Spanish Producers Featured at Berlin’s Country in Focus 

Country in Focus: Spain at the Forefront, the European Film Market’s 2025 territory highlight, cuts two ways. TV will be spotlighted Feb. 17 in a Berlinale Series Market double-backed session, Spanish Thrillers, showcasing to works-in-progress titles, and Spanish Connection, where five projects are pitched to an industry audience.

For film, a Producers’ Showcase on Feb. 14 has 10 figures presenting their company and current projects at the Producers Hub.  Another 10 producers form part of the Visitors Program at the Berlinale Co-Production Market.

For an analysis of what the companies and projects say about the current state of the Spanish film industry, please read the Spanish cinema Spotlight in Friday’s Variety print Daily. In the meantime, here’s a drill down on the 20 companies and key titles featured at Spain in Focus.

Producers Showcase

Alba Sotorra S.L., Alba Sotorra 

Barcelona-based and now established as one of Spain’s leading and far-ranging international co-production practitioners, making films set in Syria (the Intl. Emmy nominated “The Return: Life After Isis”) to 1972 Kabul (“Sima’s Song”) and modern-day Newark Airport (“Upon Entry,” nominated for the Independent Spirit Awards). That said, sharpening its focus, the all female team of producers, led by Sotorra herself, “look for socially engaged stories, told from a gender-conscious perspective, especially those directed by women.” At Berlin, Sottora will present “Sima’s Song” and “Wolf Grrrls,” highly different but both sorority tales. 

Avalon, Emilia Fort

Founded in 1996 by CEO Stefan Schmitz, and firmly established as one of Spain’s foremost arthouse production-distribution forces, making waves when Clara Simón’s “Alcarràs” won a 2022 Berlin Golden Bear. By then Avalon had moved into TV, producing Manolo Caro’s Spain-made Netflix series, such as 2020’s notable “Somebody Has to Die.” It has continued to foster new talent, such as Elena Martín Gimeno’s “Creatura,” a Cannes Directors’ Fortnight winner, and now, to be pitched at the Focus, Ian de la Rosa’s “Iván & Hadoum,” María Herrera’s “Since You’ve Been Gone,” Salvador Sunyer’s doc-feature “Who We Are” (“Qui Som”) and narrative movie “Basarda.” 

Batiak, Clara Santaolaya

“We make independent films of international reach, knit by their auteurist focus and support for emerging talent,” says Clara Santaolaya of Batiak Films, which she launched in late 2021. Winner of a Belinale Forum Fipresci prize for “The Human Hibernation,” Batiak also emphasises extensive development, “Lena,” Santaolaya’s directorial feature debut,  having been out through 13 development programs or co-production forums. At Berlin, Santaoloya will present “Lena,” a tale of emotional renewal starring “I Am Nevenka’s” Mireia Oriol and “Old Dog,” from Alejandro Cortés Calahorra, “an ambitious psychological thriller betting on the power of Stories,” Santaolaya says. 

Escándalo Films, Aintza Serra

Launched in 2005 to provide an industry platform for films by alums from top Barcelona film school Escac, the producer of J.A. Bayona’s first shorts and a powerhouse of movie debuts, from Rafa Cortés’ “Yo” (2007) to Mar Coll’s “Three Days With the Family” (2009) and Kike Maillo’s “Eva” (2011). Now looking for new international alliances to launch our talent in a wider market, says Serra, at Berlin with a slew of titles, often coming of age tales charting a new generation’s exploration of sexuality (“Jone, Sometimes”) and obsessions such as wealth (“The Dreamers”), technology (“Share”) and appearance (“Wonder Boy”).  

Inicia Films, Valérie Delpierre

“Since 2006, we have been dedicated to nurturing a new generation of filmmakers,” says founder Valérie Delpierre. Producing Clara Simon’s “Summer 1993”  and Pilar Palomero’s “Schoolgirls,” Inicia can claim, indeed, to have helped launch the nearest Spain has come to a recent film movement: a new generation cinema, often from women, grounded in a sense of place but addressing global issues. Since then, Inicia has diversified. Delpierre may profile results in Berlin: its first animated feature, Adrià García’s “The Treasure of Barracuda,” a more mainstream comedy, Borja Cobeaga “The Aitas,” and a TV show, from “They Will Be Dust’s” Carlos Márques Marcet.

LaCima Producciones, Ricard Sales

Launched in 2016, Barcelona and Madrid-based, La Cima has produced two of the singular and acclaimed of Spanish films of late: Luis López Carrasco’s large-scope, innovative and heterodox hybrid doc feature “The Year Of The Discovery” (2020) and Albert Serra’s 2024 San Sebastian Golden Shell winner “Afternoons of Solitude,” an “extraordinary documentary,” says Variety. Upcoming features include “Face to Face,” from Javier Marco, a moving reconciliation drama, and film shoot doc feature “La Reserva,” backed by the World Cinema Fund.  

