A total of 19 films, 11 Spanish and 8 Latin American, will compete in the Official Section of the 27th Malaga Festival
The event takes place from the 1st to the 10th of March with almost 250 audiovisual productions in its different sections and its consolidated MAFIZ Industry Area
The
27th Malaga Festival takes place
from the 1st to the 10th 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 Malaga Festival is organised by the
Malaga City Council and Malaga Procultura, supported by the
Ministry of Culture (via
ICAA), and
Diputación de Málaga, supported by
Junta de Andalucía and the
Ministry of Tourism, Culture, and Sports; with
Repsol as the multi-energy partner and
RTVE, Atresmedia, ‘la Caixa’ Foundation, Cervezas Victoria and
Diario SUR as the official sponsor.
A meeting took place today at the Film Academy headquarters in Madrid with the directors and producers of the films in this year's Official Section, who spoke with the director of the Malaga Festival,
Juan Antonio Vigar. They were welcomed by the Councillor for Culture of Malaga City Council,
Mariana Pineda, and
Fernando Méndez-Leite, President of the Academy.
The
Official Section of the competition includes 19 films (11 Spanish and 8 Latin American). Along with them, there are 18 films (15 Spanish and 3 Latin) in the Official Section out of the competition, including the closing film.
On behalf of the Official Section attended:
Salvador Simó, director of
Dragonkeeper;
Pau Durá, director of
Pájaros;
David Galán Galindo, director of
Matusalén;
Emilio Martínez Lázaro, director of
Un hipster en la España vacía; Nacho García Velilla, director of
Menudas piezas; Clara Bilbao, director of
Tratamos demasiado bien a las mujeres;
Andrea Jaurrieta, director of
Nina;
Celia Rico, director of
Los pequeños amores;
Álex Montoya, director of
La casa;
Isaki Lacuesta and Pol Rodríguez, directors of
Segundo Premio;
Sonia Méndez, director of
As neves;
Antonio Chavarrías, director of
La abadesa;
Kike Maíllo, director of
Disco, Ibiza Locomía; and
Joaquín Mazón, director of
La familia Benetón.
Verónica Zalla, director of
Los terrenos;
Orlando Culzat, director of
Golán;
Tito Catacora, director of
Yana-Wara;
Vanina Spataro, director of
Naufragios;
Sebastián Borensztein, director of
Descansar en paz;
Alan González, director of
La mujer salvaje and
Rodrigo García, director of
Lluvia, were unable to attend, but they recorded a video for the meeting.
David Trueba, director of
El hombre bueno,
Nacho García Velilla, director of
Menudas piezas, y
Christopher Zalla, director of
Radical, couldn't attend either.
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, 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 sections
, International Premieres, 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.
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
1st 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 2nd of March,
La Bien Querida on the 9th of March and
Lia Kali with Vera GVR on the 10th 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.
