04/01/2013 - This January, the Barcelona-based distribution company is to make its first national release with Madrid-born director Javier Rebollo's third feature The Dead Man and Being Happy

On January 11, Barcelona-based distributor Splendor Films is to release its second film, Javier Rebollo's The Dead Man and Being Happy, although it will be its first national release as the first, Joel Joan and Sergi Lara's Fénix 11*23 was limited to Catalonia only because of its theme.

Splendor Films was set up by sixth Barcelona production companies (Benecé, Eddie Saeta, Fausto Producciones, Oberón Cinematográfica, Paco Poch Cinema, and Prodigius Cinema) as well as audiovisual consultancy company Vercine, whose manager, Ignacio Puebla, is himself the distribution company's director general.

As Puebla explained to Cineuropa, Splendor Films is first to manage cinematic distribution and television rights for the productions of these associated companies and third parties, but long term the aim is also to handle international sales.

Independent distribution is going through tough times at the moment in Spain because of the general economic crisis and the spread of piracy. However, new companies like A Contracorriente, Surtsey, and Splendor are showing that a new model is possible and that great difficulties can give rise to great opportunities. It's a model, as Puebla explains, that was conceived "from a producer's point of view and with common sense. The idea is to adapt the means and strategies to each project".

For the moment, Splendor's film catalogue contains almost exclusively films of a marked "auteur" type (Rebollo's film is to be followed by Dácil Pérez de Guzmán's La última isla on February 22, Pere Vilá's La lapidation de Saint Étienne in spring, and later on Abdelatif Hwidar, Carla Subirana, and Adán Aliaga's Kanimambo), but Puebla stresses that they could also handle more commercial films and says that they are actually about to close deals for two films with this profile.

Splendor's distribution strategy is to distribute about 10 to 14 films a year, of which 2-3 more ambitious titles (200-250 copies), 3-5 of a mid-range profile (60-70 copies), and 5-6 smaller ones (4-6 copies mostly in the more specialised cinemas).

(Translated from Spanish)