A total of 17 titles are set to take part in the two international sections (Cine casi hecho and Cine por hacer) of the sixth edition of MECAS, Market Dedicated to Almost-finished Films, part of the 22^nd Las Palmas de Gran Canaria International Film Festival. The event will unspool on 13, 14, 15 and 16 April in its usual location of the Elder Museum of Science and Technology. The platform is aimed at directors, producers and industry professionals from both Europe and Latin America who may be in search of funding and development support for their feature films.

In total, 262 works were submitted during the call, and in the end, nine finalists have been selected in the Cine Casi Hecho sidebar (a market for films in the final phases of production, editing or post-production) – they will be duking it out for a prize worth €8,000. Meanwhile, eight have been chosen for the Cine por Hacer strand (for projects at the development stage), which will all be locking horns for a €5,000 prize. The selected titles hail from Peru, Argentina, the Dominican Republic, Spain, France, Greece and Portugal.

What’s more, according to Lorena Morín, the director of MECAS, they are propositions that “hover on the boundaries between reality, fiction and sheer madness; I could describe them as urgent, political, environmental, inclusive, intimate or analogue… But I’d better not, because they are all of that – but none of that describes them definitively.”

The market kicks off on 13 April with a meeting between international producers (bearing projects that could potentially be shot on Gran Canaria) and local companies active in the audiovisual sector. The objective of this event is to promote the talent and the independent film industry on the Canary Islands. In the days that follow, the participants will attend some intensive days of screenings, presentations, classes and meetings with invited experts, who include production company representatives, sales agents, distributors, and international fund and festival reps.

“The fact that we have reached this point is, to a great extent, thanks to the Las Palmas Film Festival and its director, Luis Miranda, for letting us follow our gut instinct every year. It’s also down to the Gran Canaria Film Commission because with every new edition, they believe in us even more; to Music Library &SFX for having had the courage to jump on the bandwagon; and to PROEXCA for their continuing support. Thanks also to our new partners who have come along for the ride, such as Rotterdam Lab, Ficx Pro Gijón and L’Alternativa’s Cinema Pendent, this past year, we have pushed the boundaries of MECAS,” sums up Morín.

One novelty this year is that Music Library &SFX will be offering an award worth €1,500 to the winning project in Cine Casi Hecho, which consists of free access to its production music, with unlimited downloads. One example of a finished title that previously took part in MECAS is the documentary from the Canary Islands An Inhabited Volcano [+leggi anche:
recensione
scheda film], directed by David Pantaleón and José Víctor Fuentes, which will be in competition at the imminent Visions du Réel Film Festival.

Here is the full list of projects:

Cine Casi Hecho

Monólogo Colectivo – Sarah Jessica Rinland (Argentina)
Producer: Melanie Schapiro - Trapecio Cine

Estados generales – Mauricio Freyre (Peru/Spain)
Producers: Estudio Rien, Tasio

Los restos del pasar [+leggi anche:
trailer
scheda film] – Luis Soto, Alfredo Picazo (Spain)
Producers: Daniel Peña, Alejandro González - Mubox

Beckett y el Rinoceronte blanco – Adán Aliaga (Spain)
Producer: Miguel Molina - Jaibo Films

El Príncipe de Nanawa – Clarisa Navas (Argentina/Paraguay)
Producer: Eugenia Campos Guevara - Gentil Cine

Punku – Juan Daniel Fernández Molero (Peru)
Producer: Juan Daniel Fernández Molero - Tiempo Libre

Balane 3 – Ico Costa (Portugal)
Producer: Julia Alves - Oublaum Filmes

Los tonos mayores [+leggi anche:
trailer
scheda film] – Ingrid Pokropek (Argentina)
Producer: Iván Moscovich - 36 Caballos

La hojarasca [+leggi anche:
recensione
intervista: Macu Machín
scheda film] – Macu Machín (Spain)
Producer: Jamie Weiss - El Viaje Films

Cine por Hacer

La pérdida de la magia – Silvia Rey (Spain)
Producer: Limbus Filmak

A Day in the Life of Jo: Chapter Phaedra – Jacqueline Lentzou (France/Greece)
Producer: 4 A 4 Productions

M-X – Iván Blanco Fernández (Spain)
Producer: Javi Tasio - BRBR

Batallón 7 – Natalia Garayalde (Argentina)
Producer: Eva Cáceres - Punto de Fuga Cine

Donde estés será mi hogar – Lionel Baaverman (Argentina)
Producer: Florencia de Múgica - Bomba Cine

3 balas – Génesis S Valenzuela (Dominican Republic)
Producer: 1981 CINEMA COLLECTIVE

Maspalomas – Reka Valerik (France)
Producer: David Hurst - Dublin Films

Keenie #166 – Blanca Bonet (Spain)
Producer: Omar Al Abdul Razzak - Tourmalet Films