Featuring projects with “Narcos'” Alberto Ammann and “The Eternaut” star Cesar Troncoso, plus Catalina Sopelana, who broke out in “The Crystal Cuckoo” and “The Gardener,” and Jaime Vadell, Pinochet in Pablo Larráin’s “The Count,” the Málaga Festival Fund & Co Production Event (MAFF), packs an unprecedented star punch.
Featuring as part of the Málaga Festival’s MAFIZ industry zone, MAFF’s star wattage also bears testimony to the creation of a worldwide Spanish-language star system by global streamers, led by Netflix.
Directors of MAFF projects take in Matías Bize (“The Life of Fish”), “I’m Gilda” helmer Lorena Muñoz and Javier Polo, who made a splash at SXSW with the faux naif, pastel color-popping mockumentary hybrid “The Mystery of the Pink Flamingo.” Producers include Cindy Teperman at CT Producciones, part of Infinity Hill, behind “Argentina, 1985” and Mostra Cine, which produced “The Freshly Cut Grass” with Martin Scorsese and Ozcar Ramírez at Mexico’s Arte Mecánica, behind “Omnibus Short Plays,” featuring pieces by Gaspar Nóe and Carlos Reygadas, and Cannes Festival-selected “Days of Grace.”
If there is another trend, however, it’s the number of potentially notable feature debuts from female directors, mostly, but not all, coming from Spain. These range from the directorial debut of “Warrior Nun” star Olivia Delcán, outstanding as an actress in “Isla Bonita,” to the first solo feature by Argentina’s Romina Tamburello, co-director of “Vera and the Pleasure of Others,” a Mar del Plata 2023 best director winner and Vancouver Award Winner; to Barcelona’s Adriana Arratia, now expanding her acclaimed short “Death in Torrevieja,” a neo-quinqui take on life on the margins made with style and social grit and to Madrid’s Teresa Carril, whose co-directed “Zalamero” was described as a Gen Z “Summer Night’s Dream.”
Movies from Spain, Portugal and Latin America – the territories sourced by MAFF– are now firing on multiple cylinders. MAFF serves testimony.
“The Bastard Daughter,” (“La Hija Bastarda,” Olivia Delcán, Spain)
Starring two-time Goya Award and San Sebastián best actress winner Nora Navas as a woman at 56, whose mother has just died, doesn’t know if she wants her daughter back home but does know that she is going to rip things up. A “sharp, free-spirited, and unpredictable tragicomedy,” project which ticks multiple right boxes: an Atlàntida Mallorca Talent Lab winner, distribution by Alcarràs producer Elastica Films and production by Solita Films (“The Awakening of the Ants,” “The Fishbowl).
“A comedy about the ‘villain’ of the story,” says Carril. Ambitious, capricious, Catalina is accustomed to getting her way, until her life in Spain implodes forcing her to flee to Cuba, to confront her mistakes, guilt and need to rebuild her entire life. “A film grounded in the constant doubt and contradiction that define ambitious, capricious people. Carril’s debut after medium-feature “Zalamero” and 2025 Havana-set short “Una broma colosal,” ribbing the pretentiousness of filmmakers, and notable for its style and large sense of humor.
“Carreau,” (“Carro Seco,” Javier Polo, Spain)
“If only a serial killer could solve the real estate crisis?” The project’s logline asks. A self-styled Robin Hood takes out the perpetrators of gentrification, with two charismatic cops hunting him down. From Javier Polo, who made a splash with his SXSW-selected faux naif, pastel color popping mockumentary hybrid “The Mystery of the Pink Flamingo.”
“Death in Torrevieja,” (“Muerte en Torrevieja,” Adriana Arratia, Spain)
Another awaited feature debut, in the wild summer of Torrevieja, Chetia, a single mother of an unwanted child, battles to makes end meet, hustling and scamming tourists with illegal balconing bets. “A fresh female perspective to Spanish “quinqui” cinema, with a bold contemporary voice, mixingraw realism with a vibrant aesthetic inspired by today’s youth culture. Produced by new talent axis Maqueta Films/Nakamura Films, behind Alex Montoya’s 2024 Malaga hit “La Casa.”
