To find out about current trends in independent film distribution in Spain, we met with one of the country's leading companies, Avalon, which has been doing so for over a quarter of a century, specialising in auteur films.

Marketing and communications director Manuel Palos stressed, “Some countries support film distribution in other European nations: to help films from their countries gain greater reach, they support local distributors in these destination countries.” Stefan Schmitz confirmed this: “Film institutes in France, Germany, Italy and Scandinavia allocate funds to supporting the release of their films in other countries, such as Denmark with The End [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Joshua Oppenheimer
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Thanks to this financial support for independent distribution, today it is easier, more accessible, and less risky to release European films in Spain than it is on other continents. “In addition, we independent distributors receive subsidies from the ICAA for the films we have released, both European and Spanish or Latin American ones. European cinema is also subsidised by the Creative Europe - MEDIA programme, so for us, buying a German, French or Danish film is very different from buying a Korean, American or Angolan film," said Palos. Schmitz also pointed out, “Sales agents know exactly which subsidies come from each country." Many sellers remind the potential distributor of this: even if a film is shot in Taiwan, for example, the team may be from Europe.

However, not all countries take part in this exchange of backing: the ICAA, for example, will not subsidise a German distributor to release a Spanish film over there. This works to the detriment of other films industries. “I started watching American independent films, which now hardly ever reach Spanish cinemas,” recalled Palos, who mentioned another interesting issue: the special promotion or attention given by distributors to certain films in the different regions of Spain.

This territorial identification plays an important role. “When you have a film of this kind, you seriously consider it. We have known about this for ten years, and we concentrate our budget on the region where people are genuinely going to engage,” stressed Palos. “When budgets are limited, we appeal to the potential audience that will be interested, through local media, with the copies we launch or using our advertising expenditure, a large part of which we will invest in that region where people get engaged. It is better to have a good impact on a few than a bad impact on many,” he explained. Film festivals also cultivate a special public sensitivity in certain population groups. "For some of our films, 60% or 70% of the revenue comes from the regions where they were shot, such as Akelarre [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Pablo Agüero
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intervista: Álvaro Gago
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intervista: Carla Simón
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intervista: Carla Simón
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Another tendency in Spain that complements all this - and which avoids centralism - is to hold events with the film crew, with discussions with the public after the screenings: some films, such as On the Go [+leggi anche:
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intervista: María Gisèle Royo, Julia d…
scheda film], were enthusiastically promoted in this way by their directors Julia de Castro and María Gisèle Royo through many towns across Spain.