This year – the one in which the coronavirus pandemic reared its ugly head – Spain’s Film and Audiovisual Arts Institute (ICAA), which answers to the Spanish Ministry of Culture, has handed out a total of €889,000 to support the development and the organisation of film festivals in the country. This sum represents a €249,000 increase compared to last year, meaning that 62 events are benefiting from this very necessary support, or double the number that received such backing in 2019. This 20.3% rise in the amount compared to that of the previous tax year is geared towards bolstering the development of the events and helping them adjust to the tough situation faced by the sector during the global health crisis.

(L'article continue plus bas - Inf. publicitaire)

Therefore, the 17^th Seville European Film Festival (which kicks off this Friday, 6 November – see the news) is receiving €117,700; the Seminci in Valladolid, which came to a close on Saturday (see the news), gets €100,000; the storied Gijón Film Festival, which will mainly (and for the first time) unspool online this year, owing to the restrictions imposed by the pandemic, has been given €83,100; and the Spanish Film Academy, which is responsible for handing out the Goya Awards, will be granted €60,000 to help with the organisation of said ceremony. Meanwhile, L’Alternativa – the Barcelona Independent Film Festival receives €23,700, and the recent Abycine (including its great Lanza audiovisual market – see the news) is being aided to the tune of €23,500.

Other events demonstrating a clear risk-taking attitude also secured backing, such as the Punto de Vista documentary festival, which is held in Pamplona and which got €18,000; the 35^th Mostra de València – Mediterranean Film Festival (which wrapped just a few days ago – see the news), which was granted €7,000; Cinema Jove in Valencia, which has pushed back its dates from June to December (between 5 and 9), which got €6,600; DocumentaMadrid, a spotlight on non-fiction film that unspools in the Spanish capital, which secured €18,000; and Zinebi, another showcase homing in on the boldest and most avant-garde documentaries, which is happening later this month (13-20 November) in Bilbao and which pocketed €12,000.

Other festivals that are receiving support from the ICAA are: D’A, the arthouse film gathering that is usually held in Barcelona (although it was one of the first this year to make the leap online), with €11,500; DocsBarcelona, focusing primarily on documentaries and robust industry activities (which also declared its intention to go online a short while later, also in May), with €14,700; the 12^th Weird Market, for animation, video games and new media (based in Segovia), with €17,500; the 18^th Inedit – International Music Documentary Film Festival, with €12,000; the tenth Atlàntida Film Fest, which, as every year, was held successfully on the island of Majorca and on the platform that organises it, Filmin, with €12,000; and the 28^th Barcelona International Women’s Film Festival, with €10,300.

It is worth remembering that last May, events such as the San Sebastián Film Festival (€1,100,000), the Málaga Film Festival (€100,000), the Huelva Ibero-American Film Festival (€161,460) and the International Fantastic Film Festival of Catalonia in Sitges (€125,000) already received direct support for various different cultural organisations and entities in Spain via a royal decree issued by the Ministry of Culture.

The full list of the festivals in receipt of this support (in Spanish) and the remaining terms and conditions of the ruling of 23 October 2020 can be found here.