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Spain’s Festival de Málaga, through its industry arm Mafiz (Málaga Festival Industry Zone), heads to the Cannes Marché du Film with five works-in-progress from burgeoning Andalusian talent.

“The Malaga Festival wants to support the completion of these works and make their international distribution viable,” commented Malaga head of industry, Annabelle Aramburu.

This year, as Cannes more broadly celebrates Spain, the event curates two titles that tackle its tumultuous history and one which takes audiences on an unconventional road trip questioning the biological clock alongside narratives that dissect the minutiae of new forms of co-existing and the baffling concept of destiny.

The second edition of Málaga Goes to Cannes takes place on Monday May 22.

“Alone In The Night,” (Guillermo Rojas)

A wry take on the eve of Feb. 23, 1981 when an attempted coup in Spain threatened its young democracy, profoundly changing the lives of the protagonists, an ensemble cast that includes...

Barcelona-based production-distribution outfit Filmax has picked up international rights to Spanish holiday comedy “Our (Perfect) Xmas Retreat” (“El refugio”) following the film’s successful domestic theatrical release. Premiering in Spain on Nov. 26, the film went up against firm opposition and came away as the weekend’s top domestic release.

Filmax is introducing the film to buyers at this year’s Ventana Sur.

Macarena Astorga directs the lighthearted story about a group of people who are trapped in a hotel after a massive blizzard. She also co-wrote the film’s script, alongside Beatriz Iznaola and Alicia Luna, a Spanish Academy Goya Award-winning writer for “Take My Eyes.”

Esto Tambien Pasara, producers of Astorga’s previous feature “The House of Snails,” produced the film with Santiago Segura’s Bowfinger International Pictures (“Father There Is Only One”) and Sygnatia (“Buñuel In The Labyrinth Of The Turtles”) from Spain, top Peruvian production company Tondero...

“A Dead Man Cannot Live” begins with Tano, played by the lanky, weathered, deep-voiced Antonio Dechent, one of the finest actors of his around-60 Spanish generation, sitting at a bar rail, and thinking back on better times.

Even the Costa de Sol narco business is going to ruin. Tano’s boss, Manuel, is senile, his son and heir, the inappropriately named Angel, totally out of control. When younger mobsters steal Tano’s latest drug shipment from Morocco, Tano is given a week to retrieve it by the Russians mafia or die.

In the 2000s, Spain’s dominated Europe’s horror genre. Shoot-em-ups, like “A Dead Man,” form part of a building wave of crafted Spanish action thrillers. Few are as bloody and violent as “A Dead Man” which becomes a critique of the tragic consequences of the very brutality it portrays.

Sold by Filmax, the feature debut of Ezekiel Montes...

The Spaniard’s second film, starring Antonio Pagudo, Antonio Dechent and the young Luna Fulgencio in the lead roles, is currently being shot. Filming for the new feature by Ángeles Reiné, Héroes de barrio (lit. “Neighbourhood Heroes”), began in mid-March and will continue until the end of April on location in Seville and Alcalá de Guadaira. The second feature by the Cádiz-born director, following the Portuguese-Spanish co-production Salir del ropero, will be a family comedy revolving around a father with money problems – played by Antonio Pagudo (Los futbolísimos) – who, after a break-up, attempts to win back the respect of his daughter, played by Luna Fulgencio (who appeared in the Santiago Segura-helmed Father There Is Only One saga), an enthusiastic player on a children’s female football team. The cast is rounded off by Antonio Dechent (seen recently in Cages and Hasta que la boda nos separe), Alex O’Dogherty (who previously.

Barcelona-based Filmax has acquired international sales rights to Costa del Sol-set action thriller “Hombre muerto no sabe vivir” (“A Dead Man Cannot Live”), the feature debut by producer Ezekiel Montes.

The Spanish mini-major has also taken local distribution rights to the film, which is scheduled for a summer theatrical release.

Produced by Montes at his Málaga-based outfit 73140323 PC, “A Dead Man Cannot Live” is currently in post-production.

The story is set at one of Southern Spain’s most popular tourist hotspots, the Costa del Sol, known for its warm climate and white sand beaches, but also as a point of confluence or international drug trafficking.

“A Dead Man” revolves around Tano, who has worked his whole life for Manuel, a construction business man with strong local government connections which help him control drug-trafficking in the city.

54-year-old Tano, whose mission is to control the drug trade with Morocco, struggles to make ends meet,...

MADRID -- Spanish production boutique Tesela announced Thursday the addition of two projects to its slate: the musical comedy Por que se Frotan las Patitas? and the drama Pudor. Patitas, the directorial debut of '80s Spanish pop star Alvaro Begines, is set to begin a nine-week shoot on March 20. The film stars Lola Herrera, Antonio Dechent, Carlos Alvarez, Manuel Moron and Raul Arevalo. Lafona Producciones is co-producing the project, which was scripted by Begines and Miguel Carmona. Alta Films will distribute in Spain, and Spanish sales agent Sogepaq will handle international sales.