30/01/2006

According to figures announced by the Spanish Ministry of Culture, in 2005 local films displayed signs of vitality, both in terms of production and at the box office.

Beating the production record of the last 20 years, 142 Spanish feature films were produced in 2005, nine more than in 2004. Thirty of those films are currently in post-production and fifty of them are co productions. France, UK and Italy are among the European States who cooperate the most with Spanish cinema, while Argentina and Chilli are the Latin-American countries who co-produce most often with national films.

By the end of 2005 the market share for Spanish films was 16,74%, an increase of almost 3,5 % compared to 2004. This is the second best performance of the last 15 years, after 2001 when it reached a share of 17. As for admissions, the total figure is 20,9 million moviegoers, the equivalent to 105 million euros (12 million euros more than in 2004). The rise is based on the outstanding results of films such as Torrente 3, Princesas, Kingdom of Heaven and El penalti más largo del mundo, which attracted over one million people.

These figures are particularly satisfactory as they come in a year when the number of total admissions registered a drop of 18 million moviegoers. Good news also for European cinema (Spanish film included) whose market share increased from 27,2% (2004) to 37,18% (2005), while American films share decreased from 69,74% in 2004 to 60,24% In 2005.