In only two years, ECAM Forum, the boutique post-Cannes co-production market in Madrid, has sealed its reputation as a must-attend event for international players tracking down Spain’s wealth of talent, co-production opportunities and the next festival hits – from Spain and beyond.
Indeed, out of 16 works in progress pitched in 2024 and 2025, 13 landed at top-tier festivals such as “Milk Teeth” by Mihai Mincan (Venice 2025), “Last Night I Conquered the City of Thebes” by Gabriel Azorín (Venice Giornate degli Autori, NYFF 2025), and “Balearic” by Ion de Sosa (Locarno 2025, BFI London).
Unspooling June 9-11, the third edition will be as curated in projects pitched and capped at 800 accredited professionals, “to keep the spirit of the event,” said Rafael Alberola, head of industry at Madrid’s prestigious ECAM film school.
Among top banners in attendance are Mubi, HBO Max Spain, Palme d’Or producers Les Films Pelleas (“Anatomy of a Fall”), Eye Eye Pictures (“Sentimental Value,” “Fjord”), programmers from Cannes, Venice, Berlin, Sundance Toronto and Rotterdam, sales outfits such as Goodfellas, Charades, Le Pacte, Totem, Pyramide and first-time fund attendees Doha Film Institute and Prada Film Fund.
At press time all the 25 films in the two main pitch sections- – Last Push’ for titles in post, and ‘Films to Come’ for titles in pre-production – were available for world distribution.
Hot works in progress looking for sales and festival platform include “Pehuen’s Birthday in Spain” by Argentinian rising talent Federico Luis, this year’s Cannes Festival short film Palme d’Or winner with “The Opponents,” and “Love is the Monster” by Costa Rican Neto Villalobos (“Helmet Heads”) starring Berlinale Silver Bear winner Paulina Garcia “Gloria”).
New this year at the industry sessions are masterclasses with visionary auteur Milagros Mumenthaler, top Brazilian producer Rodrigo Teixeira of RT Features (“I’m Still Here”, “Paper Tiger”) and a focus on France, jointly organised with the French Institute in Spain, to reinforce the European audiovisual landscape and ties between the two major film nations.
Ahead of ECAM Forum, coordinator Alberto Valverde and ECAM head of industry Rafael Alberola unpacked their 2026 program to Variety.
In two years, you’ve managed to establish ECAM Forum as a must-attend event thanks to the care you put in project and guest selection. Cannes Film Festival’s director of film Christian Jeune even told me last year : “It’s well organised, with a contagious energy.” How does this third edition look like in terms of delegates and companies attending?
Rafa Alberola: Our experience at the last edition with over 800 accredited professionals taught us a valuable lesson, that it was probably our limit. So this year, despite a higher demand, we decided to set the cap at that level to keep the spirit of the event.
Alberto Valverde: Yes. ECAM Forum has never been conceived as a major market, rather a boutique tailor-made event intended first and foremost at promoting Spanish talent internationally and attracting international partners, eager to work with Spain. Out of the 168 industry guests this year, 90 are international professionals and about 78 national, and of that total, around 25 are programmers, 25 are sales agents/distributors and 15 are broadcasters/platforms.
France continues to bring the strongest delegation, and thanks to our partnership with the French Institute in Spain, we’ve upped the head count from around 25 to 36 and strengthened the attendees in terms relevance and profile. Outside of Europe and Latin America our biggest co-production partners, we’re covering more territories (25) from the U.S. to the MENA region.
Again, through our targeted invitations, we want to strengthen existing collaborations, but also develop new alliances. For instance, we’ve invited from Norway Eye Eye Pictures which hasn’t yet co-produced with Spain but we believe would get along with some of the talents and companies attending.
Another interesting trend: For our first two editions, companies would send junior executives, we’ve seen this year an increase in CEOs and top decision-makers. Word of mouth is working!
