MECAS’ main activity begins with the screenings of the Almost-Finished Films projects

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● MECAS begins the Almost-Finished Films presentations, its main activity. 

● The event began on Thursday with meetings between producers and a Fam Trip through some of Gran Canaria’s villages and natural areas

● The sixth edition of the market will close tomorrow, Saturday 15, with the awards ceremony

Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Friday, April 14, 2023.- After the first day of meetings between regional and international producers, MECAS, the Market of Almost-Finished Films of the Las Palmas de Gran Canaria International Film Festival, officially opened its 6th edition today with Luis Miranda, director of the Festival, and Lorena Morín, director of MECAS, who gave way to the main activity of the market, the screenings and presentations of the Almost-Finished Films projects.

Luis Miranda thanked all the attendees and stressed the importance of MECAS “to keep alive the history of cinema with the new films that are being created and that are in line with those programmed at the festival.” For her part, Lorena Morín explained the working dynamics of the day and thanked “the participation of all the collaborators, experts, participants and the entire team that makes it possible for MECAS to be held successfully.”

After the presentation, the screenings of the 9 Almost-Finished Films projects were followed by a Q&A session with the team moderated by Miquel Escudero, programmer, screenwriter and film critic. The 9 Almost-Finished Films projects to be presented on Friday are: Monólogo Colectivo by Sarah Jessica Rinland, Estados generales by Mauricio Freyre, Los restos del pasar by Luis Soto and Alfredo Picazo, Beckett y el Rinoceronte blanco by Adán Aliaga, El Príncipe de Nanawa by Clarisa Navas, Punku by Juan Daniel Fernández Molero, Balane 3 by Ico Costa, Los tonos mayores by Ingrid Pokropek and the Canarian project La Hojarasca by Macu Machín.

Friday will end with a meeting and conversation between script consultant Anna Ciennick (Very Good Script) and the participants with projects in the Films-To-Be-Made section before their presentations tomorrow.

The sixth edition of MECAS welcomed its guests yesterday, Thursday, April 14, with a meeting organized in collaboration with the Gran Canaria Film Commission to promote networking between national and international producers -some of them with projects likely to be filmed on the island-, production companies and regional industry agents. During the meeting, presentations were made by different organizations such as Canary Islands Film’s Natacha Mora on upcoming calls and new grants for audiovisual production in the Canary Islands, Gran Canaria Film Commission’s Nuria Guinnot on the benefits of filming in Gran Canaria, and Diana Armas of Radio Televisión Canaria who informed the international producers about advance financing for film and television projects.

The meeting was followed by an informal welcome by Music Library &SFX at Hotel Cristina by Tigotan for experts and participants. This event was the meeting and starting point for the Fam Trip organized, once again, by the Gran Canaria Film Commission to visit some of Gran Canaria’s villages and natural areas.

The sixth edition of MECAS will end tomorrow, Saturday, with the presentations of the 7 Films-To-Be-Made projects, the one-to-one meetings and the closing award ceremony.

The 17 participating projects will compete in this edition for six awards: the Almost-Finished Films Award with 8,000€, the Films-To-Be-Made Award with 5,000€, which will be awarded by a secret jury of 4 or 5 people from the group of invited experts, the MECAS Island distinction for a regional project awarded by Canary Islands Film with 1,200€ for the international promotion of a regional project, the Music Library &SFX Award for the project with the best musical approach, the Very Good Script Award with a three-hour consultancy on the project, the FICXPro SEMILLERU Award for an Almost-Finished Film or a Film-To-Be-Made project to participate in its 2023 edition and the Cinema Pendent L’Alternativa Award for an Almost-Finished Film or a Film-To-Be-Made project to participate in its respective 2023 edition as well.

The industry area of the Las Palmas de Gran Canaria International Film Festival is a specialized platform of activities aimed primarily at directors, producers and industry agents from Europe and Latin America seeking support in the completion and development of feature films. MECAS is sponsored by Canary Islands Film (Instituto Canario de Desarrollo Cultural), Gran Canaria Film Commission (Sociedad de Promoción Económica de Gran Canaria), Spanish Public Agency for Cultural Action (AC/E), Proexca and Music Library &SFX.

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