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Backed by strong public sector funding, a savvy new generation of filmmakers (many of them women) and world-class film schools, Catalonia has become one of Europe’s most dynamic regional audiovisual forces.
Evidence can be found at this year’s Cannes Film Festival. More than 50 Catalan companies (about 100 executives and creatives) are expected to participate. Five films, four of them by new directors, have had their official cuts at Cannes; six projects are shown in the Marché du Film showcase.
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The festival’s three top-grossing Catalan films, Elena Martin’s “Creature,” Pham Thiên An’s “Inside the Yellow Cocoon,” are in Directors’ Fortnight, and Pablo Berger’s “Robot Dreams,” in competition Outside the screening, the strong trend was also underscored. Through the current Catalan cinema, including international co-productions and exploding animated scenes.
“Co-productions are at the heart of the European film industry, and the benefits always outweigh the risks,” says Ariadna Dot of Vilaüt Films, producer of Elena Martin’s Creature, which is in partnership with Spain’s Co-productions with regional partners: here Lastor Media in Catalonia, Vilaüt in Barcelona, Avalon in Madrid and Elástica Films in Valencia (producers of the Berlin Golden Bear winner “Alcarràs”).
In Vilaüt’s most recent films, however, “Alcarràs” is co-produced with Italy, “Libertad” with Belgium, and “Mediterráneo” with Greece. Its next feature film, Carlos Marqués-Marcet’s “Polvo serán,” will shoot in Switzerland and Italy later this year.
“The obvious advantages of co-productions are cost-sharing and reaching a wider audience,” Dot said, adding: “Co-productions help lower production costs for most co-producers, which can lead to productions with higher budgets. Movies, that usually translates into higher quality movies, because a bigger budget usually means more time.”
As in 2022, the audiovisual funding allocated by Catalonia’s cultural industry body ICEC will exceed 41 million euros ($45.5 million). This compares with 12.6 million euros ($14 million) in 2019. ICEC launched a handful of co-production funds in 2020.
“Co-productions give the opportunity to work with different talents, crews and ways of working, and while some things do get lost in translation, it’s still very rewarding,” said CEO and Producer of Barcelona-based Fasten Films Said Adrià Monés, minority co-producer of Fan Tianan’s debut feature “Inside the Yellow Cocoon” with JK Film in Vietnam, Potocol in Singapore and Deuxième Ligne Films in France.
Fasten is developing “La Gang” with the Dominican Republic and “Cuatro amores” with Belgium.
For Vilaüt’s Marta Cruañas, who has a master’s degree in creative production from Columbia University, being a young woman in the film industry has its own set of challenges. Working as an independent “was a challenge in itself, because in Spain you really need to have production companies to produce. This allowed me to work with different production companies and it was an opportunity to meet new people and observe a different work ethic,” she added.
Seventeen of the 31 Catalan films selected or accepted for market screening by the festival or Marché this year were directed by women.
“‘Creature’ explores the relationship between a 30-year-old woman and her sexuality, and how that relationship was built over the years in a clearly progressive family,” says Martin.
“Over the past few years, many of the new directors have been women who have appeared at international film festivals, won awards and received recognition,” Martin noted. She added that this has really inspired other aspiring female directors, although there is still a lot of work to be done.
“It’s true that it’s becoming more common to see women behind the camera; without further ado, our last three short films have been directed by women,” agrees Marc Guanyabens, whose company Fractal Films partnered with Croatia’s Antitalent to produce The adult short film “The Truth of Fighting”, which had its world premiere in 2018. Cannes Film Critics Week.
However, he cited figures from Catalan association Dones Visuals. Female cinematographers and audiovisual media report year-on-year progress towards parity among female producers, directors and crew members, but currently hover below 30 percent with no change. Another area of growth is animation, as several Catalan companies are entering the sector. Robot Dreams is produced by Arcadia Films, the company behind Rodrigo Sorogoyen’s Beast. Barcelona-based Mr. Miyagi Films released “Hannah and the Monster” in late April, and “Daria and the Red Book” is in theaters. It will begin production on “Juul” later this year and will drop “The Day Ewan McGregor Introduced Me to His Parents” in Annecy in June.
Spain’s top independent distributor, A Contracorriente Films, is backing buddy film “Inseparable”; “20,000 Kinds of Bees” creator Inicia Films is behind animator Adrià García’s “Barracuda Treasure.” Alba Sotorra will present “Rock Bottom,” inspired by Robert Wyatt, at the Annecy Animation Days in Cannes.
A total of five films have been completed, including “Tender Metalheads,” which, like “Robot Dreams,” will play Annecy’s Contrechamp in June, with three more in production and five more in development.
Mr. David Matamoros, co-founder of Miyagi Films, said that three factors have driven the growth of animation: “ICEC is committed to supporting animation, both series and films, tax incentives and talent. If we add ICAA to this equation, the result is a minority Films, from directorial to commercial, very different and unique, resonate beyond our borders.”
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