The film Calle Málaga, by Maryam Touzani, is set to open the 29th Festival de Málaga (6 to 15 March), which will include in its Official Competition, among others, the Spanish feature films Altas Capacidades (Better Class), by Víctor García León, and Después de Kim, by Ángeles González Sinde; and the Latin American films El corazón del lobo, by Francisco J. Lombardi; and La mujer de la fila (The Woman in the Line), by Benjamín Ávila.
 
Calle Málaga
A co-production between Morocco, Spain, France, Belgium, and Germany, Calle Málaga is directed by Maryam Touzani and produced by Ali n' Productions, Mod Producciones SL, Les Films du Nouveau Monde, One Two Films and Velvet Films. It features the participation of RTVE, Movistar Plus+, and Eurimages, and was financed by the ICAA (Spanish Institute of Cinematography and Audiovisual Arts).
 
Maryam Touzani makes her directorial debut in Spanish with this film, which she also wrote. It was selected to represent Morocco at the Oscars after screening at the Venice Film Festival (Spotlight section), where it won the Audience Award; the Toronto International Film Festival (Special Presentations); and the Mar del Plata International Film Festival, where it won three awards, including Best Film and Best Actress for Carmen Maura. The veteran Spanish actress shares the screen with  Marta Etura, Ahmed Boulane, María Alfonsa Rosso, La Imèn and Miguel Garcés. The film is distributed by Caramell Films, with international sales by Films Boutique. It will be released in cinemas on 1 April.
 
Calle Málaga, filmed in Morocco and in Spanish, tells the story of María Ángeles (Carmen Maura), a 79-year-old Spanish woman who lives alone in Tangier, in northern Morocco, where she enjoys her city and her daily life. Her life takes a turn when her daughter Clara (Marta Etura) arrives from Madrid to sell the apartment where she has always lived. Determined to stay in the city where she grew up, she will do everything possible to keep her home and recover the objects of her lifetime. Along the way, she rediscovers, against all odds, love and desire.
 
Born in Tangiers, Maryam Touzani is a Spanish-Moroccan documentary filmmaker, screenwriter, actress and director. In 2019, she made her directorial debut with the feature film Adam, which was selected by Morocco as its submission for the Academy Awards and had its world première in the Un Certain Regard section of the Cannes Film Festival. Her second feature film, The Blue Caftan ( 2022), was presented in the same section, won the FIPRESCI Prize, and was also selected by Morocco as its Oscar submission.
 
Altas Capacidades
Víctor García León returns to the Festival de Málaga with his feature film Altas Capacidades (Better Class). Borja Cobeaga and the Madrid-born director wrote the screenplay for this film, which stars Marian Álvarez, Israel Elejalde, Juan Diego Botto, Natalia Reyes, Suso Nanclares and features a special appearance by Pilar Castro.
 
Altas Capacidades is a Spanish-Uruguayan co-production by Buenapinta Media, Think Studio, Colosé Producciones, Sayaka Producciones and Altas Capacidades Película, A.I.E., in co-production with Cimarrón. It features the participation of RTVE and Movistar Plus and is financed by Orange, ICAA, the Community of Madrid, Madrid City Council, and with the participation of Crea SGR. Selected for the Venice Gap Financing Market 2024.  It is distributed by Bteam Pictures with international sales handled by Film Factory Entertainment.
 
Alicia (Marián Álvarez) and Gonzalo (Israel Elejalde), a middle-class couple, are presented with an unexpected opportunity: to enrol their son Fer in an elite secular school. For the parents, it means a glimpse into the lives of the upper class, new friendships, higher income, and countless advantages. They claim to be doing it for their son and his supposed "high abilities." In this wonderful contradiction between fears and moral principles, the couple's aspirations will ultimately overwhelm what, until then, they believed to be unquestionable.
 
Víctor García León (Madrid, 1976) holds a degree in journalism from the Complutense University of Madrid and began making short films in 1996 with El gilipollas and El elefante del Rey. He made his feature film directorial debut in 2001 with Más pena que Gloria, which won the Best Actor award (Biel Durán) at the Festival de Málaga 2001. His second film, Vete de mí, won the Silver Shell for Best Actor at the San Sebastián Film Festival and the Goya Award for Best Actor (Juan Diego).
 
His auteur films include Selfie, Critics' Prize and Special Jury Mention at the Festival de Málaga 2017, and Los europeos (The Europeans). In 2022, he released an Amazon Original, Los Reyes Magos: La verdad, and in 2023, he released the comedy Vaya vacaciones.
 
On television, he has worked as a screenwriter and director for series such as Venga Juan and Vota Juan (TNT) and El vecino ( Netflix); and he created the series Animal ( Netflix).
 
