Fier de la richesse des longs métrages documentaires espagnols, l’ICEX Trade and Investment, ainsi que l’ICAA Institute of Cinematography and Audiovisual Arts, en partenariat avec ZINEBI – Bilbao International Festival of Documentary et en collaboration avec le Festival international du film de Gijón (FICX), sont ravis de présenter un showcase espagnol exceptionnel. Quatre projets en phase finale de production, sur le point d’entrer dans le circuit des festivals, prêts à être distribués, qui révèlent la pluralité des cinéastes de documentaires espagnols.
Cannes Docs
Showcase Espagne
Dimanche 21 mai | 11:45 - 13:00 CET
Projects
A Tree is a Tree
Original title: Un arbre és un arbre
Directed by: Carlos MARQUES-MARCET, Aleix PLADEMUNT
Produced by: Rafa MOLÉS (SUICAfilms, Spain)
Country of production: Spain
Runtime: 72'
Expected release: June, 2024
Production stage: Post-production
Budget: €173.700 (87,9% in place)
1st feature: No
Looking for: Festivals, Sales Agents And Distributors, Gap Financing, Buyers
Synopsis:
Human are a plague. We are the specie with the strongest colonizing longing of our planet. ‘A tree is a tree’ is a journey between the most unspoiled piece of land on the planet and the oldest tree in the world. In the film the images talk to who watches. The spectator is the object. The pictures the subject. A no human voice tell us that what we see is so partial that it barely close to reality.
Director’s profile:
Carlos Marques-Marcet is a director, writer and editor from Barcelona. Degree in Audiovisual Communication (Pompeu Fabra University of Barcelona, 2006) and at UCLA’s School of Film and TV in Los Angeles.
Filmography:
_ ‘10,000 km’ (2014). Fiction film. Best director and best film at the Malaga Spanish Film Festival. Goya for best new director.
_ ‘Terra firme’ (2017). Fiction film. Awarded at SXSW and at the Rotterdam International Film Festival.
_ ‘Los días que vendrán’ (2019). Fiction film. Biznaga de Oro for best film and silver for best direction at the Malaga Film Festival.
_ ’La mort de Guillem’ (2020). Fiction film. Malaga International Film Festival. Gaudí Award and Berlanga Award for the best film.
In recent years, Carlos Marqués-Marcet has directed several fiction series: ‘En el corredor de la muerte’ (Movistar+, 2019). ’En casa’ (HBO, 2020) and ’Escenario 0’ (HBO, 2020).
Co-Director’s profile:
Aleix Plademunt studied Technical Engineering and in 2003 he graduated in photography at the UPC, Barcelona. During the following years, he has worked on countless personal photographic projects. Since 2003 he has participated in more than sixty exhibitions. Stand out ‘Matter’ at the MACBA Museum (Barcelona, 2021), the exhibition ‘Almost There’ at IMA Gallery (Tokyo, 2015) and Le Bal’s (Paris, 2013) and ‘Espectadores’ in Waltman Ortega Gallery (Miami, 2013). He has received several awards and invitations to artist residencies. As well as the Botín Foundation Plastic Arts Scholarship (2015), PhotoEspaña Revelation Award (2015) and Tokyo Wonder Site/El Ranchito Residency in Mexico City (2015). He has published 6 books: ‘Movimientos de Suelo’ (2011), ‘Almost There’ (2013), ‘森下 Morishita’ (2017), ‘Un Passaggio’ (2017), ‘Iberia’ (2019) e ‘Intempèries – Hinterlands’ (2021).
Producer’s profile:
Rafa Molés is director and producer. Co-founder, along with Pepe Andreu, of SUICAfilms in 2013. His works have been awarded or selected in competitions such as Quinzaine des Réalisateurs, San Sebastian Film Festival, Warsaw, TIFF Toronto or Tokyo FF, among others.
Outstanding filmography:
_ ‘El agua’ (2022) by Elena López Riera.Premiere at the Quinzaine des Réalisateurs.
_’La mort de Guillem’ (2020) by Carlos Marques- Marcet. Premiere at the Malaga International Film Festival.
_’Lobster Soup’ (2020). Documentary directed by Pepe Andreu and Rafa Molés. Premiere at the San Sebastian Film Festival.
_’Wonderful losers. A different world’ (2017) Documentary by Arünas Matelis. Award for best documentary in Warsaw and Minsk.