“Diamonds are Forever” (“Diamante, o Bailarina,” Pedro Jorge, Brazil)
Emílio, a black gay man and drag queen, joins a boxing gym to reconnect with his estranged, homophobic father, Cezão. Despite conflict, boxing brings them closer. Directed by Jorge, behind Globoplay title “The Day My Life” changed, produced by Paideia Filmes (“My Body is Political”) and highlighted by Variety at the 2025 Guadalajara Co-Production Meetings, where it won three prizes, including an invitation to MAFF.
Six inhabitants of a paradisiacal coastal village initiate a pilgrimage on push bikes to save it from rising sea levels. The odyssey sparks no miracle but, yes, a collective rebirth. A feel good fiction road movie directed by Guillermo Piñon, who helmed episodes of “El Luchador” and docuseries “Los Jefes del Rock,” from renowned Mexican producer Ozcar Ramírez.
“Highway for Survival,” (“Carretera de Supervivencia,” Rodrigo Garcia Chapetón, Guatemala, Colombia)
A shot of adrenaline at MAFF, billed as a neo-Western heist actioner. Two Tz’utujil Maya brothers who, driven by desperation, begin robbing gas stations along the Pan-American Highway to pay off their father’s hospital fees, bring the local governor. A “critique of a corrupt healthcare system and systemic violence and a visceral journey through a suffocating reality,” says first feature director García Chapetón.
“The Hollows of the Moon,” (“Los Huecos de la Luna,” Paula D’Angelo Schmid, Peru)
A taxi driver works 72 hours straight to pay off her debt to an illegal moneylender, descending into a spiral of madness and revenge. Lead produced by Suena Perú, which has Peru-Spain co-production “Un hombre en un Puente” in post. “This tense psychological thriller” follows a “female taxi driver in Lima, navigating a race-against-time story through a neo-noir lens,” says D’Angelo Schmid.
“Hunting and Fishing” (“La caza y la pesca,” Victoria Andino, Argentina, Spain, Paraguay)
Azucena (65) who lives a free and self-sufficient life on a river island, hunting and fishing, is joined by Carlos, retired, from the big city. They develop an unexpected relationship. “A reflection on a mature woman’s freedom and a man who slowly learns that love does not always follow the rules taught him,” says Andino, behind prized doc series “Las Tareas” (2023). Produced by Argentina’s 80 Mundos, Spain’s Mallerich Films and Paraguay’s Claudio Servín Ríos Producciones.
In Patagonia’s mountains, Adelaida, the last of a Chilean indigenous people, resists relocation as a mining project threatens her ancestral land. She forms a fragile bond with grieving French anthropologist Julie. The feature debut of Gabriel Montiel, of Pehuenche origin, from Lucho Films, producer of “Gama de los Grises (2014), a Miami International best first feature and Toronto-selected “La Holandesa” (2017).
“The Indecents” (Jean Michel Cerf, Uruguay)
Pedro, 45, a first-time theater teacher experiments with unconventional methods to prevent his class from being shut down with his losing his job. From Cerf, an AD in Uruguay (“The Moneychanger”) and Brazil (“Lov3”) and a co-director on Amazon Prime Series “Barrabrava.” Produced by Valentina Gedanke at Montevideo’s Sueño Cine, who backs projects that “address contemporary themes from an intimate, emotional, and generational perspective.”
“Je Vous Salue, Perú” (Yaela Gottlieb, Peru)
“A portrait of contemporary cinema” tracing via footage and present-day film the the trail in 1950s Peru of a little known visit by Jean-Luc Godard, a cousin of former Peruvian president Pedro Pablo Kuckzynski and nephew of a celebrated German doctor. A doc feature project from Gottlieb and producer Nicolás Carrasco, setting Godard’s trip in its ideological historical context and “exploring how images construct power, resistance and ways of inhabiting history.”
