After final yr’s golden blueprint which set the roadmap for coming years, the second ECAM Forum Co-Production Market, unspooling June 10-13 in Madrid, will drive deeper into its worldwide attain and trade talks as a part of its mandate to strengthen the ties between the Spanish skills and its blooming trade with the remainder of the world.
Lured by upbeat trade buzz from the primary version and Spain’s sustained film-TV golden age, trade gamers and initiatives are nearly twice as many this yr to bid for a spot on the trade platform spearheaded by Madrid’s prestigious ECAM movie college.
More than 700 accredited delegates ,in comparison with 400+ in 2024, are anticipated to fill the halls of its Matadero and Cineteca Madrid venues; 70 worldwide friends, vs. 50 in 2024, will pattern 47 movies in improvement and post-production, in addition to shorts and collection in improvement.
Among 15 programming reps from Toronto, Locarno, Rotterdam, Thessaloniki, London to Marrakech fests are first-time attendees Christian Jeune from the Cannes Film Festival and the Berlinale’s Michael Stuetz.
On the gross sales entrance, the dozen registered firms vary from Le Pacte, Goodfellas, Co-Production Office, Film Boutique and Charades to Spain’s art-film specialist Bendita Film Sales. At press time, all titles have been out there for choose up together with the following bets by sizzling skills Mihai Mincan (“To the North”) and Francisca Alegría (“The Cow Who Sang a Song into the Future”) and the anticipated debuts by Nadine Luque, Claudia Estrada Tarascó and Irati Gorostidi Agirretxe.
Highlights of this yr’s beefed-up program of talks and trade occasions embody a masterclass with French auteur Bertrand Bonello, a presentation of the Göteborg Film Festival’s trade reference Nostradamus report by Johanna Koljonen, conversations with prime Spanish writers, poets and philosophers over The State of Things and Finde, a primary trade assembly on financing, funding for indie producers co-organized by Madrid Audiovisual Cluster. To consolidate ECAM’s worldwide ties, new partnerships have been sealed this yr with Conecta Fiction & Entertainment, which runs every week later in Cuenca, close to Madrid, and with ACAU and Proimagenes Colombia, the film-TV state businesses in Uruguay and Colombia.
ECAM Forum closes Friday June 13 with an awards ceremony.
In this interview, ECAM Forum coordinator Alberto Valverde unpacks his 2025 program.
How does it really feel to stage ECAM Forum just a few weeks after a stellar yr for Spanish movies and co-productions in Cannes?
It was an distinctive yr for Spanish cinema. Having two filmmakers [Oliver Laxe and Carla Simón] in major competitors, a spot normally taken by Pedro Almodovar, was historic. Their respective movies “Sirât” and “Romería” are worldwide co-productions that illustrate the rationale why we exist. Indeed final yr the 2 producers of “Sirât”– Andrea Queralt and Xavi Font – got here to ECAM to current a brand new mission in the course of taking pictures their movie in Morocco. Xavi submitted Álvaro Pulpeiro’s “Petróleo” on the Films to Come and Andrea got here with Silvina Schnicer’s “La Quinta” for The Last Push. Then Elástica’s María Zamora, producer of Romería, was right here as properly. The profitable groups from Cannes are additionally right here.
In latest years we’ve witnessed how the Spanish audiovisual trade has morphed and internationalized, with established and new expertise working at residence and globally. Before launching ECAM Forum, we’ve been in fixed dialogue with all these Spanish gamers and expertise, exactly to attach them to the world and foster new collaborations.
Last yr you had an nearly clear sweep with seven out of eight works in progress happening to premiere at A festivals. That was fairly a coup…
Yes, we’re over the moon. We need to consolidate our works in progress as a related area to find gems for the yr forward, and people outcomes assist rather a lot. It was rewarding speaking to the groups behind the works in progress and realizing it was key for them to safe sure premieres and picks that actually have been signed throughout ECAM Forum. Last yr’s Last Push titles included very completely different movies, from the delicate ones just like the profitable documentary “Gods of Stone” to the extra stable ones like “Los Tortuga”(“The Exiles”) that each ended having good premieres [respectively in Rotterdam and Toronto] and reached world audiences, actually the primary goal of our work.
Alberto Valverde
Courtesy of ECAM Forum
Could you reiterate what made your 2024 inaugural occasion a blueprint for the editions to return and description the important thing novelties this yr?
One of the very best issues final yr was to get the suggestions from worldwide friends who have been dazzled by the standard of the initiatives. Then on the Spanish facet, professionals have been equally impressed by the highest names within the worldwide delegation. This yr the listing of worldwide delegates can be even stronger, as an illustration with the presence of Christian Jeune from Cannes and Michael Stuetz from the Berlinale.
The problem for the primary 5 editions is maybe to be coherent with the dimensions of our occasion, the kind of initiatives and professionals invited. We need to keep the identical top quality, consideration and care that goes into the choice and general organisation. Then clearly as that is the second yr, we’re increasing a bit the scope of our actions, partnerships and ambitions. The occasion is rising however we nonetheless need it to be sustainable for the following editions.
How many delegates will attend this yr from what number of territories?
The numbers mirror the elevated curiosity in our occasion. This yr we’ve got 730 accredited professionals, versus round 400 in 2024. It’s been an exponential development from final yr. Then we had about 50 worldwide friends in 2024 and this yr we’re internet hosting 70 folks. From Spain, we’re inviting across the similar quantity, about 70 key decision-makers. So we’ve got about 140 invited friends for the conferences. Countries represented (between 18-20) span from Spain to Canada, U.S., France, Romania, Estonia and Latin America. It was maybe unintentional – primarily based on the initiatives chosen – however we can have a powerful European and Latin American presence this yr.