_ ‘Five days to dance’ (2014). Documentary by Pepe Andreu and Rafa Molés. Premiered at DocBarcelona and selected at the San Sebastian Festival, among others.
Itoiz Summer Sessions
Original title: Itoiz Udako Sesioak
Directed by: Larraitz ZUAZ
Produced by: Ainhoa ANDRAKA, Zuri GOIKOETXEA (Doxa Producciones, Spain)
Country of production: Spain
Runtime: 100'
Expected release: September, 2023
Production stage: Editing
Budget: €450.000 (90% in place)
1st feature: Yes
Looking for: Gap Financing, Sales Agents / Distributors, Buyers, Festivals, Co-Producers, Strategic Guidance.
Synopsis:
The discovery of some unpublished recordings leads Juan Carlos, leader of ITOIZ, to ponder the dissolution of the band at the height of their success, after having adopted a more accessible pop style which he now disowns. Juan Carlos begins a cathartic journey to the essence of the band, reliving their beginnings in the 70s as a progressive rock group in Mutriku, in an attempt to reconcile with the past.
Director’s profile:
Immersed in the audiovisual world since 2003, Larraitz currently combines her work as an executive producer and director at BEGIRA PRODUKZIOAK with a more cinematic facet focused on documentary language and music videos, working as a director, editor, and screenwriter. Her first documentary works were situated in a social framework, portraying two of the most important labor struggles that occurred in the Basque Country after Franco’s regime with « »Nosotras, mujeres de Euskalduna » » and « »163 días, la huelga de Bandas » ». Later, she delved into a more artistic environment with projects such as « »Hilos de tiempo » » and « »Ekilibrismoaren artea » ».
Her passion for music and music video language has led Larraitz to direct more creative projects and fully immerse herself in the history of one of the most iconic groups in the Basque Country during the 1980s, the rock band ITOIZ.
Producer’s profile:
Doxa is a production company based in Bilbao, Spain specializing in documentary films. Some of our films are Asier AND I (Asier ETA biok, Amaia & Aitor Merino, 2015), INLAND (MESETA, Juan Palacios, 2019), FANTASIA (Aitor Merino, 2021), CABEZA Y CORAZÓN (Ainhoa Andraka and Zuri Goikoetxea), ABOVE 592 METRES (Maddi Barber, 2018) and IN A NEARBY FIELD (Laida Lertxundi and Ren Ebel, 2023). They have been screened and awarded at numerous film festivals such as SSIFF, CPH:DOX, Bafici, Visions du Réel, FICX, FICG, Pesaro Film Festival, or Festival de Málaga. Currently, we are producing, writing and editing the film « ITOIZ UDAKO SESIOAK » (Larraitz Zuazo), coproducing « CAIGAN LAS ROSAS BLANCAS » (Albertina Carri) with Gentil Cine (Argentina), El Borde (Argentina) and Punta Colorada (Brazil) and developing the documentary series CLOSE FAMILY (Ainhoa Andraka, Zuri Goikoetxea and Lucila Rodríguez).
The Remnants of the Pass
Original title: Los restos del pasar
Directed by: Alfredo PICAZO, Luis SOTO
Produced by: José Alberto ANDRÉS LACASTA (DU CARDELIN STUDIO) and Daniel PEÑA BARREDO (MUBOX STUDIO)
Country of production: Spain
Runtime: 81'
Expected release: June, 2023
Production stage: Post-production
Budget: €85.000 (80% in place)
1st feature: Yes
Looking for: International Sales Agents, Distributors, Festivals, Co-Producers
Synopsis:
Antonio remembers a Holy Week from his childhood in a remote village in Córdoba. Seven days that turned him into the man he is and the child he cries to be again. A letter from an adult mind, in memory of the past.
Director’s profile:
Alfredo Picazo. Director, filmmaker and colourist Baena (Córdoba). He studied at the Escuela Universitaria de Artes TAI and specialised in Film Directing. At the same time, he trained and qualified as a certified colourist. His career includes the direction of the medium-length film « Buona Novella » (2019, Alfredo Picazo and Soto Muñoz) and the short film « Apollo ». He has also directed music videos such as « Su Mirada » and « Bruma Sobre Madriz » by the artist L’Voy. Together with Soto Muñoz, he directed the cinematography of « El Cuento del Limonero ». His first professional short film as director and scriptwriter is « Cuando se hundieron las formas puras », a free version of the story of Federico García Lorca during the Spanish Civil War. Winner at the Montreal International Film Festival as Best New Director 2022. « The remnants of the pass » (2023) is his first feature film as a director.
