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DISTRIBUTION Spain

Spanish cinema prepares to conquer audiences in late 2010

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One of the constants of recent years has been the almost-total concentration of Spanish movie hits in the last part of the year. For example, six of the seven best-performing films of 2009 were released between September and December and 64% of takings were amassed in those months (see news).

Autumn is the industry’s favourite season for launching its strongest productions, as seen with Agora [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
and Planet 51 [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
last year, The Orphanage [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
and Rec [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Jaume Balagueró, Paco Plaza
interview: Julio Fernández
film profile
]
in 2007 and Alatriste [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
and Pan’s Labyrinth [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
in 2006.

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There is every indication that this year will be no exception, judging by the films awaiting release in the next few months. This is just what Spanish cinema needs after the first eight months of 2010 brought results ranging from disappointingly mediocre (For the Good of Others [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
, Paper Birds [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
, Unresolved Sexual Tension [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
) to unmitigated flops (Room In Rome [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Julio Medem
film profile
]
, The Valdemar Legacy [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
, Rabia [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
), with the sole exception being the excellent performance by Nacho García Velilla’s Death To Ugly People [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
(see news).

This new crop of films have in common an openness towards the international market, either through co-productions, their visual and narrative approach or their international impact. All sections of the industry have repeatedly insisted that this international openness is the key to Spanish cinema’s future. It is the foundation of works by established directors (Álex de la Iglesia, Icíar Bollain, Fernando León) and young talents (Rodrigo Cortés, Eduardo Chapero-Jackson, Eugenio Mira, Achero Mañas, Guillem Morales, Fernando González Molina, Borja Cobeaga), as well as various majority co-productions by eminent filmmakers such as Woody Allen and Alejandro González Iñárritu.

Between now and the end of the year, 13 high-profile Spanish productions will be released. These include Allen’s You Will Meet A Tall, Dark Stranger (August 28); Cobeaga’s No Controles (December 24 – see news); Andrucha Waddington’s Lope (September 3 – see news); Mañas’s Todo Lo Que Tu Quieras (“Everything You Want”, September 10 – see news); Cortés’s Buried (October 1 – see news); Mira’s Agnosia (October 8 – see news); León’s Amador (October 8 – see news); Julia’s Eyes by Morales (October 29 – see news); González Molina’s Tres Metros Sobre El Cielo (“Three Metres Above Heaven”, December 3 – see news); González Iñárritu’s Biutiful [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
(December 3 – see news); and Chapero-Jackson’s Verbo (December 17). Further titles include De la Iglesia’s A Sad Trumpet Ballad (see news), and Bollaín’s Even the Rain [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Icíar Bollaín
film profile
]
(see news), whose final release dates have yet to be confirmed.

This solid batch of titles represent the best qualities of contemporary Spanish cinema: its variety (comedies, genre films, social dramas), impressive technical accomplishment and visual and narrative innovation, which continues to attract the interest of major festivals (Toronto has selected eight of these films and De la Iglesia will vie for the Golden Lion at Venice).

Added to this list is a series of more modest productions, which could nevertheless throw up some pleasant surprises. These include Manuel Carballo’s horror film The Possession of Emma Evans (release date: September 17); Óscar Aibar’s The Great Vazquez (September 24); Bigas Luna’s Di Di Hollywood (October 15); Álex Colls’s 3D animated film The Happets (October 29); and David Pinillos’s pan-European romantic comedy Bon Appetit [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
(November 12 – see news).

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(Translated from Spanish)

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