The eighth edition of the Market Dedicated to Almost-finished Films (MECAS), part of the Las Palmas de Gran Canaria International Film Festival, took place from 25-30 April, holding its awards ceremony on the last day. The jury, comprising producer Lucia Sapelli Ricaldoni (of Silberfluss Films), Ildefonso Rodríguez Torras (programming head of the Gijón International Film Festival), poet Silvia Rodríguez González, Nigerian filmmaker Chioma Uchechukwu Onyenwe (of Raconteurs Productions) and Tanguy Bertrand Renaud (sales executive from sales agent B Rated International), weighed up a total of 19 projects selected for the two international market strands: Almost-finished Films (titles at the post-production stage) and Films to Be Made (those in pre-production). They also decided on the winner of the Isla MECAS Award for a Canarian project.

And so, the Almost-finished Films Award, endowed with €8,000, went to Manantial (see the news), the new work by Sevillian helmer Manuel Muñoz Rivas (The Sea Stares at Us from Afar [+leggi anche:
recensione
trailer
intervista: Manuel Muñoz Rivas
scheda film] and the short film Aqueronte, nominated for the European Film Awards), “for being a borderline film teetering between life and the end of existence; a tribute to his father, his mother and a gesture intended to celebrate this love. He has filmed the worst moments as if it provided them with a form of protection from transience and mortality. The river sounds like the unstoppable and cruel passage of time,” according to the jury statement.

On the other hand, the Films to Be Made Award, worth €5,000, was bestowed upon My Name Is Erik Satie, Like Everybody Else by Lisbon-born author Joana Carro, produced by Jaione Camborda (The Rye Horn [+leggi anche:
recensione
trailer
intervista: Jaione Camborda
scheda film]), “for being a hybrid, a blend of autobiographical fiction, drawing on a wealth of poetry and imagination. It’s a delicate project that exalts the father figure as an existential and creative necessity. The filmmaker seeks out questions and fuels her movie with realities,” according to the statement.

The Map to Touch You by Canarian filmmaker Mercedes Afonso (Love in Motion) was granted the Isla MECAS Award, which comes with a sum of €1,000. It was chosen by the jury “for being a daring film in which the director reveals the archives of 12 years’ worth of intimate family life, the eruption of the La Palma volcano from her window, and how it destroyed the island’s properties and her son’s school. The mother finds herself as the protagonist of a map consisting of light and deep shadow.”

The Music Library &SFX Award for a project in the Almost-finished Films strand, which grants production music from the firm’s catalogues and musical supervision, went to Nowhere to Go, the feature debut by Argentina’s Santiago Gershanik; Estoque by Valencian helmer Andrea Segarra Bueno will benefit from script consultancy thanks to the Very Good Script Award for a project in Films to Be Made; and Delivery Girl, the feature debut by Peru’s Jorge Shinno, scooped the Blackout Films Award, entailing the creation of a DCP for his film.

Here is the full list of award winners:

Almost-finished Films Award
Manantial - Manuel Muñoz Rivas (Spain)
Producers: El Viaje Films, La Maleta Films

Films to Be Made Award
My Name Is Erik Satie, Like Everybody Else - Joana Carro (Spain)
Producer: Esnatu Zinema

Isla MECAS Award
The Map to Touch You - Mercedes Afonso (Spain)
Producers: Lunática Producciones Audiovisuales, Bocacha Films 

Music Library &SFX Award for a project in Almost-finished Films
Nowhere to Go - Santiago Gershanik (Argentina/Spain)
Producer: Santiago Gershanik

Very Good Script Award for a project in Films to Be Made
Estoque - Andrea Segarra Bueno (Spain)
Producers: Maqueta Films, Nakamura Films

Blackout Films Award
Delivery Girl - Jorge Shinno (Peru/Spain)
Producers: La Furia Films, Mestizo Studios, Danidog Films