06/06/2024 - Lois Patiño, Belén Funes, Enrique Buleo and Pablo Hernando are just some of the filmmakers taking part in the new event with their films in post-production

Ariel, the new project by Lois Patiño, which has been selected for the ECAM Forum

The ECAM Forum international co-production event, the first edition of which will be held in Madrid from 10-14 June, has announced the projects taking part in its Last Push section, intended for Spanish movies with international potential at the editing and post-production stage, with the ultimate aim of facilitating their entry onto the international circuit as well as providing financial support to enable them to complete the final editing phase.

Standing out among them are the new works by Belén Funes (Goya Award for Best New Director for her feature debut, A Thief’s Daughter [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Belén Funes
film profile]), titled The Turtles; Lois Patiño, winner of the Special Jury Award in the Encounters section of the Berlinale with his latest movie, Samsara [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Lois Patiño
film profile], who will be bringing along Ariel; and Pablo Hernando, who won awards at the Seville European Film Festival and at Málaga for his previous works, and who will present A Whale (see the news).

Also among the projects selected for this section are the feature debuts by Galicia’s Iván Castiñeiras (Gods of Stone) and by La Mancha native Enrique Buleo (Still Life With Ghosts – see the news). Fundamentally, at this first edition, ECAM Forum is committed to supporting the Spanish production scene and putting it in touch with works by some of the most interesting creators on the international stage. Standing out among them are the feature debuts by Swiss-Portuguese helmer Denise Fernandes (nominated for the European Film Awards for her short film Nha Mila), titled Hanami, and Peruvian artist and filmmaker Mauricio Freyre (Estados generales), as well as the first solo feature by Silvina Schnicer (The Cottage) after she co-directed Carajita and Tigre with Ulises Porra.

These eight works in progress will be screened for sales agents, distributors and festival programmers; in addition, they will be vying for an award worth €15,000 for their production companies, so as to facilitate the wrapping of the film’s post-production process.

The objective of the first edition of this industry event is to find appropriate creative and financial partners for each project, to help with the project’s internationalisation and to serve as a platform to foster funding opportunities. ECAM Forum is an initiative organised by ECAM, which has secured financing from the Community of Madrid and is run in collaboration with Matadero, Cineteca, the Madrid Film Office and Film Madrid.

Furthermore, ECAM Forum has announced the titles of the guest projects invited via the various deals in place with prestigious development programmes for audiovisual projects: these round off the Films to Come section and come via ECAM Industry’s partnership with Focus COPRO, an initiative run by the Cannes Film Festival’s Short Film Corner - Rendez-vous Industry; Ikusmira Berriak, co-organised by the San Sebastián Film Festival, Tabakalera and the Elías Querejeta Zine Eskola; BAM Bogotá Audiovisual Market; and MAFF - Málaga Festival Fund & Co Production Event. These four titles with international appeal join ten other projects in the Films to Come section, which is dedicated to supporting features at the development stage and which can be found in the list below. Additionally, seven Spanish series projects in development will be introduced (also listed below).

The entire programme, including its activities, chats, seminars and projects (including short-format ones), can be found on the ECAM Forum website.

Here is the full list of projects taking part:

Last Push section

Ariel - Lois Patiño (Spain/Portugal)
Producers: Filmika Galaika, Bando à Parte

Still Life With Ghosts - Enrique Buleo (Spain/Serbia)
Producers: Quatre Films Audiovisuales, Cuidado con el perro, Sideral Cinema, This and That

Gods of Stone - Iván Castiñeiras (Spain/Portugal/France)
Producers: Amateurfilms, Rua Escura, Primeira Idade, Promenons-nous dans les Bois

Estados generales - Mauricio Freyre (Spain/Peru)
Producers: Estudio Rien, Walden Films, Mauricio Freyre, Tasio

Hanami - Denise Fernandes (Switzerland/Portugal)
Producers: Alina film, O Som e a Fúria

The Cottage - Silvina Schnicer (Argentina/Brazil/Spain/Chile)
Producer: Palmeras Salvajes

The Turtles - Belén Funes (Spain/Chile)
Producers: Oberón Media, La Claqueta, Quijote Cine

A Whale - Pablo Hernando (Spain/Italy)
Producers: Señor & Señora, Sayaka Producciones, Orisa Produzioni

Films to Come section

Petróleo – Álvaro F Pulpeiro (Spain/Colombia/France)
Producers: ZuZú Cinema, Miramemira, Le Plein de Super, Camaralenta Films

Phantom – Cristóbal Fernández (Spain/France)
Producers: El Gesto Cinematográfico, Guadalupe Balaguer Trelles

Malpaís – Paula Rodríguez Polanco (Colombia/France)
Producers: mutokino, L’Heure d’été

The Espejos – José María Avilés (Ecuador/Spain)
Producer: Angamarca Cine

A House in Flames – Marina Velázquez Benítez (Spain)
Producer: Carlos del Valle Romero

Laughing – Jordi Boquet Claramunt (Spain)
Producers: Pausa Dramática Films, Fractal

The Wanderers – Jorge Cantos (Spain)
Producers: Entre las piedras, Mammut

Memorial – Sergi Pérez (Spain/France)
Producers: Edna Cinema, Sumendi, Bteam Prods, Noodles Productions

Flowers for an Absent Mother – Ana Puentes (Spain)
Producers: White Leaf Producciones, Verbena Films

Three Days of Summer – Álvaro López Alba (Spain)
Producers: Nexus CreaFilms, Sideral Cinema

Films to Come section – guest projects

For God’s Sake - Lorenzo Tocco (Uruguay/Brazil)
Producers: Montelona, Kocria

Stink Eye - Cristina Sánchez Salamanca (Colombia/Spain)
Producers: Inercia Películas, Continente Pictures

I Love You and Today Everything Looks Beautiful - María Alché (Argentina/Brazil/Germany)
Producer: Pasto

Until We Reached the Purple Gate There Was Nothing - Viv Li (China/France/UK)
Producers: Protest Studios, Tripode Productions, Tiny Volcanoes

Spanish series in development

Leather - Iñigo Alkorta
Dibus - José Antonio Vaca Cerezo
She and Me, But Mostly Her - Marta Ambel Meyer
The Hive - Álex García-Castellano Gerbolés
Fortún - Beatriz Arias Rodríguez
Estrella del Green – Denise Moreno
Fortuna Mineshaft - José Antonio Quirós

(Translated from Spanish)