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Spain has found a place on the global film industry’s radar as an attractive market for co-producing projects, boosted by its bigger-than-ever-public-sector funding.

The trend comes in a moment of maturity for its audiovisual industry, with competitive tax incentives and the emergence of fresh talent, often female, whether directors or producers. Unlike U.S. indie producers, hard hit by streamers pulling back, European counterparts still have public sector financing.

But to make movies of any artistic ambition, which might justify that funding and break out to foreign sales and a theatrical release, producers are looking overseas more and to other parts of Spain for production partners.

Co-production is booming. Only last year, Spain co-produced 70 films, beating its average production for the period 2018-2022 of 256 titles, according to Spanish film agency Icaa.

Icaa’s selective aid for movie production reached €20 million (21.48 million). Of that, a minimum 5 went to support minority co-productions.

Fast building as one of Spain’s leading hotbeds for emerging producer and creative talent, the Madrid Film School’s Ecam Incubator, now on its sixth edition, has picked five promising titles for its 2023 program.

Aimed at Spanish directors, screenwriters and producers, the Incubator program is open to directors’ debuts as well as second or third feature projects. Each title will receive an endowment of 10,000 Euros towards its development. Creative teams hailing from outside of Madrid have their trips covered.

The 25 projects that have passed through the Incubator over the past five editions have received a total of 21 Spanish Academy Goya nominations.

Many of the past Ecam projects have participated in prominent film festivals, including Venice, Rotterdam, the Berlinale and San Sebastian.

A Drill Down on the Five 2023 Projects:

“Catorce de Marzo” (“March 14”)

The feature debut of Canarian Alberto Gross Molo, who made his mark with short films “Grietas” and “Solos,...

Juan Marisé’s “Camionero,” Laura Baumeister’s “Daughter of Rage” and Ion Bors’ “Carbon” triumphed Wednesday at San Sebastian Festival’s prize ceremony for winners at its main industry competitions: the Europe-Latin America Co-production Forum and Wip Latin America and Wip Europa pix-in-post showcases.

Also among victors were Juan Andrés Arango’s “Where the River Begins,” María Zanetti’s “Alemania,” Carlos Lechuga’s “Vicenta B.,” and Eduardo Crespo’s “The Wind’s Cave,” the latter walking off with the trophy at San Sebastián’s Ikusmira Berriak, fast emerging as one of the key young talent hubs in Spain.

Three of the seven winning titles are from Argentina, a sign of the country’s undeniable depth in talent as its industry, with Covid-19 on the wane, continues to be whammied by economic crisis.

The caliber of many Latin American producers with projects at the Forum suggest another strong year for an...

Paula Hernández’s “El Viento Que Arrasa,”Cristian Leighton’s “El Porvenir de la Mirada” and Johnny Ma’s “Chin-Gone” feature among 14 projects selected for San Sebastian’s 9th Europe-Latin America Co-Production Forum, the Spanish festival’s industry centerpiece.

Many projects come with high-caliber Latin American arthouse backing.

“El Viento Que Arrasa” was talked up by producer Hernán Musaluppi at Cannes; “El Porvenir de la Mirada” is associate produced by Academy Award winner Sebastián Lelio, (“A Fantastic Woman”); Ma’s “Chin Gone” is produced by Rachel Daisy Ellis’ Desvia Produçoes in Brazil, whose credits include “Divine Love,” “Rojo” and “Prayers for the Stolen.”

Of two feature debuts, “Alemania” is backed by Tarea Fina (“The Sleepwalkers”), and “La Sucesión” by Pasto, which had “The Employer and the Employee” at Cannes’ Directors’ Fortnight, and Gema Films (“Soldado”). New Argentine Cinema icon Diego Dubcovsky produces Romina Paula’s “People by Night.” Multi-prized Spanish...

Rudolf van den Berg’s feature stars Tygo Gernandt [pictured] as the notorious art forger Han van Meegeren.

Leading Dutch production outfit Rinkel Film has revealed further details of its new feature about notorious art forger Han van Meegeren.

A Real Van Meegeren, as the project is called, will be directed by Rudolf van den Berg (Tirza, Süskind), who has cowritten the screenplay with Jan Eilander.

It is being produced by Rinkel Film (through Reinier Selen) together with Fu Works (San Fu Maltha) and Cadenza Films (Jeroen Koolbergen). The other partners are, in Luxembourg, Tarantula Luxembourg (Donato Rotunno), and, in Croatia, Nukleus Film Croatia (Sinisa Juricic).

Cineart will release in Benelux.

Van Meegeren is often called “one of the greatest art forgers of the Twentieth Century”. He was renowned for his fake Vermeers and for his forgeries of work by Seventeenth Century Dutch masters.

Among the clients he managed to hoodwink in his shady but illustrious career was leading...