03/06/2021 - The Spanish film gathering is unspooling in June after having done so in August last year, and is pondering a return to its original dates in 2022

With a plan in the offing to return to its original March dates for 2022, the 24^th edition of the Málaga Film Festival is kicking off today, Thursday 3 June. It will continue until 13 June and will include an increasingly active industry area (dubbed MAFIZ – see the news) in addition to its usual sidebars. Its director, Juan Antonio Vigar, explained that, already during the previous edition, which had to be postponed until August, the gathering decided to push back the 2021 iteration to June, instead of March, the month it usually takes place, with the aim being twofold: to wait for the health situation to improve and in the hope that, after the months-long hiatus that befell various shoots, the team would be able to count on a big enough number of films for the selection.

Accordingly, the film chosen to fire the starting pistol today is called El cover [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] and marks the directorial debut by actor Secun de la Rosa. It’s a romantic comedy with musical elements, shot in Benidorm and toplined by Àlex Monner and Marina Salas, who are flanked by Juan Diego, Susi Sánchez and Carmen Machi, the latter of whom is making a return to the tourist hotspot on the east coast of Spain after appearing in It Snows in Benidorm [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Isabel Coixet
film profile].

The Official Section is made up of 23 features, 15 of which are Spanish – four of which will screen out of competition – while eight are Latin American. In addition to El cover, a further six feature debuts will be showcased: Chavalas [+see also:
trailer
film profile] by Carol Rodríguez Colás, Hombre muerto no sabe vivir by Málaga native Ezekiel Montes, Ama by Julia de Paz, Con quién viajas [+see also:
trailer
film profile] by Hugo Martín Cuervo, The House of Snails [+see also:
trailer
film profile] by Macarena Astorga, Mighty Flash [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Ainhoa Rodríguez
film profile] by Ainhoa Rodríguez and The Consequences [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Claudia Pinto Emperador
film profile] by Claudia Pinto. 

The Spanish contingent taking part in the competition will be rounded off by The Belly of the Sea [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] by Agustí Villaronga, El sustituto by Óscar Aibar and Live Is Life by Dani de la Torre. The Official Section will screen four comedies out of competition: Historias lamentables [+see also:
trailer
film profile] by Javier Fesser, Operación Camarón [+see also:
trailer
film profile] by Carlos Therón, Sevillanas de Brooklyn by Vicente Villanueva and García y García [+see also:
trailer
film profile] by Ana Murugarren, the film given the honour of bringing the event to a close.

As for the Latin American cohort, the following titles have been selected: Las mejores familias by Javier Fuentes León (Peru/Colombia), Amalgama by Carlos Cuarón (Mexico), 15 hours by Spaniard Judith Colell (Dominican Republic/Spain), Cómo mueren las reinas by Lucas Turturro (Argentina), Karnawal [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] by Juan Pablo Félix (Argentina/Bolivia/Brazil/Chile/France/Mexico/Norway), Mulher océano by Djin Sganzerla (Brazil), Años luz by Joaquín Mauad (Uruguay) and La ciudad de las fieras by Henry Rincón (Colombia/Ecuador).

The ever-surprising Zonazine section will showcase eight movies with a strong arthouse flavour: four are Spanish (Juana la Lorca by Valeriano López, Dos [+see also:
trailer
film profile] by Mar Targarona, Soledades by Alexis Delgado Búrdalo and Lucas [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Álex Montoya
film profile] by Alex Montoya) and another four hail from Latin America (Leading Ladies by Ruth Caudeli, Los hermosos vencidos by Guillermo Magariños, Samichay, en busca de la felicidad by Mauricio Franco, and Las motitos by Inés Barrionuevo and Gabriela Vidal).

Last but not least, as its name suggests, the Málaga Premiere section will premiere four series: Maricón perdido, directed by Alejandro Marín for TNT; Ana Tramel. El juego, directed by Salvador García and Gracia Querejeta for TVE; Paraíso, helmed by Fernando González Molina for Movistar Plus+; and Lucía en la telaraña, directed by Tomás Ocaña for TVE. As for the Documentary and Short Film sections, their complete line-ups can be consulted on the festival’s website.

(Translated from Spanish)