The IsLABentura Canarias laboratory awards the script written by Guillermo Magariño, contextualized in Lanzarote, Fiesta negra with the award for Best Feature Film Script. This creation tells the story of a man who, facing his imminent death, transforms his daily environment.
Likewise, La isla de Celia, by Beatriz Arias, received the Award for Best Series Script, a portrait of a literary figure whose stay in Tenerife influenced the creation of her most famous character, a children's icon.
Both awards, granted with the collaboration of the DAMA Copyright Association, have been the best valued by the international jury of experts appointed by the organization: Silvia Arribas, Josep Gatell, Teresa Bellón, Sonia Pastor, Juan Ramón Ruiz de Somavía, and Amílcar Salatti.
The ten awards of this second edition were announced last Saturday in Jameos del Agua, in a gala that was attended by leading national, international and local producers, as well as different authorities, including Migdalia Machín, Minister of Culture of the Government of the Canary Islands, the organizing institution of this laboratory through the Canarian Institute of Cultural Development and Canary Islands Film.
With this awards ceremony, the second edition of IsLABentura Canarias comes to an end, which is consolidated as a project whose main objective is to ensure that some of these stories arouse the interest of these producers to take them to the big screen or television. Thus, at the awards ceremony, the Minister highlighted the potential of the project "as a platform to give voice to our stories, to promote Canarian culture and to keep the flame of the audiovisual industry alive in our islands".
Other awards for best series and feature film script are those awarded by Filmarket Hub, which have gone, respectively, to Malpaís, by Lidia Fraga, inspired by the wound caused by the Tajogaite volcano in La Palma; and Una suicida en Mafasca, by Maite Pérez Astorga, the story of an anti-heroine in Fuerteventura. The CIIF Market Award went to El requesito, by Juan López Salvatierra, a comedy about functional and racial diversity set in the Risco de San Nicolás, in Gran Canaria.
For their part, the Movistar+ and Music Library awards have also gone, respectively, to La isla de Celia and Fiesta negra, the latter ex aequo with Una suicida en Mafasca, by Maite Pérez Astorga, who was also recognized with the CIMA Association of Women Filmmakers and Audiovisual Media Award. Finally, the script for Calado, by Judith Alzola, received the distinction of Canary Islands Film and also the award given by the Algo en Común Foundation (Colombian script laboratory), another of the entities that collaborates with Islabentura. It tells a story about a group of women from La Palma who find refuge and strength in handicrafts.
All of them have been developed over six months within IsLABentura Canarias and have had the advice of an exquisite team of professionals, among whom are some of the best in the country. These recognitions involve financial endowment and, in several cases, their free publication on the platforms or in the catalogs of the producers that collaborate or direct participation in markets.
IsLABentura Canarias thus reaches the final stretch of its second edition, after six intense months of work, in which the participating screenwriters have written 14 stories, two for each island, which have aroused the interest of the producers and are expected to end up being made into films or television series.
Presentation of the scripts
Prior to the awards gala, on Friday 27, a pitch session took place, in which each screenwriter, individually, had the opportunity to explain their project to the group of invited producers. to propose proposals and, predictably, begin to work on contracts to purchase rights to the script for its development
Among the producers attending are Warner, Atresmedia, Movistar + or Telecinco, Mediapro Studio, Portocabo, Distinto Films, Sideral, Buendía Estudios and Ariane Garoe, from the Canarian Andrés Santana. To this are added the Canarian El Viaje Films, Volcano Films, MGC Marketing y Comunicación, La Mirada, Amissus Producciones and Garajonay
Participating screenwriters
Of the 14 scripts that have been forged this year in the laboratory, two for each island, seven are for feature films (El requesito, by Juan López Salvatierra; La hereje, by Mayte Castillo; Perro viejo, by Alejandro Cortés Calahorra; Calado, by Judith Alzola Romero; La maleta, by Goya Toledo; Fiesta negra, by Guillermo Magariños; and Una suicida en Mafasca, by Maite Pérez Astorga.
The series are Gregarias, by Fran Ventura; Canarian Horror Stories, by Indar Urrestarazu; La zafra, by Laura. J. García; Malpaís, by Lidia Fraga; Un extraño amanecer, by Sergio Granda, La isla de Celia, by Beatriz Arias; and La Guía by Juan Sánchez.
High-level tutorials
On the other hand, another of the great attractions of this laboratory also focuses on the prestigious team of tutors who collaborate in the project. Among them are Fernando León de Aranoa ('El buen patrón', /six Goyas, 'Sintiéndolo mucho', 'Los lunes al sol'); Jordi Calafí ('El Ministerio del Tiempo', 'Isabel'); Virginia Yagüe ('Los niños salvajes', Silver Biznaga Best Screenplay; 'La República'); Curro Royo ('Desaparecidos', 'Hernán'; 'Médico de Familia', 'Periodistas'); Lola Mayo ('La mujer sin piano'/Concha de Plata FSS; 'Lo que sé de Lola'/Goya nominee); and Ana Sanz Magallón (script consultant for 'Verano 1993', Gaudí Award for best screenplay and Goya nominee for best screenplay, and for 'La mujer del siglo'); and Diana Rojo ('Luimelia', 'El Ministerio del Tiempo', 'Amar es para siempre'.
IsLABentura Canarias is an initiative of the Canarian Institute of Cultural Development of the Government of the Canary Islands that has the financing of the European Union through its Next Generation Funds and the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan, managed through the call for subsidies to laboratories and incubators of the ICAA, of the Ministry of Culture and Sports.
The project has the collaboration of PROEXCA Sociedad Canaria de Fomento Económico S.A, and with the seven island councils. For the final awards and recognitions it has the collaboration of DAMA Derechos de Autor de Medios Audiovisuales, Filmarket Hub, Movistar+, CIMA Asociación de Mujeres Cineastas y de Medios Audiovisuales, Canary Islands International Film Market and Music Library. Other essential collaborators are the Instituto Cervantes and the Audiovisual Cluster of the Canary Islands.
