Under the auspices of Comunidad de Madrid and the prestigious ECAM film school, the four day ECAM Forum co-production market got off to a flying start with its inaugural session, closing June 13 with an awards ceremony at Madrid’s historical Matadero cultural space.

One of eight features in work in progress, the creative documentary “Gods of Stone” (“Deuses de Pedra”) by the Spanish Iván Castiñeiras Gallego scooped the new Comunidad de Madrid award and its €15,000 ($16,000) cash prize earmarked towards its post-production.

A trained cinematographer/filmmaker, graduate from ESTC in Lisbon, the Louis Lumiere School in Paris and ESCAC in Barcelona, Castiñeiras Gallego earned festival attention for his short docs “A raia” (2013) and “Where the Jungle Is” (2016).

Shot on 16mm, the Spain-Portugal-France co-production “Gods of Stone” is a non-linear compendium of stories portraying the way of life of a rural community located between Galicia and Portugal, on the oldest border in Europe. There, children’s stories merge with legends. Among the young people, Mariana grows up and aged 17, faces the decision to abandon her village and family to study abroad.

“The film we want to award tries to capture the essence of a timeless place and its people through a poetic and sincere gaze,” said the jury about the documentary produced by Spain’s Amateurfilms, with France’s  Promenon-nous dans les Bois and Portugal’s Rua Escura and Primeira Idade.

In the ‘Films to Come’ competition, the three winners reflect the rich array of titles from Spain and Latin America, helmed by newcomers and seasoned filmmakers, showcased in Madrid.

One of five projects from the celebrated ECAM Incubator lab, “Memorial” from Sergi Lopez (a best film Gaudí Award winner for “The Long Way Home”), won the Filmin Award consisting of €30,000 ($32,000) in a minimum guaantee from the Spanish streamer. In it, we follow Manel, a curator of Flemish paintings at the Prado Museum, who is forced to move to Belgium a Rubens painting to which he is deeply attached, while dealing with personal grief and family secrets in Madrid.

The jury praised the “unique project which masterly combines family, memories and art in a physical and spiritual journey deep in the soul.”The Spanish pic is being produced by Edna Cinema, Sumendi, Bteam, and Noodles.

“Phantom”, the musical drama by Cristóbal Fernandez (co-helmer of the festival docu hit “Mudar la piel”) about a group of musicians from the band Phantom, shaken by personal tensions, scooped the Madrid Film Office Award. Spain’s El Gesto Cinematográfico is producing.

Meanwhile the comedy “For Gods Sake” (“El Milagro de Surudí”) by Montevideo-born Lorenzo Tocco, who scooped best short at Guadalajara for “The Anniversary,” won the IFFR Pro Award which gives it access to the next Rotterdam and Cinemart market.

In the Series competition, the Benidorm-set black comedy “Estrella del Green” by London-based Spanish writer-creator Denise Moreno, among HBO Access’ 25 emerging directors, was handed out the Series Mania Award and an invitation to the next Lille-based leading series festival and forum. The six-part series, in early development, turns on an unlikely duo – a pregnant zillennial and a bankrupt diva in her seventies, who set up a weed empire in Benidorm.

Pierre Ziemniak, head of the Series Mania Institute – a close partner to ECAM school – said the Series Mania Award rewards “the screenwriter of a profoundly Spanish series project with strong international potential” and a “story about two women that will attract audiences in several countries.” The U.K. co-production, spearheaded by Jonathan Duncan of Common People Films, was looking for a majority Spanish producer in Madrid.

Another standout Spanish comedy series project, “She and Me, But Mostly Her” (“Ella y yo sobre todo Ella”), penned byMarta Ambel Meyer, scooped the Serielizados Award. The humorous and heartfelt story tells of Claudia, 30, who would rather lie to her friends and to the world rather than accept her brother’s bipolar disorder. The creator told Variety that her aim with what she dubbed a ‘traumedy’ is to raise awareness and foster understanding on mental health issues through a well-balanced dose of humour and sensitivity.

