We were at the San Sebastian Festival where we held a networking event, Canary Islands in Focus, with the participation of Canarian companies, which was another example of teamwork between public institutions and the private sector.
We also participated in Ventana Sur, the largest audiovisual content market in Latin America, which was for the first time in Montevideo, Uruguay. The Canary Islands had a significant presence with a large stand in a prominent location, where, throughout the week, around thirty meetings were held with production companies, journalists, and other industry stakeholders from around the world. Along with the Canary Islands Film team, a delegation of four Canary Islands companies traveled as part of the trade mission organized by the Canary Islands Audiovisual Cluster.
We had two events within the market: a co-production meeting “Canary Islands Audiovisual Ecosystem”, where Natacha Mora, coordinator of Canary Islands Film, and Genoveva Ayala, manager of the Canary Islands Audiovisual Cluster, presented the advantages that the Islands offer for international production and co-production. And the presentation: ‘isLABentura Canarias, scriptwriting laboratory: creating bridges with Latin America’, María José Manso, director of the laboratory, was accompanied by Ignacio Rey, president of FIPCA – Ibero-American Federation of Film and Audiovisual Producers and Virginia Hinze, CEO of the Uruguayan production company U-Films, and the keys to the program were revealed as well as a new alliance that will strengthen ties between screenwriters from Latin America and the Canary Islands.
Already this year, the Canary Islands participated in the Spanish pavilion at the European Film Market in Berlin, with Spain being the country of honor for this edition. We held an event promoting films made in the Canary Islands, the talent and businesses of the islands. The event’s theme was “Fall in love with Canarian cinema. It’s a Match!”, aimed at strengthening the image of the Canary Islands as a creative territory. The event was attended by nearly two hundred people, including around thirty professionals from the islands.
We also participated in Series Mania, one of the leading events for international television content, where the series Weiss & Morales, produced by Portocabo with the participation of ZDF and TVE, was presented. The series, shot entirely in the Canary Islands, was part of the official selection.
At the Country Sessions, Canary Islands Film presented the financing tools available to the islands. Specifically, it shared the keys to accessing the regional government’s minority co-production fund. The canarian talent was also present in other sections of the co-production market: Alberto Gross Molo participated with the project “14 de marzo“, which received a 2023 script grant from the Canary Islands Government and is supported by Televisión Canaria. Arima León participated in Fiction Toolbox with his project “Tal vez“, about the love affair between writer Natalia Sosa Ayala and trapeze artist Pinito del Oro. The film also has the support of the Canary Islands Government and is now shooting in Gran Canaria, produced by SIA.
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