Madrid ECAM Forum Chief Unveils Full Program

After final 12 months’s golden blueprint which set the roadmap for coming years, the second ECAM Forum Co-Production 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 abilities 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 nearly twice as many this 12 months to bid for a spot on the trade platform spearheaded by Madrid’s prestigious ECAM movie college.

More 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 collection in improvement.

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

On the gross sales entrance, the dozen registered firms vary from Le Pacte, Goodfellas, Co-Production Office, Film Boutique and Charades to Spain’s art-film specialist Bendita Film Sales. At press time, all titles have been accessible for choose up together with the subsequent bets by sizzling abilities Mihai Mincan (“To the North”) and Francisca Alegría (“The Cow Who Sang a Song 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 Film Festival’s trade reference Nostradamus report by Johanna Koljonen, conversations with high Spanish writers, poets and philosophers over The State of Things 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 & Entertainment, 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 Forum closes Friday June 13 with an awards ceremony. 

In this interview, ECAM Forum coordinator Alberto Valverde unpacks his 2025 program.

How does it really feel to stage ECAM Forum 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 primary competitors, a spot often taken by Pedro Almodovar, was historic. Their respective movies “Sirât” and “Romería” are worldwide co-productions that illustrate the explanation why we exist. Indeed 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 Films to Come and Andrea got here with Silvina Schnicer’s “La Quinta” for The Last Push. Then Elástica’s María Zamora, producer of Romería, was right here as nicely. The profitable groups from Cannes are additionally right here.

In current years we’ve witnessed how the Spanish audiovisual trade has morphed and internationalized, with established and new expertise working at residence and globally. Before launching ECAM Forum, we’ve been in fixed dialogue with all these Spanish gamers and expertise, exactly to attach them to the world and foster new collaborations.

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

Yes, we’re over the moon. We wish to consolidate our works in progress as a related house to find gems for the 12 months forward, and people outcomes assist quite a bit. It was rewarding speaking to the groups behind the works in progress and realizing it was key for them to safe sure premieres and choices that actually have been signed throughout ECAM Forum. Last 12 months’s Last Push titles included very completely different movies, from the delicate ones just like the profitable documentary “Gods of Stone” to the extra strong 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.

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

One of the most effective 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 checklist of worldwide delegates will probably be even stronger, as an 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 wish 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.

How many 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 individuals. 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. Countries represented (between 18-20) span from Spain to Canada, U.S., France, Romania, Estonia and Latin America. It was maybe unintentional – primarily based on the initiatives chosen – however we could have a powerful European and Latin American presence this 12 months.

With a extra bold program, what sort of price range do you’ve gotten and may you touch upon the importance of your new institutional partnerships?

I gained’t element our particular price range nevertheless it hasn’t modified drastically. Our primary key companions are the identical: ECAM Foundation Comunidad de Madrid. Then Matadero, Film Madrid, Madrid Film Office, 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, Series Mania and have new strategic partnerships with Conecta Fiction & Entertainment and the important thing audiovisual companies ACAU in Uruguay and Proimagenes in Colombia. For the ECAM college and Foundation, facilitating these collaborations are simply pure to alternate 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 periods to worldwide initiatives. What further challenges did you meet in your choice course of?

Our primary 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 abilities coexist with promising Spanish initiatives is a greater strategy 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 abilities however we did! We are extraordinarily proud of the choice and will simply have picked one other 15 initiatives that couldn’t make the minimize. We needed to make some tough choices.

I’d like so as to add that within the brief 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 function size slate when it comes to 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 traditional fiction works. The initiatives display a ardour for difficult the boundaries of genres and storytelling, a powerful dedication to artistic threat and authorship. We like to see a whole lot 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 can be a extra numerous choice relating to illustration each within the narrative and creators themselves, so, sure, it’s a step ahead. Something fairly outstanding once we have a look at the Films to Come, is the truth that the 15 initiatives got here out of three completely different choice processes, and once we ended up with the ultimate checklist, we realised all have been directed by ladies (with one co-direction).

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

The trade talks focusing on the 700+ accredited professionals, deal with the challenges within the audiovisual trade proper now, and lots of periods provide sensible instruments and suggestions, about financing, co-production promotion. Our purpose is to strengthen Spanish cinema and we’re blissful to carry high 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 have 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 Things [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 matters 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 wonderful mixture of sturdy voices in Spain. We sit up for listening to their take our world right now, the worth of making photographs. Then one angle to be tackled is nostalgia and its hazard. The consolation and inherent artistic laziness that goes with sticking to formulation, nicely know ideas – be it in literature or movie.
It will probably be attention-grabbing additionally to listen to Bertrand Bonello who masterfully has been avoiding nostalgia, its consolation and security in his work.

Another novelty this 12 months is the brand new FINDE trade assembly about Financing, Investment and Independent Filmmaking, co-organised with Madrid Audiovisual Cluster. Could you summarise what it’s about?

This is an extension of ECAM’s instructional curriculum. We needed to supply sensible instruments to hone the talents of our rising expertise in financing. We see producers surrounded by nice expertise and but struggling to finance their initiatives. So hopefully this will probably be an illuminating session. We’ve designed this initiative with French producer primarily based in Madrid Sophie Erbs and Teresa Azcona, director of Madrid Audiovisual Cluster. We see this can be a pilot 12 months and we are going to consider afterwards this system’s components.

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

It feels soooo good. Last 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 nice seeds from the primary version, and our workforce is stronger. The entire is much more coherent as a result of we had extra time to design our program. But our focus continues to be to have a good time via a really pleasant, targeted skilled occasion, with a excessive customary of initiatives and friends.