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After final 12 months’s golden blueprint which set the roadmap for coming years, the second ECAM Discussion board Co-Manufacturing 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 virtually twice as many this 12 months to bid for a spot on the trade platform spearheaded by Madrid’s prestigious ECAM movie faculty.

Greater 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 sequence in improvement.

Amongst 15 programming reps from Toronto, Locarno, Rotterdam, Thessaloniki, London to Marrakech fests are first-time attendees Christian Jeune from the Cannes Movie Pageant and the Berlinale’s Michael Stuetz.

On the gross sales entrance, the dozen registered corporations vary from Le Pacte, Goodfellas, Co-Manufacturing Workplace, Movie Boutique and Charades to Spain’s art-film specialist Bendita Movie Gross sales. At press time, all titles have been out there for decide up together with the subsequent bets by scorching skills Mihai Mincan (“To the North”) and Francisca Alegría (“The Cow Who Sang a Music into the Future”) and the anticipated debuts by Nadine Luque, Claudia Estrada Tarascó and Irati Gorostidi Agirretxe.

Highlights of this 12 months’s beefed-up program of talks and trade occasions embrace a masterclass with French auteur Bertrand Bonello, a presentation of the Göteborg Movie Pageant’s trade reference Nostradamus report by Johanna Koljonen, conversations with prime Spanish writers, poets and philosophers over The State of Issues 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 12 months with Conecta Fiction & Leisure, which runs per week later in Cuenca, close to Madrid, and with ACAU and Proimagenes Colombia, the film-TV state companies in Uruguay and Colombia.

ECAM Discussion board closes Friday June 13 with an awards ceremony. 

On this interview, ECAM Discussion board coordinator Alberto Valverde unpacks his 2025 program.

How does it really feel to stage ECAM Discussion board a couple of weeks after a stellar 12 months for Spanish movies and co-productions in Cannes?

It was an distinctive 12 months for Spanish cinema. Having two filmmakers [Oliver Laxe and Carla Simón] in essential competitors, a spot normally taken by Pedro Almodovar, was historic. Their respective movies “Sirât” and “Romería” are worldwide co-productions that illustrate the explanation why we exist. Certainly final 12 months the 2 producers of “Sirât”– Andrea Queralt and Xavi Font – got here to ECAM to current a brand new challenge in the course of capturing their movie in Morocco. Xavi submitted Álvaro Pulpeiro’s “Petróleo” on the Movies to Come and Andrea got here with Silvina Schnicer’s “La Quinta” for The Final Push. Then Elástica’s María Zamora, producer of Romería, was right here as effectively. The profitable groups from Cannes are additionally right here.

Lately we’ve witnessed how the Spanish audiovisual trade has morphed and internationalized, with established and new expertise working at house and globally. Earlier than launching ECAM Discussion board, we’ve been in fixed dialogue with all these Spanish gamers and expertise, exactly to attach them to the world and foster new collaborations.

Final 12 months you had an virtually clear sweep with seven out of eight works in progress occurring to premiere at A festivals. That was fairly a coup…

Sure, we’re over the moon. We need to consolidate our works in progress as a related area to find gems for the 12 months forward, and people outcomes assist lots. 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 Discussion board. Final 12 months’s Final Push titles included very totally 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.

Might you reiterate what made your 2024 inaugural occasion a blueprint for the editions to return and description the important thing novelties this 12 months?

Among the finest issues final 12 months was to get the suggestions from worldwide friends who have been dazzled by the standard of the initiatives. Then on the Spanish aspect, professionals have been equally impressed by the highest names within the worldwide delegation. This 12 months the record of worldwide delegates might be even stronger, for example with the presence of Christian Jeune from Cannes and Michael Stuetz from the Berlinale.

The problem for the primary 5 editions is probably 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 total organisation. Then clearly as that is the second 12 months, 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 subsequent editions.

What number of delegates will attend this 12 months from what number of territories?