Six other awards went to emerging Spanish talents and their short films:

Alba Menor won the best debut and Abycine Lanza awards for “Manu Drives at Night,” Claudia Gracia the Skyline Benidorm Award for “Turbocapitalend,”, Sara Domínguez the Short Film Lab Award for “You Will Grow Scales,” Matías García the Madrid Film Office Award for” No One Wants to Bury You” and Guillermo Chapa the Telemadrid Award for “Love to See You Again”.

Flawless First ECAM Forum

Expectations were high for the first ECAM Forum and its organisers-ECAM Industria head Rafa Alberola, ECAM Forum coordinator Alberto Valverde and their team. Even so, after four days of pitches, meetings and conferences in a warm and festive working atmosphere, the overall consensus from both attendees and organisers, was that the event ‘s ace kick-off beat all expectations.

Among the 50-plus international delegates that included a who’s-who of some of top world festival programmers, from Cannes’ Director’s Fortnight to Toronto, Sundance, Rotterdam and Locarno, the Berlinale’s Jacqueline Nisiah praised both the organisation and the program. “I thought ECAM Forum was very well organised, the information flow and hospitality were amazing. I felt very well taken care off, all the invited guests were super nice and we enjoyed enriching conversations.”

Regarding the works in progress she added: “the films presented at the Last Push were very well curated, it’s the first thing that sprung into mind, after the first day. I think the films were a good mix of fiction, documentary and hybrid, some with a stronger commercial appeal, others more experimental. Generally, I would say the standard of the films was high.”

Echoing Nisiah’s positive feedback, Stockholm-based Olivier Guerpillon (“Fox in the Snow”), producer of the acclaimed “Costa Brava, Lebanon” and Magnolia Pictures acquired-“Sound of Noise,” said “the Forum really delivered! We were obviously expecting good projects, good food and good weather, but the quality level of the projects really impressed us, as well as the great range of professionals invited. It was very friendly and well organised, and we think it can only grow in importance, when we see how Spanish and Latin American cinema are booming and bursting with creativity.”

On a business level, he said “as a Swedish company currently co-producing our first project with Spain [“Forastera” by Lucía Aleñar Iglesias], we want to develop bridges between Sweden and the Spanish-speaking countries so this was great. We had good co-production meetings with very exciting projects. The format allowed also for generous time for all the guests to get to know each other beyond the classic one-to-one meetings, which is really important to strengthen co-production bonds between companies and long-term connections with filmmakers.”

Also from Sweden, Jenny Gilbertsson from the leading Scandinavian regional film fund Film i Väst who was also exploring new co-pro ventures, said she was impressed “by the range of emerging new talent, with energy and creativity. Spain is a highly productive film country and the co-productions with Latin America were also interesting,” she said.

Ziemniak added: “I was struck by the buzzy atmosphere and fluidity of the event anchored in the reality of the current market.”

Booming Spanish Market

The reality of the Spanish – and Madrid region – audiovisual market, still on an upswing despite the challenging overall micro-economic climate and the need to consolidate and create new international bridges, was underscored by Gonzalo Cabrera Martín, head of the cultural department of the Comunidad de Madrid, ECAM Forum’s main backer.

“For a few years we’ve been working on how to improve the audiovisual industry in Madrid. We thought the best way was to work with ECAM, as they are one of 15 best film schools in the world and an excellent partner.”

“Through ECAM Forum, we want to stimulate co-productions, international cooperation, but also entice post-production works and filming here, as we have several top-end studios here,” he said, referring notably to Netflix’s Tres Cantos European Production Hub just north of Madrid hub and advantageous tax rebates of up to 30% in Madrid.

And indeed, according to the Madrid Film Office, 2023 was a year of intense filming activity in the Spanish capital which saw filming increase by 8% from 2022 with 930 medium and large projects including 15-plus international feature co-productions such as “Daniela Forever” by Nacho Vigalondo and ‘Volveréi’ by Jonás Trueba.