Después de Kim
Ángeles González Sinde presents her feature film Después de Kim in the Official Competition of the 29th Festival de Málaga. A story about loss and second chances, it stars Darío Grandinetti and Adriana Ozores, with Gloria March, Cristina García, Roger Aranda, Karina Kolokolchykova, and Kevin Brand, and a special appearance by Cristina Rosenvinge.  Después de Kim is based on the director's own novel of the same name.
 
Después de Kim is a co-production between Después de Kim AIE, Voramar Films and Tornasol Media. It features the participation of RTVE, A PUNT, ICAA and the IVC of the Generalitat Valenciana. The film will be distributed in theatres by Karma Films.
 
Juan and Gloria, divorced and estranged for twenty years, travel to Spain, where their daughter, with whom they have no contact, has been found dead. Upon arrival, they discover that she has left behind a grandson whose whereabouts are unknown. They decide to stay until they find him. Making that journey together without falling into the conflicts of the past will be their challenge.
 
Ángeles González Sinde (Madrid, 1965) is a screenwriter and director. A graduate in Classical Philology, she studied film at the American Film Institute, after which she developed an extensive career as a screenwriter before directing her own feature films. She is the author of screenplays such as Mentiras y gordas ( 2009), La vida que te espera ( 2004), Heroína ( 2005) and La buena estrella ( 1997), for which she won the Goya Award for Best Original Screenplay. As a director, she debuted with La suerte dormida ( 2003), which won the Goya for Best New Director, followed by Una palabra tuya ( 2008), which won the Goya for Best Leading Actress for Malena Alterio, and El comensal ( 2022).She has also written for television series such as Amar es para siempre and Bosé. As a novelist she has been a finalist for the Planeta Prize and the Edebe Prize for Children's Literature.
 
 
 
El corazón del lobo
Also returning to the Festival de Málaga is Francisco J. Lombardi, who, in addition to receiving the Retrospectiva Award of the 29th edition, will première in competition El corazón del lobo, a Peruvian film produced by La Soga Producciones, the screenplay for which he co-wrote with Augusto Cabada. It stars Víctor Acurio Sicha, Jared Vicente Sánchez, Silvana Díaz Goicochea, Paul Ramírez Vergara, Martín Martínez Gonzales and José Fernández Guizado.
 
1990, Peru. Aquiles, an indigenous boy, is kidnapped by the Shining Path. Through his testimony, we witness his journey over more than a decade, from victim to combatant, and his desperate attempt to escape. With a raw and intimate look at indoctrination, violence, and survival, the film traces his struggle for identity and freedom.
 
Francisco J. Lombardi (Tacna, Peru, 1949) is one of Latin America's most renowned filmmakers. He has directed 17 feature films, which have won awards at the San Sebastián and Montreal film festivals, and have been selected for Cannes, Berlin, and Toronto. He received the National Culture Award (2014) and was nominated for membership in the Peruvian Academy of Cinematographic Arts and Sciences.
 
La mujer de la fila
Benjamín Ávila directs and co-wrote the screenplay—with Marcelo Muller— for La mujer de la fila, a Spanish-Argentine co-production starring Natalia Oreiro, Amparo Noguera, Alberto Ammann, Federico Heinrich, Marcela Acuña, Lide Uranga and Luis Campos.
 
La mujer de la fila is produced by Mostra Cine, Buffalo Films, Diving Media and Mariana Vopi, in association with the UN Development Programme (UNDP), the International Network of Women Relatives of Persons Deprived of Liberty (RIMUF) and its Argentine counterpart (ACIFAD), the Committee for the Prevention of Torture, the Prison Ombudsman's Office, among others. International sales are handled by Filmsharks. In Argentina, the film won the Martín Fierro de Oro award for Best Actress and Best Director.
 
The film tells the story of Andrea, a middle-class woman from Buenos Aires whose life is shaken by the unexpected arrest of her son. She discovers the reality of people with a family member in prison: the bureaucracies of the prison and judicial systems, social prejudices, and prison visits. There, she meets other "women in line," who, like her, are waiting to visit their relatives. Initially cold and hostile, they will become her emotional support and safety net.
 
Benjamín Ávila (Buenos Aires, 1972) is a director, screenwriter, and producer. He studied at the INCAA's Centro de Experimentación y Realización Cinematográfica (CERC). He made his feature film directorial debut with Infancia clandestina ( 2011), which was selected to represent Argentina at the Oscars and won more than 20 international awards, including the Audience Award at the Havana Film Festival and the Silver Columbus Award for Best First Feature at the Huelva Film Festival. He later directed Nietos (Identidad y memoria) ( 2004), a documentary made in collaboration with Abuelas de Plaza de Mayo, and Una noche de amor ( 2016). He has also worked in television, notably as the creator and director of the series Todos contra Juan. With La mujer de la fila, Ávila adds another feature film to a filmography focused on contemporary narratives linked to identity and social memory.