The Málaga Film Festival held the closing ceremony for its MAFIZ industry section on Friday evening. Industry-accredited representatives attended, celebrating the culmination of five days of intense networking and pitching.
The big winner from this year’s MAFIZ Work in Progress section was Carlos Saiz’s “Lionel,” produced by Bluconic Films, Blur and Icónica in Spain and Promenade Films in France. The film won the Cine y Tele, Sideral, Yagán and REC Festival prizes.
“‘Lionel’ is a story of reconciliation between a father and son after two decades apart. Through an intimate road trip, the film explores the complexity of family bonds and the lasting scars of Lionel’s paternal absence,” Saiz explained to Variety ahead of this year’s MAFIZ. “Inspired by the real-life story of my friend Lionel and his family—who portray themselves in the film—this project originated from a journey he once recounted to me. Now, we have transformed it into a road movie between Spain and France that questions the very essence of what it means to be family.”
Álvaro Samper, international sales at Sideral, which awarded “Lionel” a €10,000 distribution prize, said of the film: “‘Lionel’ is one of those rare stories that touches the heart. A beautiful and moving journey of reconnection between a father and son that speaks to universal emotions in a way we haven’t seen before. From the first moment we spoke with director Carlos Saiz and the producers [Blur, Iconica], we knew it was a perfect fit, and now we are excited to share it with the world.”
Carlos Sánchez Giraldo’s “No Journey Without Return,” produced by Peru’s Rima Rima Cine, won the Málaga Festival prize for an Ibero-American WIP, the Chemistry Prize and the Yagán Prize. The feature follows Amito, a man drawn by the call of his dreams, convinced he must return to his origins. Lizandro, a young cameraman, follows him, eager to learn. But as their journey unfolds, Amito discovers he is not who he thought he was, while Lizandro is forced to confront himself for the first time.
The Málaga Festival prize for a Spanish WIP went to Santiago Esteves’ “The Reborn,” about two estranged brothers and a dark business: helping people fake their own death. “A complex operation puts their lives at stake and forces them to define the destiny of their family’s legacy,” reads the film’s synopsis. Argentina’s Le Tiro, Spain’s Zabriskie Films and Chile’s El Otro Film produce the film, which also scored MAFIZ’s Rio Bravo Award.
Honors were split broadly across this year’s MAFF section, with “The Queers Riot,” “Tenants” and “Goodbye Berta” each scoring two prizes.
Directed by Wincy Oyarce, a Chilean LGBT pioneer celebrated for 2008’s “Empaná de pino” and 2022 breakout doc-feature “Tan Inmunda y Tan Feliz,” this fiction story features documentary elements to chart the first recorded homosexual demonstration in Santiago, Chile, organized in April 1973 by a group of young boy sex workers. Creas Films is producing.
One of two MAFF titles from María Paz Barragán, this time as co-writer, director and producer, “Tenants” is an immigration horror feature exploring class, racism and xenophobia but through genre, building to what looks like a chilling finale. Liked at Iberseries Platino Industria and Ventana Sur’s Proyecta, it’s produced by Batiak Films, behind Berlinale Fipresci winner “The Human Hibernation,” Final Abierto and Elora Post House co-produce.
Produced by Galicia’s Kraken Media, Tornasol Media and Abano Producións, Fernando Tato’s “Goodbye, Berta” is an expansion of Tato’s 17-minute short of the same name. In the feature, when sister Berta is thrown out of her rehab center, sister Alicia, who has forged a comfortable life in the Galician capital of Santiago de Compostela, feels obliged to return to Pobra do Caramiñal, where she was born. “This reunion marks the beginning of an emotional journey for the two sisters, where love and resentment intertwine, and the past becomes a burden too heavy to forget,” the logline ends.
The ceremony concluded with emcee Annabelle Aramburu announcing that Panama will be the guest of honor at the 29th edition of the Festival, in the presence of Panama’s Deputy Minister of Culture, Arianne Benedetti, and the Ambassador to Spain, Héctor Infante de Seda.
