13/09/2024 - Names such as Paula Palacios, Lucía G. Romero and Macu Machín are among the filmmakers selected for the institution's Residencias and Rueda programmes

Director Paula Palacios, whose project Amor de Dios has been selected

Residencias Academia de Cine is a support programme for film creators developed by the institution that awards the Goyas with the support of the Madrid City Council, and Rueda Academia de Cine is an audiovisual development programme in collaboration with the ICAA. A few days ago, the 26 projects that will participate in their sixth and third editions, respectively, were announced.

Following the evaluation of the 933 applications submitted, industry professionals, who formed an assessment committee, have chosen for Residencias 2024-2025 the fiction feature films Amor de Dios, with a screenplay by the greatly missed master Carlos Saura, to be directed by Paula Palacios, who after being nominated for a Goya for Drowning Letters [+see also:
trailer
film profile] will be screening My Brother Ali [+see also:
trailer
film profile] at the next Seminci; Cura Sana, by Lucía G. Romero (adaptation of her own short film, winner of the Crystal Bear in the Generation 14plus section at this year's Berlinale - read interview); El entrenador de perros, by Argentinean Federico Luis (who won the Cannes' Critics Week Grand Prix for Simón de la montaña); Backside Ollie by Bárbara Fernández; Cecilia y el lobo by Blanca Torres; Dame tu libertad by Salva Martos Cortés; Eco by Meritxell A. Valls; Lana by David Castro González; Llegar a casa by Tania Gongar; Los nobles by Miguel Guindos; Misma boca, distinta mordida by Fabia Castro Hernández; Perlas by Carmen Menchacatorre; Surcos by Borja Luna; and Jondo by Miguel A. Trudu (co-written with Borja González Santaolalla).

These are joined by El hombre que siempre existió, a feature-length documentary by Carlos Troncoso Grao (Algo más que una pasión); Entre peñas, a non-fiction film by David Varela (Un cielo impasible [+see also:
film review
interview: David Varela
film profile]); Pina, an animated film by Cuban director Natalí Cardet; Rotunda, another animation by Candela Sierra; Camarada Margot, a fictional series by Almudena Monzú; and Próxima estación, a horror series by the Spanish-Venezuelan Gigi Romero.

These 20 will begin their artistic residency in October which will last until the end of June 2025. They will enjoy the necessary means and support to develop their audiovisual projects, receive advice from mentors, have work space, immersion in the Academy’s activities and industry meetings.

933 proposals were submitted to the sixth edition of the Spanish Film Academy Residencias programme: 744 feature films and 189 series. By genre, 828 are fiction, 83 documentaries and 22 animations. By nationality, 747 of the applicants are Spanish and the rest are from Argentina, Colombia, Italy, Mexico and Peru, among others.

On the other hand, the third edition of the Rueda programme received 239 nominations, of which the fiction films Las porteadoras, by Macu Machín (selected this year at the Berlinale Forum with The Undergrowth [+see also:
film review
interview: Macu Machín
film profile], which opens today in Spanish cinemas); Aniagua, to be directed by Marina Rúbies; La Fami, by Dembo Diaby; and Una cierva de cola blanca bebe del arroyo, by Colombian Andrés Ramírez Pulido (whose debut film La jauría won the 2022 Cannes' Critics Week Grand Prix); as well as Mancera, an animated feature by Khris Cembe, and Hechizos para revivir a una bruja, a documentary film by Natalia Solórzano (Avanzaré tan despacio).

Over the course of seven months, they will develop their projects telematically and in face-to-face meetings in three Spanish cities. This programme, which is committed to decentralisation, supports screenwriters who, due to their geographical, work or family circumstances, cannot come to Madrid to work on their projects.

(Translated from Spanish by Vicky York)