“Then education is key,” Cabrera Martin goes on. “We collaborate with the Torino Film Lab among prestigious international film initiatives, to bring different talents here. We are just trying to create a huge wide network of international collaborations on all levels,” he told Variety.

ECAM Forum 2025

Looking at 2025, Gonzalo Salazar-Simpson, ECAM general manager said the plan is to consolidate the new co-production showcase “as a short, efficient and memorable” event for students and professionals alike.
Reiterating the school’s DNA as a private non-profit organisation focused on education and post-education and industry-led initiatives, he said: “Our ultimate goal is about making the field fertile for talent to grow and flourish.”

For the next edition, Alberola promises to apply the same recipe of success of a focused and friendly working environment with a high-standard of projects and guests. “We wanted to created a spot where people could find projects, but also find each other. 

“Projects change, you can’t control that, but if people come here and feel they are well treated and they can extend their network,” they will come back,” he asserts. “The biggest challenge is to keep up the level of this first edition!” he said. 
Meanwhile Valverde said he will look into attracting perhaps ‘bigger’ names and making the best use of the cultural Matadero (a former abattoir) multi-disciplinary artistic space.

He said he also hopes to expand the conferences and seminars which welcomed this week, among other luminaries, U.S. indie production veteran Ted Hope and French cinematographer Hélène Louvart. “I’d love to expand the space for inspirational talks, bring in engineers, philosophers, other professionals who can explain how images, stories move us,” he said.

In total, more than 400 audiovisual students and professionals signed up for the ECAM Forum where 53 films and series in development and post-production were showcased over June 10-14 in Madrid. 

Pope Francis delivered the first-ever papal address at a G-7 conference on Friday, warning about the ethical pitfalls of artificial intelligence.

The pope told the council of world leaders in Fasano, Italy, that AI offers immense benefit to the human race, but also threatens to dehumanize society.

“The question of artificial intelligence, however, is often perceived as ambiguous: on the one hand, it generates excitement for the possibilities it offers, while on the other, it gives rise to fear for the consequences it foreshadows,” Pope Francis said in his remarks.

POPE FRANCIS WARNS AI EXPLOITED BY ‘TECHNOCRATIC SYSTEMS’ COULD ‘POSE A RISK TO OUR SURVIVAL’

He continued, “In this regard, we could say that all of us, albeit to varying degrees, experience two emotions: we are enthusiastic when we imagine the advances that can result from artificial intelligence but, at the same time, we are fearful when we acknowledge the dangers inherent in its use.” 

Comparing AI to primitive flint knives and nuclear energy, the pontiff acknowledged that every development in human technology has presented opportunities for both self-improvement and violence.

The pontiff warned that an irresponsible pursuit of AI technology without ethical barriers could exacerbate modern “throwaway culture” and dehumanize vulnerable societies unable to resist technocratic systems due to poverty or technological illiteracy.

POPE ISSUES WARNING ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE, FEARS ‘LOGIC OF VIOLENCE’

Pope Francis takes part in a working session on Artificial Intelligence (AI), Energy, Africa-Mediterranean at the G-7 Summit. (TIZIANA FABI/AFP via Getty Images)

“Due to its radical freedom, humanity has not infrequently corrupted the purposes of its being, turning into an enemy of itself and of the planet,” Pope Francis warned. “The same fate may befall technological tools.”

Specifically, the pope warned that AI compromises the integrity and human dignity necessary for children’s education, the criminal justice system, and warfare.

“We would condemn humanity to a future without hope if we took away people’s ability to make decisions about themselves and their lives, by dooming them to depend on the choices of machines,” he told the world leaders. “We need to ensure and safeguard a space for proper human control over the choices made by artificial intelligence programs: human dignity itself depends on it.”