With a extra formidable program, what kind of finances do you will have and might you touch upon the importance of your new institutional partnerships?
I gained’t element our particular finances however it hasn’t modified drastically. Our major key companions are the identical: ECAM Foundation Comunidad de Madrid. Then Matadero, Film Madrid, Madrid Film Office, Cineteca, the rights assortment company Dama and AC/E, the worldwide promotional physique of Spanish cinema, are different companions. We’re persevering with our collaboration with Filmin, Rotterdam, Series Mania and have new strategic partnerships with Conecta Fiction & Entertainment and the important thing audiovisual businesses ACAU in Uruguay and Proimagenes in Colombia. For the ECAM college and Foundation, facilitating these collaborations are simply pure to alternate expertise and create a bridge between Europe and Latin America. We hope to announce new partnerships this fall.
This yr you’ve opened your Pitch periods to worldwide initiatives. What additional challenges did you meet in your choice course of?
Our major objective is to advertise Spanish cinema internationally and appeal to worldwide expertise to work with Spain. We perceive that presenting a variety, and making thrilling worldwide skills coexist with promising Spanish initiatives is a greater technique to promote their movies. It’s nice to have Spain’s Maria Herrera, Alba Esquinas and Elena Molina with Maryam Tafakory [from Iran], Francisca Alegría [from Chile] or Mihai Mincan [from Romania].
Opening to worldwide initiatives was a problem as we tried to draw distinctive voices and skills however we did! We are extraordinarily proud of the choice and will simply have picked one other 15 initiatives that couldn’t make the lower. We needed to make some troublesome choices.
I’d like so as to add that within the brief part, final yr we had solely six nationwide initiatives. This yr we’ve got 11 initiatives – six from our personal coaching program and 5 worldwide shorts by means of new partnerships with Chile Shorts, Bogo Shorts in Colombia, La Femis in France, DISFF in Greece, and FAMU within the Czech Republic.
How would you outline the 2025 function size slate by way of themes, distinctive auteur-viewpoint and variety?
The choice covers a wealthy number of narrative and aesthetic approaches, with a presence of comedies, style and science fiction approaches, documentaries, and traditional fiction works. The initiatives exhibit a ardour for difficult the boundaries of genres and storytelling, a powerful dedication to inventive danger and authorship. We like to see plenty of first and second movies with tremendous sturdy visions, which might be backed by producers with sure expertise, each nationwide and worldwide. I genuinely assume it’s a brilliant thrilling slate with new voices to find.
It can also be a extra numerous choice in the case of illustration each within the narrative and creators themselves, so, sure, it’s a step ahead. Something fairly outstanding after we take a look at the Films to Come, is the truth that the 15 initiatives got here out of three completely different choice processes, and after we ended up with the ultimate listing, we realised all have been directed by ladies (with one co-direction).
Could you remark in your trade talks and high-brow cycle of conversations?
The trade talks focusing on the 700+ accredited professionals, concentrate on the challenges within the audiovisual trade proper now, and plenty of periods supply sensible instruments and suggestions, about financing, co-production promotion. Our objective is to strengthen Spanish cinema and we’re blissful to convey prime audio system from Spain and the remainder of the world. We’re additionally glad to current the Nostradamus report back to our viewers, straight after Cannes. The report is essential to take a look at the place we’re going, how every sector within the trade is integrating the challenges, each inside and out of doors the sector.
Then the three Conversations about The State of Things [in Spanish language] is a very lovely strand that we’ve designed over a number of months with my colleague Brais Romero and Luis E. Parés from Cineteca Matadero. We tried to map out essential subjects that contact us as people, not solely within the trade however as a society, through inspirational talks with filmmakers, writers, poets, musicians, philosophers. It’s a ravishing mixture of sturdy voices in Spain. We look ahead to listening to their take our world at the moment, the worth of making photographs. Then one angle to be tackled is nostalgia and its hazard. The consolation and inherent inventive laziness that goes with sticking to formulation, properly know ideas – be it in literature or movie.
It can be fascinating additionally to listen to Bertrand Bonello who masterfully has been avoiding nostalgia, its consolation and security in his work.
Another novelty this yr is the brand new FINDE trade assembly about Financing, Investment and Independent Filmmaking, co-organised with Madrid Audiovisual Cluster. Could you summarise what it’s about?
This is an extension of ECAM’s academic curriculum. We needed to supply sensible instruments to hone the abilities of our rising expertise in financing. We see producers surrounded by nice expertise and but struggling to finance their initiatives. So hopefully this can be an illuminating session. We’ve designed this initiative with French producer primarily based in Madrid Sophie Erbs and Teresa Azcona, director of Madrid Audiovisual Cluster. We see it is a pilot yr and we are going to consider afterwards this system’s formulation.
On a private degree, how does it really feel to run the most well liked new Spanish co-pro market?
It feels soooo good. Last yr, we had a clean canvas which wanted to be painted. We didn’t know if it could be summary, or not. This yr, we reaped the nice seeds from the primary version, and our workforce is stronger. The entire is much more coherent as a result of we had extra time to design our program. But our focus remains to be to have a good time by means of a really pleasant, targeted skilled occasion, with a excessive normal of initiatives and friends.
A Decorous Woman
“A Decorous Woman”