“The Last Stand,” (Aquí Me Bajo Yo,” Matías Bize, Chile)
In what is described as an “intimate dramedy,” Jaime Vadell (“El Conde,” “El Club” ) stars as a grandfather who decides to end his life “on his own terms,” traping on a stormy night his granddaughter and his son, whom he hasn’t seen in years. “I’ve talked about falling in love, separation, second chances, childhood, raising children, but never talked about the end of life. That’s what motivates me most to do this project,” says Bize.
“Lethargy,” (“Letargia,” Fabían Suárez, Cuba, Mexico, Colombia)
An actress in 1962 Cuban, as its missiles crisis rages, confuses her role in a film and real life. The fourth feature from Súarez (“Cherri”), produced by Ivette Liang, director of the Nuevas Miradas lab and producer of Natalia Santa’s “The Dragon Defence,” selected for Cannes’ 2017 Directors’ Fortnight.
“The Living and the Ducks,” (“Los Vivos y los Patos,” Mexico)
The feature debut of José Luis Isoard Arrubarrena, whose trans actress centered “The Short Film” played Cannes Critics’ Week in 2023, Burning duck manure, Doña Bruna and her niece Eugenia manage to bring several members of their community back from the dead. Their secrets, grudges, and desires haven’ changes one iota. “This film takes place in a fictional town shaped by magical realism,” allowing “the absurd, the poetic, and the political to coexist without hierarchy,” says producer Paloma Petra.
Lucho, a young Peruvian rapper who grew up in Paris, returns to Peru, joins the country’s Hip-Hop scene, discovering both social conflict and his origins. Produced by Jorge Constantino, ex Tondero development head and founder in 2022 of the highly active Meztizo Studios behind “Astronauta “(Perú, Uruguay, Colombia), “Delivery Girl” (Perú, España) and “Raiz,” a Berlin Festival GenerationKplus Special Mention winner.
Set in rural Panama, soon after her father dies, the androgynous-looking Edna, 12, battles with her mother about the role she should have on their poultry farm. From Panama’s Infocus Video Factory Cine & TV (“Panamá Radio,” “Me dicen el Panzer”), Ramos’ feature debut, with ace DP Inti Briones (“Too Late to Die Young”) on board. “This story is an invitation to explore what it means to grow, change and affirm oneself in a context which many times discriminates against difference,” Ramos says.
“The Other Gómez” (Martin Aliaga, Brazil, Argentina)
Fronted by Alberto Ammann (“Narcos”) and César Troncoso (“The Eternaut”), one of biggest commercial plays at MAFF. William Puente, an anonymous accountant, is mistaken for Mr. Gomez, a lobbyist wanted for regulatory offences and shadowy ties. “He discovers in power an irreversible vertigo,” says the synopsis. Lead produced by São Paulo’s Ark Entertainment , headed by Mariana Ricciardi whose credits include Oscar shortlisted “Clandestine Childhood” and B.O. smash “My Sister and I.”
“My Parents’ Friends” (“Los Amigos de Mis Padres,” Romina Tamburello, Argentina, Uruguay, Spain)
Cecilia, 36, separating quietly, is asked by her parents to help them find “reliable” swinger clubs. Visiting places, she discovers “a universe of diverse sexualities, nurturing relationships, and unexpected friendships,” in sharp contrast to her own emotional breakdown. An “intimate, autobiographical comedy,” says Tamburello, “awkward” and “luminous” adds producer Santiago King, “about ageing bodies and unyielding desires that explores one of the last remaining taboos: parental sex.” Definite breakout potential.
“Peru Avenue” (“Avenida Peru,” Dennis Perinango Núñez, Peru)
Two men’s covert relationship is damned by a class gulf. An early project from Peru’s Lecinema Producciones in Chiclayo. Presented at Sanfic Industria, “a love story between two men shaped by class tensions on Peru’s northern coast, a territory rarely portrayed in contemporary Latin American cinema,” says producer Jorge G. Castañeda.
