15 featuring artists representative of the Spanish independent scene. In collaboration with the hall itself and with Crash Music, on the 1^st of March, FM Festival opens at the same time as the 27th Malaga Festival with a special night that will bring us back Chambao. They will be followed by Shinova with Valira on the 2^nd of March, La Bien Querida on the  9^th of March and Lia Kali with Vera GVR on the 10^th of March. The closing concert on Sunday 10th in Teatro Cervantes will be given by Ara Malikian (two performances: 7pm and 10pm).
 
Vigar also gave a brief outline of the Festival's two big galas. The opening will be presented by Marta Etura, la Dani and Omar Banana and the closing by the journalist Elena Sánchez and the actor Julián López.
 
The Festival will conclude on Sunday 10th with the traditional film marathon at the Cine Albéniz with the winning films.
 
Tickets
 
Tickets, including for the opening and closing galas, will go on sale tomorrow, Thursday the 15th of  February at 9am at the ticket office and online. They can be purchased through the Festival website, where the programme can already be checked, and at www.unientradas.es. At tickets office, they will be on sale at Teatro Cervantes, Teatro Echegaray and Cine Albéniz.
 
Tickets sales information here.