This year, for the first time the 13th Seville European Film Festival isn’t all about cinema. Keenly aware that, now more than ever, in order to promote the audio-visual industry with all necessary vigour it is crucial to focus on television as well as film, under the direction of José Luis Cienfuegos this year’s competition includes a new component: Spanish Screenings–Sevilla TV 2016.

Running from 9 to 11 November, it’s the only market in Spain uniquely focused on promoting Spanish television internationally and building business relationships between television professionals. Around 70 buyers from 57 different companies in 30 countries have descended on the Andalusian capital for the occasion, along with 14 exhibitors and approximately 80 participants. The event, backed by EXTENDA, Canal Sur, Clúster A, AEPAA-APRIA, PATE and EGEDA and organised by FAPAE, kicked off with a welcome from its president, Ramón Colom. “This is a wonderfully creative moment for cinema and television alike,” he said, “and if we want to be competitive, we must be productive.”

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Participants will also be given a chance to take a look at a total of 120 productions hoping to find buyers at the event, with screenings by Atresmedia (Allí abajo, Pulsaciones and Mar de plástico), Canal Sur (Toros para todos, Destino Andalucía) and RTVE (Seis hermanas, El ministerio del tiempo and La sonata del silencio).

Not all of the featured productions, however, have been conceived solely with television in mind. Documentaries and fictional programmes with a more cinematic feel also find a home in TV broadcasting; hence the inclusion of a dedicated round table on the need to foster synergies between cinema and television. Two of the biggest names in contemporary Spanish TV took part in the debate: Domingo Corral, original production director at Movistar Plus+, and José Miguel Barrera, director of the International Division at Secuoya. Also around the table were Piluca Corol from the Andalucía Film Commission and Gervasio Iglesias from AEPAA-APRIA. The discussion focused on the importance of understanding the current landscape of television and the industry that surrounds it, in order to bring Spanish production in line with the international model and compete with big-budget titles from both sides of the Atlantic.  “The only way to hold our ground is to act firmly and decisively in support of Spanish talent, and to get local productions commissioned that bring a unique feel and their own particular stories, because it’s only by starting with the local that we achieve global success,” commented Corral, citing the example of one of recent Movistar Plus+’s newest projects, La peste, a series set in sixteenth-century Spain and directed by Alberto Rodríguez, a big name in today’s Spanish film scene.

Also at the Spanish Screenings Opening Event, the FAPAE Award for the most internationally successful Spanish series was presented to Isabel (TVE, Diagonal TV), while the award for the most internationally successful programme went to Tu cara me suena (Antena 3, Endemol).