The Canary Islands are very present these days at the Berlin International Film Festival, the Berlinale, in an edition in which, in addition, Spain is the guest country.
Once again, the islands have their own space in the Spanish pavilion within the European Film Market - the industry section that is held every year in parallel to the festival.
For a week, more than fifty meetings have been held with professionals from all over the world, mainly producers looking for Canarian partners or interested in filming their next movies in the archipelago.
In addition, last Saturday there was an event to promote cinema made in the Canary Islands, the talent and companies of the Islands; an event attended by about two hundred people, including about thirty professionals from the Islands.
Together with the team from the audiovisual area of the Canarian Institute of Cultural Development (ICDC) and the Gran Canaria and Tenerife Film Commission, an important delegation of Canarian companies has traveled to Berlin, eight of them under the umbrella of the Canary Islands Audiovisual Cluster, on a trade mission thanks to the internationalization program of PROEXCA.
In the Country Sessions - a space in which the different territories of the world share with the attending producers the advantages they offer for audiovisual production, Canary Islands Film announced the financing tools available to the Islands.
It especially conveyed the keys to accessing the Regional Government fund for minority co-production, whose purpose is to financially support production companies from the islands to participate, with a smaller contribution, in international film projects, in order to acquire experience and credits in the global audiovisual landscape.
Island talent is also present in other sections of the co-production market: Alberto Gross Molo participates with the project 'March 14', which received a grant from the Government of the Canary Islands for the script in 2023, and has the support of Canarian Television.
In Fiction Toolbox, Arima León has been with her project 'Maybe', about the love relationship between the writer Natalia Sosa Ayala and the trapeze artist Pinito del Oro. The film also has the support of the Government of the Canary Islands.
The Award for Best Film Location in Europe, organized by the European Film Commissions Network, was finally won by the island of Frøya in Norway and the Schönbrunn Palace in Austria. The volcano of La Palma, the Tajogaite, was one of the nominees.
Canary Islands Film is the umbrella brand of the audiovisual sector of the Canary Islands, which is coordinated by the Canarian Institute of Cultural Development of the Government of the Canary Islands and which brings together all the island councils through their film offices, PROEXCA and the Canary Islands Special Zone, as well as other public and private agents; these represented by the most representative associations of the audiovisual sector of the archipelago.
For a decade, a strategy has been carried out to attract audiovisual productions and companies to the islands, as well as to promote and internationalize Canarian cinematography and talent. In addition to Berlin, the Canary Islands show their potential for the audiovisual sector in other world-class events, such as the Marché du Film in Cannes, Series Mania, the San Sebastian Film Festival or Ventana Sur.