Institutions from Spain and abroad have set up camp at the San Sebastian Sales Office, un­derscoring their growing international ambition.

Suggesting a deeper inte­gration in its regional industry, Andalusia’s launching at San Sebastian its new brand An­dalucia Film & TV, which co-or­dinates regional orgs. It in­cludes the Andalusia Film Commission.

“Regional film and TVindus­tries have a certain weight in the market, so we need to keep a permanent contact with other organisations abroad,” says AFC director Carlos Rosado.

AFC is presenting at San Se­bastian the first edition of the Seville Intl. Locations Expo, which will run in 2009.

Another umbrella, Objetivo Canarias, a joint overseas pro­motion initiative launched by the Canary Islands at San Sebastian last year,hosts ten local production companies in town to tubthump film projects.

Objetivo’s main focus, ho­wever, will be on informing the international market about the Reservation of Canary Investment, which allows taxpayers to earmark part of their payments for film and TVinvestment, says Aaron Alvarez, executive at Canarias Cultura en Red. RIC accumulates up to $6 billion in tax payments, which can be ploughed into film and TV or other sectors.

With an already consolida­ted presence at international events, the Madrid Film Commission is promoting Madrid initiatives such as toon fest Animadrid or public DTT channel esMadridtv’s documentaries catalogue, says MFC director Manuel Soria. Film subsidies from Madrid could well follow soon.

For the first time ever, the Galician Audiovisual Consor­tium is channeling its San Se­bastian presence through a Sales Office stand.

Last year’s San Sebastian edition was especially fruitful for the GAC.

It unveiled a new Galicia-Brazil co-production film fund, and SempreCinema, a risk equity joint venture with Caixa Galicia. SempreCinema’s first investment, The Blind Sun­flowers, has run up a strong $3 million in Spain.

GAC’s manager Ignacio Varela’s choc-a-bloc agenda at Sales Office includes a meeting with GAC’s Brazilian co-production fund partners.

Film export board Cinema do Brasil is once more back at the Sales Office. Aiming to ramp up Brazilian pic exports and co-pro­ductions, CDB is energetically tightening links with overseas markets. “We’re seeking to cre­ate more film funds teaming with other Spanish regions,” explains CDB’s exec Rachel Monteiro.

Argentina’s INCAAFilm Insti­tute, the biggest international promotor of Argentine, is also backing Argentine filmmakers from its stand at the Sales Office. Latin America’s most prolific film industry, the Argentine cinema is represented by Bernardo Ber­geret, INCAA’s popular manager of international affairs.

Unefa, the Italian film ex­porters’ union, bows a booth at San Sebastian. Under prexy Paola Corvino, it handles nearly 80% of Italian film/TV produc­tion over the last 60 years.

Spanish public institution CESyA was created to promote a wider accessibility in film and TV for people with disabilities, through cinema subtitling and audio description.

Its intense activity at this year’s fest includes a stand and a round table turning on ac­cessibility.

“There’s a potential market of three million people. Spain’s new film law offers subsidies for tech­nical aids to reach them", says CESyA’s Angel Garcia Crespo.

Likewise, Media Antena Euskal Herria, the Basque office of European Media Pro­gram, says that Media ploughed $9.5 million into the Spanish film industry last year. At San Sebastian, it’s organi­zing a presentation of Media Mundus and Media Intl. which aim to to extend the Media pro­gram to countries outside the E.U. Aviva Silver, head of Media, attends the fest.

There’s a lot of expectation about the new role pubcaster RTVE is taking in the interna­tional support of Spanish films since producer Gustavo Ferra­da took over at the helm of TVE’s film investment.

“This is changing a lot. Film is now one of our biggest com­mercial bets,” says Miguel Be­nitez, TVE subdirector, marke­ting operations.

One of TVE’s latest pickups is period palace skullduggery thriller The El Escorial Conspi­racy, toplining Julia Ormond, which makes its international market debut as a complete film in San Sebastian.
Emiliano de PABLOS