MAFIZ AWARDS
MÁLAGA WORK IN PROGRESS
Málaga Festival Prize (Spain)
“The Reborn,” (“Los Renacidos,” Santiago Esteves, Spain, Argentina, Chile)
Málaga Festival Prize (Ibero-America)
“No Journey Without Return,” (“No hay ida sin retorno,” Carlos Sánchez Giraldo, Peru)
Arcane Digital Cinema Prize
“Caro nanni,” (Pablo Maqueda, Spain)
Chemistry Prize
“No Journey Without Return,” (“No hay ida sin retornom,” Carlos Sánchez Giraldo, Peru)
Cine y Tele Prize
“Lionel,” (Carlos Saiz, Spain, France)
E-28 Prize
“Water Never Hurt,” (“El agua nunca dolió,” Ana Clara Bustelo, Uruguay, Argentina)
Latamcinema.com Prize
“Death and Life Madalena,” (“Morte e Vida Madalena,” Guto Parente, Brazil, Portugal)
Music Library Prize (Spain)
“Future Fog,” (“Futura, La niebla,” María Abenia, Spain)
Music Library Prize (Ibero-America)
“Tropical Fragance,” (“Fragancia tropical,” Alexander Viola, Dominican Republic)
Rio Bravo Award
“The Reborn,” (“Los Renacidos,” Santiago Esteves, Spain, Argentina, Chile)
Sideral
“Lionel,” (Carlos Saiz, Spain, France)
Yagán Prize (Spain)
“Lionel,” (Carlos Saiz, Spain, France)
Yagán Prize (Ibero-America)
“No Journey Without Return,” (“No hay ida sin retorno,” Carlos Sánchez Giraldo, Peru)
Abycine Lanza Participation
“Future Fog,” (“Futura, La niebla,” María Abenia, Spain)
FIDBA Doc Participation
“The Voice of God,” (“A voz de Deus,” Miguel Antunes Ramos, Brazil)
REC Festival Participation
“Lionel,” (Carlos Saiz, Spain, France)
SANFIC Participation
“The Night is a Farce,” (“A noite é uma farsa,” Lucas Weglinski, Brazil)
MÁLAGA FESTIVAL FUND CO-PRODUCTION EVENT (MAFF)
Music Library (Ibro-American)
“Goodbye Berta,” (“Adeus, Berta,” Fernando Tato, Spain)
Music Library (Latin America)
“The Queers Riot,” (“La Rebelión de las Raras,” Wincy Oyarce, Creas Films, Chile)
Music Library Women Screen Industry
“I’m Not Universal,” (“No Soy Universal,” Celia de Molina, Spain)
Bolivia Lab. Participation
“Three Summer Days,” (“Tres días de verano,” Álvaro López Alba, Spain)
Cántico Producciones First Prize
“A Decorous Woman,” (“Una Señorita de Buena Presencia,” Natalia Luque, Chile, France)
Cántico Producciones Second Prize
“Forest Walk,” (“A Estirada,” Sérgio de Carvalho, Pedro von Krüger, Brazil)
ECAM Forum Prize
“A Decorous Woman,” (“Una Señorita de Buena Presencia,” Natalia Luque, Chile, France)
FIDBA Participation
“The Queers Riot,” (“La Rebelión de las Raras,” Wincy Oyarce, Creas Films, Chile)
SANFIC Participation
“Anoche creí que nadaba,” (Catalina Torres, Eugenia Olascuaga)
Sideral Prize
“Tenants,” (“Se buscan inquilinos,” María Paz Barragán, Peru, Spain)
Térrea Prize
“Claros de bosque,” (Alejandro Salgado e Irene Hens)
“Tenants,” (“Se buscan inquilinos,” María Paz Barragán, Peru, Spain)
MÁLAGA SHORTS CORNER
Festhome Best Short
“La sangre,” (Joaquín León)
Sarajevo Short Project Prize
“Mi casa en una maleta,” (Andrea Torres Sánchez)
“Mar a noite,” (Pablo Garví)
Festivalito Prize
“De Madrid al cielo,” (Pablo Pérez)
“Ya están viniendo,” (Miguel Guindos, Mario Alejandro Arias)