More territories want to co-produce with Spain, to tap into talents and attractive filming incentives
Alberola: Yes. We’ve seen this in the past years, through ECAM Forum and by attending other events. Everybody is looking at Spain. However, Spain is a still a bit behind regarding international co-productions. So we’re trying to accelerate Spanish producers’ training in international financing and co-production, and bringing the world to ECAM Forum.
Valverde: There is a generational shift in Spanish producers working internationally. We’ve witnessed this since establishing ECAM Forum in 2024 and in Cannes this year. Besides the three Spanish films in competition (Javier Ambrossi and Javier Calvo’s “The Black Ball” for which they shared best director; Pedro Almodovar’s “Bitter Christmas,” Rodrigo Sorogoyen’s “The Beloved”) and Aina Clotet’s Critics’ Week winner “Viva,” there were many minority co-productions across all sections.
As you’re mentioning Cannes, Federico Luis, a Palme d’Or winner with his short “For the Opponents” will be pitching his project in work in progress “Pehuen’s Birthday in Spain”…
Valverde: Yes Luis is a rising talent. What’s interesting is that “Pehuen’s Birthday in Spain” marks a radical shift in his career, a personal and beautiful essay on his love of filmmaking.
Could you drill down on the Forum’s 15 Films to Come projects in development and 10 Last Push films in post-production?
Valverde: This year’s call for entries drew significant interest: 204 projects were submitted for Films to Come and 86 for Last Push. The Films to Come selection committee included, Facu Leima, head of Rotterdam IFFR pro; Lison Hervé, coordinator of Les Arcs Industry; producers Tatiana Leite, Ariadna Dot and director-producer Samuel Delgado.
The Last Push committee was made up of programmers Violeta Bava, consultant for the Venice and New York festivals, Diana Cadavid, from Toronto, Pamela Bienzobas from Locarno and Cédric Succivalliu from Venice Days. It’s an honour to have on board high-profile decision-makers who set the bar really high and in a way decide which films will mark the coming festival calendar.
Alberola: The majority of professionals in our selection committee have hands-on experience in the art of making films. They know what it takes to produce and to finance a film, so they don’t consider them only from a curator’s point of view which is very important to us.
Across the projects selected, what trends have you noticed in terms of stories, genres, gender representation, most dynamic film nations?
Valverde: What I’ve found very stimulating is filmmakers’ desire to find the right form for the right story, which has resulted in a selection filled with hybrid offers. Then, there is a sense of disarray, being out of sync with the world, which perhaps reflects the chaotic state of the world. There’s also a strong focus on identity and complex family dynamics.
Last year was a milestone with 70% of films directed by women, the rate is more 50-60% this year which is still high. Gender balance is a criterium in our selection as it makes for richer storytelling. For instance, we have the very female-focused “Chentian” by Suha Arraf from Palestine-Germany and “The Garden of Delights” by Brazil’s Rafaela Camelo.
The projects come from Europe, Latin America, the Middle East. But again, we’re looking at the best projects, regardless of nationality; it’s circumstantial that this year we have for example projects from Greece or Brazil that weren’t so present in the past.
Alberola: I’d like to mention the extraordinary presence of thrilling projects from Latin America, especially Argentina and Costa Rica. Something happening in Latin America, very different from what we’re experiencing in Europe. Whereas in Europe, we’re often lacking imagination, an ability to imagine different futures, different narratives, this is not the case with Latin America. This has to do perhaps with their political situation, restraints in creativity, censorship and lack of funding that force them to think out of the box.
Rafael, could you highlight a few Spanish discoveries, perhaps from ECAM’s hot lab La Incubadora?
Alberola: I can mention “Our Raised Skin” (“Nuestra piel levantada”) by Paolo Natale, an experimental doc about masculinity, male bodies and eating disorder which is something I haven’t seen. There is “The Unmoving Hands” (“Las manos quietas”) by Victor Diago. At one point our selection committee said it was too difficult; then, precisely for that reason, they felt: Let’s give it a chance. Personally, I’m obsessed with finding ways to help films, seen as difficult, reach their audience.
