• Ten of the nineteen selected projects participate in the Almost-Finished Films section and nine in the Films-To-Be-Made one
• The market’s eighth edition will take place in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria from Friday, April 25, to Sunday, April 27, featuring developing and networking activities aimed at professionals within the Canary Islands’ audiovisual industry
Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Tuesday, April 22, 2025. The 8th edition of MECAS, the Las Palmas de Gran Canaria International Film Festival’s Market of Almost-Finished Films, has announced the 19 projects selected for the Almost-Finished Films and Films-To-Be-Made sections. Already consolidated as an essential event for independent and auteur cinema, the market will be held at Cine Yelmo Las Arenas and Hotel Cristina by Tigotán from April 25 to 27. Thus, MECAS begins on Friday, April 25, with Terrero LAB, a program for the internationalization of Canarian projects and production companies.
After viewing over 400 works, ten have been selected for the Almost-Finished Films section, which is dedicated to features in the final stages of production, edition or post-production, and other nine for the Films-To-Be-Made section, aimed at filmmakers with projects still in development. According to Lorena Morín, the director of the market, this is edition is marked by defiant approaches: “We are in the company of revolutionaries and there will be rebellion, resistance, revolt, opposition, uprisings. There will be lot of honesty, compassion, empathy, love. There will be anonymous, brave, strong women.”
The titles selected for the Almost-Finished Films section are: No Ghost Inside by Antonio Morales, coming from the SEMILLERU Lab; 50 kilos by Sofía Bensadon; Amílcar by Miguel Eek; Delivery Girl by Jorge Shinno; El mapa para tocarte by Mercedes Afonso; Manantial by Manuel Muñoz Rivas; Ningún lugar a donde ir by Santiago Gershnik; Tear Gas by Uta Beria; Voces de Neptuno by Leinad Pájaro De la Hoz, and El coloquio de los pájaros by Sofía Velázquez Núñez.
On the other hand, the projects featured in Films-To-Be-Made are: La Fábrica by Shao Ran, selected in Cinema Pendent; Arroyo Invisible by Delfina Vázquez; El Último Rey by Víctor Checa; Estoque by Andrea Segarra Bueno; Family Keeper by Julián Génisson; Lembrarás como bailabas by Alba Gallego; Me llamo Erik Satie, como todo el mundo by Joana Carro; Vanda by Kamy Lara, and Siga usted a los pájaros by Paola Travieso, a new voice in Gran-Canarian cinema.
The 19 projects will compete for 13,000 euros in prizes: 8,000 for the Almost-Finished Films Award and 5,000 for the Films-To-Be-Made Award. Furthermore, some awards will be given in kind: the Very Good Script, which includes a script consultancy; the Music Library & SFX Award, consisting on a music supervision consultancy and the use of the company’s music catalog, and the Blackout Films Award for the DCP creation of the winning project.
Terrero LAB will open the market on Friday, April 25, offering an intensive program for Canarian filmmakers and production companies consisting of three days of workshops and meetings aimed at developing creative tools and internationalization strategies. Among these activities there’ll be a workshop on developing projects held by Erick González, founder and director of AUSTRALAB in Tres Puertos, as well as a day revolving around the internationalization of projects, led by producers Beli Martínez (Filmika Galaika) Vicky Miha (asterisk*) and Ayumi Filippone (Hubert Bals, Rotterdam and Locarno Match Me!). This program has been possible thanks to the support of Proexca.
The market’s main activity will begin on Sunday, April 27, with the presentations of the Almost-Finished Films and Films-To-Be-Made projects, moderated by Miquel Escudero (IndieLisboa) and Diego Llorente (filmmaker). During these sessions, over 30 international film-industry professionals will get to know the 19 projects and their creators first hand. These presentations stand as a key platform for those filmmakers who seek alternative production models and who are trying to make connections with co-production and distribution companies, festivals and sales agents.
Since 2021, and with the support of the SPEGC through the Gran Canaria Film Commission, the Market of Almost-Finished Films organizes a day dedicated to providing meetings between emerging and experienced producers. This initiative aims to promote collaboration between local and international production companies, fostering strategic alliances that help push forward the internationalization of in-development projects. The Gran Canaria Film Commission will be in charge of revitalizing this space that seeks to establish Gran Canaria as a strategic partner in small co-productions while drawing attention to the opportunities the island offers for funding projects or accessing new markets.
MECAS also features a space dedicated to promoting alliances between regional or international companies and other production companies with feature-length projects in the African continent. This initiative strengthens the island’s industrial network while fostering the growth of a more collaborative and global professional community. Over ten European production companies and three African ones will participate in this edition.
MECAS 2025 has the support of the program for the internationalization of Spanish culture, PICE Visitors, of Acción Cultural Española (AC/E). It is also sponsored by the Sociedad de Promoción Económica de Gran Canaria, Proexca and Music Library & SFX, and collaborates with Very Good Script and Tres Puertos Cine AUSTRALAB.
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