Co-Director’s profile:
Luis Muñoz, « Soto » Baena (Córdoba). Graduated in Cinematography and Audiovisual Arts at TAI School. Specialised in directing at TAI School.At the age of 19 he founded the collective La Huelga de las Sardinas, through which he produces most of his work.His films are characterised by the use of rural areas as a backdrop. Interested in decentralised production models, he shoots his films, imbuing them with an aura of escapism in the face of urban freneticism. His work deals with themes such as absence, memory and adolescent drifting, inevitably impregnated with traces of magical realism and phantasmagoria inherited from Latin American literature. In addition he develops his work in other audiovisual fields such as advertising production and pedagogy. Works: El Cuento del Limonero (medium-length film 2021) Circo de Pulgas (short 2022); The remnants of the pass (documentary 2023).
Producer’s profile:
J. Alberto Andrés Lacasta.Doctor in Legal Sociology (University Zaragoza) Master’s Degree in Film Scriptwriting. Master in Production and Direction of Audiovisual Content. He studied Video at the Professional School of Fine Arts. He has developed his career as a scriptwriter, script reviewer, producer and director. He has won more than 40 awards and has participated in more than 300 festivals. He is a member of Academy of Cinematographic Arts and Sciences and founder of Du Cardelin Studio. Recent Work as director, writer or producer: A woman without a shadow (2013 documentary); Behind Nazarín (2015 documentary); Epilogue to the death of Faun (2016 short); Ofra&Khalil (2019 short); Sebastienne (2021 short); Buñuel un cineasta surrealista (2021 documentary); Manolo Kabezabolo (2023 documentary); Las gemelas Atomikas (2023 documentary Movistar+);The remnants of the pass (2023 documentary).
A Film By Fernando Ruiz Vergara
Original title: Um Filme de Fernando Ruiz Vergara
Directed by: Concha BARQUERO, Alejandro ALVARADO
Produced by: Sara SÀNCHEZ, José M. RODRÍGUEZ (Azhar Media, Spain), Alejandro ALVARADO (Alvarquero, Spain)
Country of production: Spain
Runtime: 90'
Expected release: February, 2024
Production stage: Closing first cut
Budget: €182.440 (90% in place)
1st feature: No
Looking for: Co-Producers, Gap Financing, Distributors, Buyers, Sales Agents, Festivals
Synopsis:
After his death, Ruiz Vergara left dozens of sketches for films he was unable to make. The filmmaker only directed one film, Rocío, heartbreaking and fascinating, cursed after its judicial censorship in the early years of Spanish democracy. Since then, his projects remained in the imagination. In Um filme de Fernando Ruiz Vergara we take up again the films dreamed by Fernando to film them, from the present.
Director’s profile:
Concha Barquero and Alejandro Alvarado (Málaga, 1975) filmmakers, lecturers, researchers and programmers. They have formed a creative tandem since 2001 under the name Alvarquero. They have directed, scripted and edited a dozen films, mainly creative documentaries and experimental pieces. Among these works, their short film Descartes (2021) and the feature film Pepe el andaluz (2012) stand out. Their works have been selected in audiovisual competitions around the world, such as the Mar del Plata International Film Festival (Argentina), European Media Art Festival of Osnabrück (Germany) or DocLisboa (Portugal) and have won numerous awards, such as the Best Spanish Documentary Award at Documenta Madrid, the Grand Prize for Spanish Cinema at Zinebi or the XXIX Andalusia Journalism Award in the audiovisual category.
Producer’s profile:
After working in the production of films, documentaries and spots for more than 10 years, producers Sara Sánchez and José M. Rodríguez founded Azhar Media in 2010, an independent production company focused on the international market, with experience in a wide range of formats (commercials, video clips, corporate,…), and with a strong focus on the international market. In addition to producing several documentaries for television (El mapa de Carlos, Amor Brujo:regreso a casa…) the exploration of new audiovisual narratives has led them to non-fiction and experimental films: La vida perfecta (in postproduction, co-production with Argentina), Um filme de Fernando Ruiz Vergara and El mar nos mira de lejos (premiere at Berlinale 2017, selected in more than 20 international film festivals).