The MECAS competition offers a selection of projects “that will both delight and bewilder”

 The competitive sections of the festival’s market, Almost-Finished Films and Films to be Made will review 17 projects in total: nine will participate in the former and eight in the section dedicated to in-development projects

 The sixth edition of the market will take place from April 13 to 16 and will once again be held at the Elder Museum of Science and Technology.

 MECAS picks up on last edition’s successes with the upcoming world premiere of the Canarian documentary Un volcán habitado by David Pantaleón and Jose Víctor Fuentes at Visions du Reel.

Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Friday, March 31, 2023.- The sixth edition of MECAS, the Las Palmas de Gran Canaria International Film Festival’s Market of Almost-Finished Films, has announced the selection of the 17 titles that will participate in the two international sections at a press conference held this morning, Friday, March 31, with the presence of Luis Miranda, director of the Festival, Lorena Morin, director of MECAS and Nuria Guinot, head of the Gran Canaria Film Commission (Sociedad de Promoción Económica del Cabildo de Gran Canaria).  The event will be held on April 13, 14, 15 and 16 and returns to its venue at the Elder Museum of Science and Technology.

Of the 262 works registered, nine projects have been finalists in the Almost-Finished Films section, the market for films in the final stages of production, editing or post-production, and will compete for a prize of 8,000 euros; while eight of them have been selected for Films to be Made, aimed at filmmakers with projects in the development stage, and that will compete for a prize of 5,000 euros. The selected works come from Peru, Argentina, Dominican Republic, Spain, France, Greece and Portugal.

The proposals, according to MECAS’ director, “move on the borders between reality, fiction and delirium; I could adjectivize them as urgent, political, ecological, inclusive, intimate, analogical. But I’d rather not, because, though they are all of these, none of them define them completely.”

The films selected for Almost-Finished Films are: Monólogo Colectivo by Sarah Jessica Rinland (Trapecio Cine – Argentina), Estados generales by Mauricio Freyre (Estudio Rien, Tasio – Peru, Spain), Los restos del pasar by Luis Soto and Alfredo Picazo (Mubox – Spain), project selected from Semilleru FicxPro Gijón in the last edition, Beckett y el Rinoceronte blanco by Adán Aliaga (Jaibo Films – Spain), El Príncipe de Nanawa by Clarisa Navas (Gentil Cine – Argentina), Punku by Juan Daniel Fernández Molero (Tiempo Libre – Peru), Balane 3 by Ico Costa (Oublaum Filmes – Portugal), Los tonos mayores by Ingrid Pokropek (36 Caballos – Argentina) and the Canarian project La Hojarasca by Macu Machín (El viaje films – Spain).

The finalist projects of Films to be Made are: La Pérdida de la magia by Silvia Rey (Limbus Filmak – Spain), a project selected thanks to the collaboration with  l’Alternativa’s Cinema Pendent program, A day in the Life of Jo: Chapter Phaedra by Jacqueline Lentzo (4 A 4 Productions – Greece, France), M-X by Iván Blanco Fernández (BRBR – Spain), Batallón 7 by Natalia Garayalde (Punto de Fuga Cine – Argentina), Donde estés será mi hogar by Lionel Braverman (Bomba Cine – Argentina), 3 Balas by Génesis S. Valenzuela (Tinglado Films – Dominican Republic, Spain), Maspalomas by Reka Valerik (Dublin Films – France), which will be shot in Gran Canaria, and the Canarian production Keenie #166 by Blanca Bonet, (Tourmalet Film – Spain).

As a novelty, this year Music Library &SFX will offer a prize to the winning Almost-Finished Film project valued at €1,500, which will consist in offering free access to all its production music with unlimited downloads. It will also include the synchronization of the music within up to 2 promotional contents of the winning project (teaser/trailer) as well as value-added services such as discounts and advantages for ad hoc composition, production and convergences on the composed music. 

MECAS will start next Thursday, April 13 with a meeting between international producers, with projects that have the potential to be filmed in Gran Canaria, and companies from the regional audiovisual sector. The meeting, promoted by the SPEGC through the Gran Canaria Film Commission, aims to promote the Canary Islands’ independent film industry and talent. Subsequently, and within the same program, participants and guests at the market will attend a Location Famtrip to different locations on the island. The international producers will learn first-hand about the calls for minority production and co-production, which could be accessed by a Canarian producer.

Nuria Guinot stressed the importance of supporting MECAS, “the most industrial side of the Las Palmas de Gran Canaria International Film Festival,” because “it highlights the advantages offered by the island of Gran Canaria to the national and international production companies invited to this market.” The head of the Gran Canaria Film Commission also stated that “MECAS is a unique opportunity to get to know first-hand the tax advantages, the variety of locations, as well as the specialized infrastructures such as the “Gran Canaria Platós” and the existing industrial fabric of the island to host any type of audiovisual production.”

On the following days, April 14, 15 and 16, participants will attend intense days of screenings, presentations, tutorials and meetings with guest experts, including production companies, sales agents, distributors and representatives of international funds and festivals. The activities will be held at the Elder Museum of Science and Technology and the Hotel Cristina Cristina by Tigotan.

MECAS, throughout its trajectory, has reaped rewards. The journey taken by some of the works that have been selected in the market prove it. For instance, the itinerary of one of the proposals that passed through the Almost-Finished Films section last year: the Canarian documentary Un volcán habitado by David Pantaleón and Jose Víctor Fuentes will have its world premiere at Visions du Reel, one of Europe’s most prestigious documentary film festivals.

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.