Morena Films, Rodrigo Espinel

Of Spanish independents, few have achieved the consistent range of 30-year-old Morena Films, also one of its very biggest, whether producing high profile Cannes titles (“Che,” “Everybody Knows”), blockbusters (“Champions,” “Cell 211”), streamer hits (“Below Zero), genre (“Piggy”) and doc-features (“Sons of the Clouds: The Last Colony”). At the Focus, Espinel will talk up “(“8”), from Julio Medem (“Sex and Lucía”), a belated love story set against the sweep of Spain’s modern history. Morena, say Espinel, brings “stories with a strong commercial ambition that at the same time convey a relevant message to audiences.”

Solita Films, José Esteban Alenda

Launched in 2005, Solita has found success co-producing broader audience, first-time Latin American auteurs – Berlin winner “The Awakening of the Ants,” Sundance-selected “The Fishbowl.” It is now driving into diversity in Spain, producing Catalan Jiajie Yu Wan’s “Three Ages” cross-generational study of immigration, while backing yet more new directors such as Albert Gross (“March 14th”) and now Guillermo Benet (“Yesterday I Will Love You”). “We focus on producing films that deeply connect with audiences through compelling storytelling, supporting distinctive voices that challenge conventions and bring bold narratives to global audiences,” says Alenda. 

Pecado Films, Odile Antonio Baez, José Alba

Antonio Baez and Alba will present at Berlin a potential delight, “My Parents Grand Bazaar,” the feature debut of Andalusian Rakesh Narwani, and the kind of warm-hearted true-events-based singular human story tale of social point which audiences crave. Co-written with Marina Parés (“Ane is Missing”), “Bazaar” forms part of a production build at Pecado, based in Malaga and Madrid, and a producer on Victor Erice’s “Close Your Eyes” and Sundance player “Mamacruz.” Producing “auteur-driven films with commercial ambition,” says Antonio Baez, Pecado is now diversifying into animation and minority international co-production, she adds. 

Sideral Cinema, Nuria Landete

A film producer-distributer handling often relatively young auteurs with singular films such as Enrique Buleo’s “Still Life With Ghosts,” Burnin’ Percebes’ “The Fantastic Golem Affairs,” and Pablo Maqueda’s “Girl Unknown.” Landete will use Berlin to present Sideral’s projects, including Anxos Fazáns’ “The Dashed Lines,” Pedro Collantes’ “Cheaper than Stealing,” Galician film noir “Death in Your Eyes” and Ainhoa Menéndez’s awaited “In the Flesh” a horror-cast vision of toxic love. 

Visitors Spotlight

Artefacto Films, Anna Giralt Gris

A new non-fiction force based out of Barcelona and founded in 2022 by Giralt Gris and Jorge Caballero, Artefacto aims to “research, produce, teach and curate on cinema and AI,” says Giralt Gris, having created a pioneer program on documentary and AI, OpenDocs, “to support short non-fiction films focused on exploring contemporary global issues, leveraging generative AI as a core storytelling component.” At Berlin with “Artifacts of War,” winner of the Eurodoc award at Ji.hlava New Visions Forum. Written and directed by Caballero, it examines the growing market of “non-lethal” weapons.

Good Friends, Mario Pagano

“We develop stories that explore human nature, focusing on character-driven narratives that find their place in a world of imagination where anything can happen,” Pagano says of the Madrid shingle, behind Pagano’s “Backseat Fighter” One case in point,:“Eternal Love,”in post-production, an experimental art film and “universal love story,” he says, that mixes film narrative with art and support of Madrid’s Thyssen Bornemisza National Museum and Mexico’s Jumex Museum of Contemporary art (Mexico), making it “a unique piece of cinematic art.”

Filmakers Monkeys

With offices in Madrid, Andalusia and León, and behind Oscar shortlisted live action short “Masterpiece,” a Sundance Grand Jury Prize winner, Filmakers Monkeys is also an instance of the productivity and range of even relatively new Spanish outfits. Launched in 2019 by López and Pilar Sancho, it has 20 shorts and four features under its belt, taking in the Goya-prized short “Mama” and four nominees. In Berlin with the race-themed doc-feature “Those Who Dared,” from Santiago Zannou, the López-directed short “Polígono” and “Silence Sometimes,” possibly the first animated feature with sign language.   