Valverde: It’s a must to keep track of the projects from La Incubadora, as history tells, many end up at A-festivals, such as Estibaliz Urresola Solaguren’s “20,000 Species of Bees.” I’d like also to pick among new discoveries in Last Push, Sebastián Uria with his Galicia-set “Farewell Rivers” (“Adiós, ríos”) Ana Bovino’s “The Nights” (“Las Noches”) and also Marc Ferrer, a cult queer Spanish director ready to jump to the international stage with his satirical comedy “Cinemania” Never mind Los Javis – watch out for Marc Ferrer! We can also mention more established names in that section, such as Eloy Enciso, Paz Fábrega or Federico Luis who have all made their mark internationally.
You also have 12 projects at Forum Shorts and 15 at ECAM Series Market. What can you say about those sections?
Valverde: Anybody scouting new Spanish and international talent should look at those sections. On the short film program, we’re proud of our international collaboration with film schools La Fémis in France, FAMU in the Czech Republic, HEAD in Switzerland, the festivals Bogoshorts in Colombia, Chileshorts in Chile and Drama Short Film Festival in Greece. On the series side, we’re pleased with our partnerships with Serielizados and Series Mania.
Alberola: There are 15 projects at ECAM Series Market: “Neocurros” selected jointly with Serielizados, and the rest from ECAM screenwriting students. It’s the best place to look for raw screenwriting talent.
ECAM Forum is a key event for Madrid as audiovisual hub. Have you been able to up your budget
Alberola: Our key backers remain the same: the non-profit cultural organization ECAM, the Community of Madrid, Madrid City Council who is lending us the space which is huge; Acción Cultural Española, a program from the Ministry which supports the internationalization of Spanish talent and has slightly increased its financial backing, and DAMA, the rights collection agency. Then this year the French Institute in Spain has joined our partners.
Could you add a few words on the industry talks, masterclasses and the State of Things conversations?
Valverde: ECAM Forum is a unique space where ideas cross sections, where funders, talents discuss the future of independent cinema, next to philosophers, photographers, poets and writers.
The masterclasses with the high-profile filmmaker Milagros Mumenthaler and producer Rodrigo Teixeira reflect this convergence at ECAM Forum of art and industry. Selecting Milagros for the retrospective organised with Filmadrid, was perhaps a political statement on our behalf, to reclaim her cinema and connect her work with the main theme of The State of Things which is the image itself and our relationship to it.
Parallel to that, we’re looking at the central role of the producer in supporting talent and reinforcing independent cinema and Rodrigo Teixeira is a master in the field. Just look at his filmography (from “Paper Tiger,” “Call Me by Your Name” and “Ad Astra,” to “Frances Ha”).
The financing forum FINDE, which focuses on the audiovisual financing ecosystem, successfully launched last year. What can we expect from this second edition?
Alberola: FINDE has two sides – one open to participants with talks from top financiers, producers, one closed with private meetings. We paid special attention to mixing heavyweight financiers with producers of independent films – some riskier than others – to help them hone their skills.
Valverde: Last year we established a blueprint to FINDE and we want to keep it. We’re expecting 20+ finance-focused participants, from Together Fund’s Alexandra Lebret, Arte France’s Rémi Burah, the Doha Film Institute’s Khalil Benkirane, IPR.VC’s Celine Dornier to key Spanish players such as Morena Films’ Pilar Benito, CREA SGR’s Rafael Lambe and Moby Dick Film Capital’s Jesús Martínez.
Last year FINDE French participant Marie-Ange Luciani, producer of Justine Triet films, told me that the event was instrumental in her meeting key investors for her next project. It’s a real pleasure to see that ECAM Forum, which focuses on emerging talent, also affects people at the top of the ladder.
