In March, four productions were featured in the 26th edition of the Spanish film festival and six in the Texan event. The Long Game, a recipient of the Colombia Film Fund, was honored with the Narrative Spotlight Audience Award.
The Malaga Film Festival was established in 1998 to showcase Spanish cinema, become a national and international benchmark in film events, and contribute to the growth of Malaga as an open and cultural city.
At the 26th edition, Colombia participated in the Official Feature Film Selection with Rebelión (Rebellion) by José Luis Rugeles. The film was produced by Rhayuela Films (Colombia), Leyenda Corinthian Media (Argentina), Alacrán Pictures (Argentina), and Jinga Pictures (United States) and won in the Rebeldes con Causa section of the Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival. In the Zonazine Feature Films section, which exhibits independent and bold projects, Leonardo Barbuy La Torre's Diógenes was presented. The film is a co-production between Peru, France, and Colombia and produced by Mosaico, Dublin Films, and La Selva Cine (Los reyes del mundo/The kings of the world), with cinematography by Mateo Guzmán (La tierra y la sombra/The earth and the shadow), was presented. Meanwhile, the Official Documentary Section included the winner of the Nest Award at the San Sebastian Film Festival, Montaña azul (Blue Mountain), a short film by Sofía Salinas Barrera and Juan Bohórquez Triana.
The festival's industry area, Industria MAFIZ (Málaga Festival Industry Zone), which includes a series of events to boost Ibero-American film productions, also had a Colombian presence. Laura Arias participated in the Hack MAFIZ Málaga 2023, an event aimed at new talents in the audiovisual field. Carropasajero, a project by Juan Pablo Polanco and César Alejandro Jaimes, produced by Los Niños Films (Colombia) and Pong Berlin (Germany), participated in the Málaga WIP Iberoamérica, a work-in-progress space designed to promote the completion of fiction and documentary feature films in the final cut stage.
Moreover, the 2023 edition of Spanish Screenings Content was held with an XXL format, including new sections adapted to the needs of the audiovisual market. This edition included the Malaga Short Corner, a new space within the MAFIZ to promote, publicize, and distribute the industry's most recent and relevant short films. Jaime E. Manrique, founder and director of the Bogotá Short Film Festival / Festival de Cortos de Bogotá - Bogoshorts and conceptual designer of the Bogoshorts Movement, was a guest from Colombia.
South by Southwest, also known as South By or SXSW for short, is an annual gathering of festivals and conferences in mid-March in Austin, Texas. Since its founding in 1987, SXSW has become renowned for its talks and festivals celebrating the intersection of technology, film, music, education, and culture.
The 2023 edition of SXSW's Visions section featured Anhell69, a film by Teo Montoya that won the Golden Dove in the International Competition of the 65th Leipzig International Documentary and Animation Film Festival (DOK Leipzig). Anhell69 also received a Jury's Special Mention, the Mario Serandrei - Hotel Saturnia Award, and the Most Innovative Film Award from the Verona Film Club during the most recent edition of the International Critics' Week in Venice, among others.
In the 24 beats per second section, José Luis Rugeles Gracia's Rebelión (Rebellion) was shown. At the same time, Jorge Cadena's Flores del otro patio (Flowers from the Other Yard) competed in the Narrative Shorts Competition section. The latter film features a group of queer activists in the Colombian Caribbean who engage in political advocacy to challenge hetero-patriarchal norms and join other fights against the multiple social injustices plaguing the region. El bastón, competing in the Documentary Shorts Competition, sees director Nemo Allen Maldonado traveling to war-torn Cauca, Colombia, to witness the struggle of the indigenous Nasa people and complete his recently deceased mother's unfinished documentary.
The XR Experience Competition showcased El beat, an immersive 6DoF experience by Irene Lema and Sergio Bromberg that combines volumetric capture, 3D modeling, tilting brush, photogrammetry, and binaural sound. This interactive film is a hybrid of documentary and fiction, interweaving Biohó's story with the reality of maestro Rafael Cassiani, who has preserved Palenque's musical tradition to this day. Meanwhile, the XR Experience Spotlight featured J Balvin Futurum: a VR concert experience, in which the Colombian singer kicks off the show strapped to a 15-foot robotic arm that moves to the beat of the music. Balvin also performed on a custom-built stage that rotates along with a fully moving light grid.
Finally, The Long Game by Julio Quintana, produced by Javier Chapa, Ben Howard, Marla Quintana, Dennis Quaid, and Laura Quaid, and recipient of the Colombia Film Fund (CFF), won the Narrative Spotlight Audience Award