Materia Cinema, Inés Massa Puigsubirá, Nadine Rothschild

Co-financing Ira Sachs’ Sundance and Berlin player, “Peter Hujar’s Day,” Materia Cinema was founded by Inés Massa and Nadine Rothschild  to focus on new voices and foster long-term relationships. In a relatively short time, it has produced Locarno competition player “The Permanent Picture” by Laura Ferrés and Catalonia’s Gaudí Award winner “A Commonplace” by Celia Giraldo. At Berlin, Massa and Rothschild will be moving the Materia Cinema-Avalon potentially standout doc feature “Who We Are” (“Qui Som”), on extraordinary performing group Baro d’evel.

Pimpi & Nella Films, Txelu Medina Arbide, Gentzane Martinez de Osaba and Iratxe Fresneda

A Basque company based out of Bilbao, established in 2014, making creative documentaries such as Fresneda’s “Tetuán,” turning on migration and dislocation, and now “All the Roads are Open,” part of the Visitors spotlight. “Each film is conceived as a journey with the spectators, moving within the possibilities of the creative documentary and from an observational and participatory model. Untold stories are our strength,” says Medina.“All the Roads” is a road movie from Berlin to Spain, set in 1933, recording the trip made by dashing Swiss writer Annemarie Schwarzenbach – a figure in “Tetuán” – with photographer Marianne Breslauer to visit Spain’s Second Republic. 

Producciones La Cochera, Javier Rodríguez Espinosa

Málaga-based, moving into film-TV production in 2019 and behind 2022’s “Isosceles,” an off-beat comedy from Ignacio Nacho and Malaga Fest Zonazine best feature winner in the film students section. “Our goal is to make films that excite us, entertain us and move us, putting the creators first,” says Rodríguez Espinosa. At Spain in Focus, he will talk up his own feature, “At the Back of Life,” about a woman with five days to pay off a local loan shark, who finds hope when discovering she has a supposed half-brother from Germany. 

Ringo Media, Mireia Graell Vivancos

Working out of Barcelona, a moving force behind “Matria,” the Berlinale Panorama-selected feature debut of Alvaro Gago, a Grand Jury Prize winner at Sundance in 2018 for his same-titled short. After Patricia Franquesa’s “My Sextortion Diary,” which world premiered at SXSW last year, Graell Vivancos will return to Austin with “Fury,” about Alex, an actress, who is raped. Her brother reacts violently, consumed by rage, which doesn’t help Alex. “Through this story, we see how a paternalistic, male-centered approach alienates the victim,” says Graell Vivancos, who calls the film’s pace “relentless” and its world “hypnotic.” 

Shift Dif, Álvaro de Miguel

Headed by Alonso Merino and De Miguel, producer of “Esto no es Noruega,” a short by Alicia Álbares and Paco Cavero which played over 100 festivals, and Marc Romero’s feature “Hora y Veinte,” a full-on kidnapped child thriller, based on real events. De Miguel will present at Berlin “Forever Elsewhere,” a profile of renowned Spanish underwater photographer Rafa Fernandez Jr. and, he says, his life-changing encounter with humpback whales in the Silver Bank. It also explores “Rafa’s constant yearning for adventure, and the quiet longing for a home he’s always searching for but never quite finds.” 

Smiz & Pixel, Andrea Gautier

Founded in 2006, Madrid-based and headed by scribe-helmer-producers Juan and Andrea Gautier and Samuel Hurtado. “Rooted in academic research and over a decade of feminist practice, we see cinema as a powerful tool for awareness and collective transformation,” says Andrea Gautier. It achieved two important milestones in 2024, lead-producing a first feature film, the Juan Gautier-directed “El Aspirante” (“Fraternity”), picked up by Begin Again Films, and a first international co-pro, doc feature “Rebeladas,” with Mexico’s Perro Rojo Films. At the EFM, Gautier will pitch female empowerment tale “Ultrasonics” and hybrid doc series “Fraternity.” 

La Vida DR, Araceli Pérez-Rastrilla

Founded by Pérez-Rastrilla in 2024, La Vida is hitting the ground running mining Spain’s rich auteur genre talent. One case in point: “Money Heist” director Koldo Serra is attached to the Sitges FanPitch-selected “Salvaje,” about a female bounty hunter in Europe’s 1871 mountains and “a modern revision of the action-adventure genre with a new perspective,” says Pérez-Rastrilla. Also in the hopper: psychological horror-thriller “Strangers” (“La Cura”) the feature debut of rising woman genre star Gigi Romero, presented at Toronto’s 2024 Do It the Spanish Way! Spotlight and developed at a Sitges WomanInFan residency.