Argentinian President Javier Milei shakes hands with Pope Francis (L), as Italy’s Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni (rear), Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida (2nd R) and US President Joe Biden (R). ((Photo by Ludovic MARIN / AFP) (Photo by LUDOVIC MARIN/AFP via Getty Images))

“Much needs to change, through fundamental reform and major renewal. Only a healthy politics, involving the most diverse sectors and skills, is capable of overseeing this process.”

Pope Francis has been an outspoken skeptic of artificial intelligence since the technology received widespread attention last year.

He speculated in December 2023 that global “technocratic systems” could exploit the efficiencies of AI without regard for the larger impacts on the poor, sacrificing humanity for efficiency.

Defence minister says Israel will not participate in trilateral group with US and France because of Paris’s ‘hostile policies’.

Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant has rejected a French initiative aimed at defusing the growing tensions between Israel and Hezbollah as fears of an all-out war between the two sides grow.

Gallant said on Friday that Israel would not take part in a French-proposed trilateral group with the United States and France as he slammed Paris’s position on the war on Gaza.

“As we fight a just war, defending our people, France has adopted hostile policies against Israel,” Gallant said in a statement. “In doing so, France ignores the atrocities committed by Hamas against Israeli children, women and men. Israel will not be a party to the trilateral framework proposed by France.”

It was unclear whether Gallant, who is the subject of a war crimes investigation by International Criminal Court prosecutors, was speaking for the entire Israeli government or his own office.

Israeli ministers have sometimes released contradictory statements on the same subject, including recently on whether the country accepts the US proposal for an “enduring” ceasefire in Gaza.

Later on Friday, several Israeli media outlets said officials from Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs rejected Gallant’s statement against France, calling it “incorrect and inappropriate”.

Paris has repeatedly denounced Hamas’s deadly October 7 attacks in Israel, but it has also criticised the Israeli offensive in Rafah in southern Gaza and called on the country to respect international humanitarian law. Israeli attacks in Gaza have killed more than 37,000 Palestinians since October 7.

French President Emmanuel Macron put forward the Lebanon proposal on Thursday after days of escalation at the Lebanese-Israeli border. France, which enjoys close relations with Lebanon, has tried to advance a negotiated resolution.

“With the United States, we agreed on the principle of a trilateral [contact group] – Israel, the United States and France – to advance on the roadmap that we proposed, and we will do the same with the Lebanese authorities,” Macron said.

In February, Paris presented a plan to end hostilities that would see Hezbollah withdraw 10km (6 miles) from the border, Israel halt its attacks on southern Lebanon and negotiations over disputed border areas.

Hezbollah has said any diplomatic agreement can materialise only after an end to Israel’s war on Gaza. The Lebanese organisation started attacking military bases in northern Israel after the outbreak of the war on Gaza in what it says is a “support front” to back Palestinian armed groups.

Israel responded by bombing villages across southern Lebanon and targeting Hezbollah positions. Despite the near-daily exchanges of fire, the confrontations have largely been limited to the border area.

But cross-border clashes have intensified in recent weeks, raising the prospects of a major war.

On Thursday, Hezbollah said it fired 150 rockets and launched 30 suicide drones at Israeli military positions in response to the killing of one of its top commanders this week. Later that day, an Israeli air raid killed two women and injured 15 other civilians in the southern Lebanese village of Jinata.

Hezbollah announced several military operations against Israel on Friday, including claiming a rocket attack against a building housing Israeli soldiers.

Tens of thousands of people in southern Lebanon and northern Israel have fled their homes to escape the violence.

Hezbollah says it is ready for war if Israel launches a major attack. Meanwhile, Israeli officials have pledged to push Hezbollah fighters farther away from the country’s border.

US and Western officials have warned against an escalation in Lebanon.

“We’re going to continue to work to try to advance calm in the north of Israel and achieve a diplomatic resolution that would allow the tens of thousands of Israelis who have been displaced from their homes and the tens of thousands of Lebanese who have been displaced from their homes to return home,” US Department of State spokesman Matthew Miller said on Thursday.

“We continue to believe … a ceasefire in Gaza is the best way to achieve that diplomatic resolution.”