The Marché du Film has invited Spain to be the next guest of honour country at the 76th edition of the Cannes Film Festival. The Spanish participation will be organised by the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Tourism, through ICEX España Exportación e Inversiones, and by the Ministry of Culture and Sports through the ICAA (Institute of Cinematography and Audiovisual Arts).
This activity is also the result of collaboration with the Secretary of State for Telecommunications and Digital Infrastructures, within the “Spain, Audiovisual Hub of Europe” Plan.
The mention of Spain as the guest of honour country is also a recognition of the Spanish audiovisual sector, which is reaping great international success. The most recent in the film sector are starring 20,000 species of bees, which wins three awards at the 73rd Berlinale, and Pacificction and As bestas, which triumph at the César Awards for French cinema, successes that add to those won in 2022 by Alcarràs by Carla Simón (Golden Bear 2022 at the Berlinale) and El limpiaparabrisas by Alberto Mielgo (Best Animated Short at the Oscars 2022).
Spain is the second country to receive this privilege after India became the guest of honour country in 2022.
“We are very proud to have Spain as the guest of honour in this very special edition”, declares Guillaume Esmiol, executive director of the Marché du Film. “For my first year directing the Marché, I am especially grateful and excited to have such a creative country at the 2023 edition. Spain will have a great presence in the Marché du Film programs and is looking forward to sharing with the entire professional film community its ambitious plans to support international co-production and strengthen Spain as one of the main audiovisual hubs in Europe”.
The Marché du Film is the most important international professional meeting of the film industry. Organised within the Cannes Film Festival from May 16 to 24, 2023, it brings together 12,500 professionals from the audiovisual industry in Cannes each year to present around 4,000 films and projects in development in 33 screening spaces.
Among Cinema from Spain’s programming for the 2023 edition in the context of Spain as the guest of honour country, the Spanish Spotlight stands out within the Producers Network, the meeting for production professionals that brings together more than 400 producers from all over the world. Participation in the Producers Network is reserved for professionals who have produced in the last four years at least one feature film that has been commercially released in theatres or on a content platform, ensuring the highest level of agreements. This initiative is part of the promotion that Cinema from Spain is giving to international co-production in the main international markets.
In addition, Spanish projects will have a prominent presence within the Goes to Cannes programme. The Marché du film will dedicate one of these spaces to Spanish films in the post-production phase that are seeking their international premiere at festivals of recognised prestige, as well as distribution and sales beyond the borders of Spain.
Spanish professionals from the animation, documentary and extended reality sectors will also have a privileged place in the different networking activities, round tables, workshops and conferences at Animation Day, Cannes Doc and Cannes XR respectively. The Cannes Next and ImpACT programs, which look to the future of the entertainment sector and the environmental impact and sustainability respectively, will have the participation of Spanish experts in each area.
The agreement extends to the Short Film Corner, whose mission is to promote connections between professionals in the direction, production, dissemination or promotion of short films, and in which the collection of Spanish school short films will stand out, also welcoming new creators and new creators who start their careers in the short film format and also give emerging talent the opportunity to access the market as a boost to the internationalization of their work and participate in training programs during their stay in Cannes.
Lastly, the “Spain, Audiovisual Hub of Europe” Plan will be presented at a conference that will take place at the Palais Stage. This country plan has 15 measures grouped around four axes, to promote national audiovisual production, attract investment and economic activity, as well as strengthen companies in the sector, improving their competitiveness through digitization and support for talent, reducing the gender gap. In 2022, the start-up of the centralized information point, the launch of the one-stop investor service window and the modification of the tax incentives regime for audiovisual production stand out.
Cinema from Spain is the umbrella brand created by ICEX España Exportación e Inversiones to promote the Spanish film industry at international meetings and present the attributes of our cinema in terms of talent, experience and new productions to the international film industry.
ICEX España Exportación e Inversiones is a public business entity, part of the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Tourism, whose mission is to promote the internationalization of Spanish companies to contribute to their competitiveness and add value to the economy as a whole, as well as attract Foreign investment in Spain.
The Institute of Cinematography and Audiovisual Arts (ICAA) is an autonomous body attached to the Ministry of Culture and Sports that plans support policies for the film industry and audiovisual production. Its functions include the encouragement, promotion and management of Spanish cinematographic and audiovisual activities in its three aspects of production, distribution and exhibition, with the objectives of developing creation, increasing production and favouring the distribution of Spanish productions.
State Secretariat for Telecommunications and Digital Infrastructures, belonging to the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Digital Transformation, is the body responsible for coordinating and executing the actions contained in the ‘ Spain Audiovisual Hub of Europe’ Plan.