The numbers replicate the elevated curiosity in our occasion. This 12 months we now have 730 accredited professionals, versus round 400 in 2024. It’s been an exponential development from final 12 months. Then we had about 50 worldwide friends in 2024 and this 12 months we’re internet hosting 70 folks. From Spain, we’re inviting across the similar quantity, about 70 key decision-makers. So we now have about 140 invited friends for the conferences. International locations represented (between 18-20) span from Spain to Canada, U.S., France, Romania, Estonia and Latin America. It was maybe unintentional – based mostly on the initiatives chosen – however we could have a powerful European and Latin American presence this 12 months.

With a extra formidable program, what sort of finances do you might have and might you touch upon the importance of your new institutional partnerships?

I received’t element our particular finances but it surely hasn’t modified drastically. Our essential key companions are the identical: ECAM Basis Comunidad de Madrid. Then Matadero, Movie Madrid, Madrid Movie Workplace, 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, Sequence Mania and have new strategic partnerships with Conecta Fiction & Leisure and the important thing audiovisual companies ACAU in Uruguay and Proimagenes in Colombia. For the ECAM faculty and Basis, facilitating these collaborations are simply pure to trade expertise and create a bridge between Europe and Latin America. We hope to announce new partnerships this fall.

This 12 months you’ve opened your Pitch classes to worldwide initiatives. What further challenges did you meet in your choice course of?

Our essential purpose is to advertise Spanish cinema internationally and appeal to worldwide expertise to work with Spain. We perceive that presenting a range, and making thrilling worldwide skills coexist with promising Spanish initiatives is a greater option 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’re extraordinarily pleased with the choice and will simply have picked one other 15 initiatives that couldn’t make the reduce. We needed to make some tough selections.

I’d like so as to add that within the quick part, final 12 months we had solely six nationwide initiatives. This 12 months we now have 11 initiatives – six from our personal coaching program and 5 worldwide shorts via 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 characteristic 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 basic fiction works. The initiatives reveal a ardour for difficult the boundaries of genres and storytelling, a powerful dedication to inventive threat and authorship. We like to see loads of first and second movies with tremendous sturdy visions, which can 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’s also a extra numerous choice in relation to illustration each within the narrative and creators themselves, so, sure, it’s a step ahead. One thing fairly exceptional once we have a look at the Movies to Come, is the truth that the 15 initiatives got here out of three totally different choice processes, and once we ended up with the ultimate record, we realised all have been directed by ladies (with one co-direction).

Might you remark in your trade talks and high-brow cycle of conversations?

The trade talks concentrating on the 700+ accredited professionals, concentrate on the challenges within the audiovisual trade proper now, and plenty of classes supply sensible instruments and ideas, about financing, co-production promotion. Our purpose is to strengthen Spanish cinema and we’re completely satisfied 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 vital to take a look at the place we’re going, how every sector within the trade is integrating the challenges, each inside and outdoors the sector. 

Then the three Conversations about The State of Issues [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 necessary 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 stupendous mixture of sturdy voices in Spain. We stay up for listening to their take our world right this 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, effectively know ideas – be it in literature or movie.
Will probably be attention-grabbing additionally to listen to Bertrand Bonello who masterfully has been avoiding nostalgia, its consolation and security in his work.

One other novelty this 12 months is the brand new FINDE trade assembly about Financing, Funding and Unbiased Filmmaking, co-organised with Madrid Audiovisual Cluster. Might you summarise what it’s about?

That is an extension of ECAM’s academic curriculum. We wished 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 might be an illuminating session. We’ve designed this initiative with French producer based mostly in Madrid Sophie Erbs and Teresa Azcona, director of Madrid Audiovisual Cluster. We see this can be a pilot 12 months and we’ll consider afterwards this system’s system.

On a private degree, how does it really feel to run the most well liked new Spanish co-pro market?

It feels soooo good. Final 12 months, we had a clean canvas which wanted to be painted. We didn’t know if it will be summary, or not. This 12 months, we reaped the great seeds from the primary version, and our group is stronger. The entire is much more coherent as a result of we had extra time to design our program. However our focus continues to be to have a good time via a really pleasant, centered skilled occasion, with a excessive commonplace of initiatives and friends.