Six films from Mexico, Costa Rica, Chile, Uruguay and Argentina will be presented in Films in Progress on 22 and 23 September at the coming San Sebastian Festival.

A tiro de piedra (Mexico), by Sebastián Hiriart; Agua fría de mar (Costa Rica-France), by Paz Fábrega; Lucía (Chile), by Niles Jamil Atallah; Norberto apenas tarde (Uruguay), by Daniel Hendler; Rompecabezas (Argentina-France), by Natalia Smirnoff and La vida útil (Uruguay), by Federico Veiroj, are the six movies selected for the 16th edition of Films in Progress, the aid programme for Latin American films organised twice yearly by the San Sebastian Festival and the Rencontres Cinémas d'Amérique Latine de Toulouse.

The number of participants has duplicated in comparison with last year at San Sebastian. We have received 115 projects from 21 countries against the 64 titles from 20 countries aspiring for selection in 2008. From the projects received, we have selected six films to compete for prizes helping them to complete their productions.

The following awards will be granted at Films in Progress 16:

• The Films in Progress Industry Award: Best Digital, Kodak (división de cine profesional), Mediapro, Molinare Madrid, No Problem Sonido, Technicolor Entertainment Services Spain and Titra Film will jointly assume the post-production of a selected film until achieving an English subtitled 35mm print.

• The TVE Award, Carrying 60,000 euros and consisting of the purchase of the broadcasting rights for one of the selected films.

• The Casa de América Award for Aid to the Post-Production of Latin American Films, carrying 10,000 euros (gross).

Plus:

• Films participating in Films in Progress have access to international diffusion on the Instituto Cervantes world network.

Films in Progress, a joint initiative between San Sebastian Festival and the Rencontres Cinémas d’Amérique Latine in Toulouse, endeavours to facilitate the completion of rigorously selected feature films which, though completed, are having difficulty finding their way into the post-production stage, by screening them for a group of professionals, principally from the cross-border domain, who may be able to contribute to their completion.

This endeavour involves two yearly get-togethers at two different festivals (Toulouse in March and San Sebastian in September) offering feature films marked by the stamp of singularity and independence blocked at the production stage the opportunity to exist at festivals and in cinemas thanks to meetings with movie professionals in two complementary European countries.

Members of the different links in the chain leading to the release of these films are invited to discover them in ideal conditions with a view to their making a decisive contribution to the success of these projects. We propose a place of direct exchange with professionals and institutions as a decisive step towards them being able to reach the audience.

By involving film professionals capable of contributing to their post-production, and by encouraging distributors and promoters to diversify their offer, to reserve a space for as yet marginalized movie continents, San Sebastian and Toulouse hope to achieve, and to develop with as much pragmatism and efficiency as possible, respect for and promotion of cultural diversity based on a spirit of solidarity and cooperation.