The 27th Malaga Festival, held from the 1st to the 10th of March, finished with a significant increase in audience, raising and international standing. It has been reflected in a very high participation of industry professionals from different countries in its MAFIZ industry area and with the official recognition of the FIAPF (International Federation of Film Producers Associations).

All this has been possible thanks to the support of the institutions and companies that participated in this 27th Malaga Festival, organised by the Malaga City Council and its Department of Culture and Historical Heritage, through Malaga Procultura, supported by Diputación de Málaga and the Ministry of Culture, through the ICAA. It also had the collaboration of Junta de Andalucía, through the Ministry of Culture and Sport; with Repsol as a multi-energy partner; and with the sponsorship of RTVE, Atresmedia, ‘la Caixa’ Foundation, Cervezas Victoria and Diario Sur.

The 27th edition had 250 films programmed and 264 sessions, to which must be added other activities such as the two concerts by Ara Malikian, the great photographic exhibition in Calle Larios by Víctor Lafuente, meetings, presentations, etc., as well as the activities held in the Solidarity Space, in which more than 40 associations participated.

In terms of audience, the event attracted almost 98,000 spectators and participants in its different activities, including the more than 53,000 tickets issued, as well as those attending other direct access activities, with accreditation or by invitation. All this has meant a revenue of close to 280,000 euros. This puts the festival's figures well above those of last year's edition, with an 18% increase in spectators and a 38% increase in revenue, all considering that this year there were two sold-out closing concerts by Ara Malikian.

Almost 5,000 people were accredited for the 27th edition of the Festival, of which almost 2,200 were guests; almost 1,700 from 60 countries came to MAFIZ; 200 from film schools and more than 750 press professionals, including 27 foreign media who covered the Festival.

MaF - Málaga de Festival, the expanded programme of the Festival de Málaga, brought together more than 15,000 people from the 8th to the 29th of February in the 128 activities that made up this edition. They were distributed among the 57 collaborating venues, in an edition in which almost 150 creators took part. ‘La Caixa" Foundation is the major partner of the event.

Meanwhile, Neópolis #2, a project that suggests a dialogue between science and technology and the artistic avant-garde, has managed to bring together 400 people over the three-day itinerary, with a model based on the coexistence of vertical and horizontal artistic installations. Neópolis #2 revolved around three categories: the plant kingdom, AI, and the relationship between machine and human being.


The industry festival

Almost 1,700 people from 60 countries have been accredited at MAFIZ, the industry area of the Malaga Festival, of which more than 700 were accredited at Spanish Screenings Content, an event with the collaboration of the Ministry of Culture through the ICAA (Institute of Cinematography and Audiovisual Arts), the Ministry for Digital Transformation and of Civil Service through ICEX España Exportación e Inversiones and the San Sebastian Festival. Spanish Screenings Content is part of the 'Spain Audiovisual Hub of Europe' component of the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan, promoted by the Ministry of Culture and the Ministry for Digital Transformation and of Civil Service. In Spanish Screenings Content, 222 films were presented, with almost 2,000 screenings, and 11 projects.
 
The programme included established initiatives such as Animation Day, aimed at the international animation and VFX market; Málaga WIP España, presenting six films in post-production; Remake Day, aimed at buyers of remake rights; Spain Colorful Diversity; Regional Film Hub; and Spain Scorecom, as well as Málaga Short Corner, which offered 17 screenings for professionals, including representatives from a dozen prestigious international festivals. More than 400 works were registered, from which 65 works were selected (eight of them Andalusian productions), which make up a very representative panorama of the current state of the art, quality and diversity of Spanish short films. Eleven round tables and conferences were also organised under the Industry Talks banner.
 
MAFF Málaga Fund & Co-production Event, a training and financing event for fiction and non-fiction projects from Ibero-America, also took place within the framework of MAFIZ, where 21 works were presented searching for international co-producers. Two of them were part of the MAFF Women Screen Industry event, organised by the Malaga Festival in collaboration with three associations of women filmmakers with the aim of advancing towards equality. 430 networking meetings took place.

19 films in the post-production stage were presented at Málaga WIP. In addition to the aforementioned films from Málaga WIP Spain, there were seven Ibero-American films from five countries, two films presented by Paraguay as guest of honour at Latinamerican Focus and four films from the new initiative Málaga con... guest festival, Ficviña Industria, proposed by the Chilean festival.

Paraguay was the protagonist of Latin American Focus 2024, with 49 participants, who proved the great talent of this country.


The Canary Islands were the protagonist territory and the 48 participants from the Canarian delegation took part in a series of activities at MAFIZ that encouraged professional meetings and the promotion of the Canarian audiovisual industry.


On the other hand, the Malaga Festival, aiming to position itself as a hotbed of talent, has brought together 20 young Spanish and Latin American filmmakers in the training and networking programme Campus Malaga Talent and 20 digital content creators in Hack MAFIZ Malaga, also part of Spanish Screenings Content. Selected from almost 12,000 candidates, they presented in Malaga the latest creative challenge that the Malaga Festival proposed to them, as well as having the opportunity to participate in talks, training and mentoring with experts from the main platforms, companies and international agencies in the sector.
  
The Village also hosted 50 stands, including film institutes from the main Ibero-American countries, Spanish autonomous communities, sales agents, film commissions and institutions, thus completing the participation of the sector's professionals that MAFIZ has brought together.


Dissemination on the internet and social media

In terms of the Festival's presence on the Internet, according to Google Analytics data, the Festival's website (www.festivaldemalaga.com) had almost 63,000 users and 126,000 sessions between the 14th of February and the 10th of March, with almost 700,000 web visits.

Once again this year, there has been an increase in the Festival's presence on social media, with almost 48,000 followers on Facebook; more than 102,000 on X (formerly Twitter), keeping the Malaga Festival in first place on this network among all the film festivals held in Spain; and more than 84,000 followers on Instagram.

For their part, the Festival's live broadcasts on the different platforms and social media have received more than 124,000 viewers from the 1st to the 10th of March.


Direct expenses of the festival in the city of Malaga

In its 27th edition, the Malaga Festival has made a significant economic investment in the city in its different production and service industries. The contracting by the festival of companies, professionals and staff from Malaga is valued at 540,000 euros, while the contracting of production services (audiovisual, lighting, sound, etc.) is valued at 390,000 euros. Hotel and hostelry services are valued at 705,000 euros, while other services related to communication, media and image amount to 240,000 euros.

All this means that the budget management developed by the festival in 2024 has meant a total direct expenditure in the city of Malaga of 1,875,000 euros. A management that recovers almost in full for each citizen the 3.5 euros per year that the cost of the Festival represents per Malaga citizen/year.

This investment has meant the hiring of 230 temporary staff (public relations, production staff, content, press, etc.), as well as 29 local collaborators and the hiring of more than 150 companies from Malaga for the different logistical and production tasks for the festival activities.


The dates of the 28th edition

Finally, the Festival has already set the dates for its 28th edition, which will take place from the 14th to the 23rd of March 2025.