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CIIF Market will screen Lo Carga el Diablo as the culmination of the tribute to producer Chano Álvarez

The special screening and presentation of the II CIIF Market Award – Development Society of Santa Cruz de Tenerife is free and will take place on October 17 at the Víctor cinema.

Tristán is a frustrated writer who makes a living writing inspiring phrases on sugar packets. His routine life changes when he agrees, under mysterious circumstances, to transport the frozen body of his brother Simón across Spain, to bury him in the house where they grew up. This is the initial premise of Lo Carga El Diablo, a film by Guillermo Polo, shot in Tenerife, and which was consolidated as a project within the CIIF Market in 2019. The film will be screened on October 17, at 8:30 p.m. at the Víctor cinema in the capital as the culmination of the presentation ceremony of the II CIIF Market Award – Development Society of Santa Cruz de Tenerife, which will be received by the Canarian producer Sebastián (Chano) Álvarez, from Volcano Films, the local production company of the film.

This will be the second day of screenings and awards ceremony after the award given on the 14th to Eduardo Campoy and the screening of the film Padres. Both events are open to the public upon purchasing an invitation on the website www.ciifmarket.com or the Eventbrite platform. The award is sponsored by the Development Society of the Santa Cruz de Tenerife City Council with the intention of bringing the Canary Islands International Film Market (CIIF Market) even closer to the public. The market, which is celebrating its twentieth edition, will take place from the 10th to the 18th of October in Santa Cruz de Tenerife.

CIIF Market is an annual meeting point for European producers, distributors and investors, with the aim of promoting financing and stimulating international co-production of film and audiovisual projects aimed at the global market. CIIF Market also seeks to contribute to the revitalization of the industry by attracting national and international companies and promoting meetings with Canarian producers. In short, creating synergies between creatives, producers, television channels, distributors, sales agents and other professionals to encourage film and audiovisual creation and promote their internationalisation.

It is an activity organized by Festeam, Communication and Events, under the sponsorship of the Cabildo de Tenerife, Department of Culture, Museums and Sports; the City Council of Santa Cruz de Tenerife, through the Development Society; and the Government of the Canary Islands, through the Canary Islands Institute for Cultural Development, Canary Islands Film and PROEXCA; with the collaboration of Tourism of Tenerife, through the Tenerife Film Commission; the Audiovisual Cluster of the Canary Islands and Macaronesia Films, among other entities.

Sebastián Álvarez

Sebastián Álvarez is one of the leading figures in the audiovisual scene in the Canary Islands. He participated as a producer in the work Esposados, by Juan Carlos Fresnadillo, the first Spanish short film nominated for an Oscar Award. In 1994 he created Volcano Films, one of the first service production companies in Spain. He has been its CEO and executive producer since then.

Thanks to this and the career he has developed over the years, Sebastián Álvarez has consolidated his reputation as both an Executive Producer of audiovisual content and of services for third parties on an international level. His professional interests led him to promote the creation of the Tenerife Film Commission in 2000, of which he is a founding member. He also promoted the birth of CLAC (Audiovisual Cluster of the Canary Islands), a pioneering initiative in our community of which he was the founding president and founding partner of Profilm, the first and only association of Spanish companies that provides services to international production.

Among his most notable credits as a producer are Caótica Ana by Julio Médem, Exodus: Gods and Kings by Ridley Scott, Evolution by Lucile Hadzihalilovic, a French-Spanish co-production recognized with the Special Jury Prize and Best Photography at the 2015 San Sebastián Film Festival, among others; La Viajante (2019), Miguel Mejías’s first film and Rendir Los Machos (2020), also David Pantaleón’s first film.

In 2022, he completed the executive production of Stard Gatt’s feature film Carching Dust; and in 2023 he shot Lo Carga el Diablo, which premiered in the official section of the last Miami film festival. He is preparing the series Los 12 by Carles Velat, a series endorsed by having been awarded the Islabentura Best Screenplay Award (2021) and the Filmarket Hub Award (2021) for best series project.

Lo Carga El Diablo

Director Guillermo Polo explains that he doesn’t understand comedy without drama and assures that “if there’s something that really makes us laugh in fiction it’s a good loser.” “Deep down, we’ve all been that loser, that makes us empathize with him and understand his actions, even if sometimes we don’t share them,” he says. About his film, which some critics have described as a “mind-blowing road movie,” Polo says that he finds it interesting to see how “Tristán interacts throughout the journey with the various characters he meets, acting as their mirror. The clearest case is the confrontation between Álex (Mero González) and Tristán (Pablo Molinero), she as a clear representative of generation Z, and Tristán of that generation in Spain that was left halfway through everything.” He also highlights the puzzle of landscapes and subcultures offered by the different communities in Spain. “With this film I wanted to bring the narrative of American indie cinema to a Spanish visual identity and sound design.” The film is produced by Hermanos Polo, Volcano Films, Japónica Films and Batiak Films; and stars Pablo Molinero, Mero González, Antonia San Juan and Isak Ferriz.

Guillermo Polo has written and directed five short films, has made music videos for several national and international music groups and has been working in the film and video sector since 2005.

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