Seven spanish films shot in the Basque Country Galicia, Catalonia and Castille León have been selected in different sections of the festival

Spain Film Commission and twelve of its members will attend the European Film Market at “Cinema from Spain” stand  in Martin Gropius-Bau C1 where the improvements of the Spanish tax incentive will be announced, as well as other advantages of filming in Spain Andalucia Film Commission, Bilbao Bizkaia Film Commission, Canary Islands Film, Cantabria Film Commission, Castilla La Mancha Film Commission, Catalunya Film Commission, Film Madrid, Madrid Film Office, Mallorca Film Commission, Navarra Film Commission, Valladolid Film Commission and Vitoria- Gasteiz Film Office will attend the largest European audiovisual market to capture audiovisual projects in development, in one of the best moments of the Spanish filming industry. 

Spanish tax incentives

The improvement of tax incentives was introduced by Law 38/2022 and increases the cap of deductions for productions from 10 to 20 million euros and of 10 million euros per episode in the case of series.  By the same law, the cap of 100.000 euros per person for expenditure in creative staff in foreign productions was eliminated. These changes, which represent a substantial improvement in the competitiveness of Spain, as a destination for filming and audiovisual investments, are one of the novelties that Spain Film Commission will spread in this edition. 

Participation of Spanish films

The great moment that Spanish cinema is experiencing is reflected in the participation of seven films, shot in unique locations throughout the country,  in different sections of the Berlinale.  

When Estíbaliz Urresola, from Álava, shot her short film “Cuerdas” she had the support of the Film Commissions. The short film,filmed in her natal town Llodio and in Muskiz, was presented at the Critics´ Week in Cannes and won the Rails d´Ory award, as well as the Forqué. When filming her debut feature film, Estíbaliz  once again received the support of the Film Commissions to facilitate not only the locations but also a lot of the necessary red tape to create the magic of cinema. Her film “20,000 species of bees” competes for the Golden Bear with a story which has a great variety of female characters that embody the family hive, with ancestral Basque traditions that have to do with the value of nature. It was shot in different locations in the Basque Country, such as Llodio, Hendaya and Amurrio. 

In the short films section, competes for the Golden Bear “Daydreaming so vividly about our Spanish holidays” directed by Christian Avilés and produced by ESCAC films, a contemporary fable about mass tourism filmed in various locations in Catalonia. 

“Matria” by Álvaro Gago has used different locations in Pontevedra, such as the parish of Mourente or the Santa Mar frozen food factory, one of the places chosen for the development of the plot, as well as the squares of A Ferrería and Peregrina.

“Sica” by Carla Subirana, a coming-of-age film shot on the Costa de Morte and starring a 14-year-old girl who, after her father's shipwreck, waits for the sea to return his body, participates in the section Generation 14plus

“The spirit of the beehive”, filmed by Víctor Erice filmed in 1973 in the Segovian town of Hoyuelos, participates in the Retrospective section.
"A árvore" ("The Tree") by Ana Vaz, a Spain-Brazil co-production and “Anqa” by Helin Çelik, a Spain-Austria co-production will participate in the Forum Expanded section.