The Portuguese project “Coragem Hoje, Abraços Amanha” receives the CIIF Market Santa Cruz de Tenerife 2024 Award
“Perro viejo” (Spain), directed by Alejandro Cortés and produced by Clara Santaolaya (Batiak Films), won three awards: the Cabildo de Tenerife Award for the project with the greatest European reach, the MAFIZ Award for the best European project and the Térrea Award for the best European project.
“Tourist go home” (Spain, United Kingdom), directed by Hugo Santa Cruz and produced by Eduardo Cubillo and Esther Agúndez (La Gaveta Producciones), has won the Focus Canarias Award for the best Canarian project and the Music Library & SFX Award for the best European project.
Canary Islands International Film Market has awarded its annual prizes, which in its recently concluded 20th edition have gone to the following participating projects, whose aim is to promote their development and promotion abroad, at an event presented by the journalist Pilar Rumeu at the Mencey Hotel in Santa Cruz de Tenerife.
The CIIF Market Santa Cruz de Tenerife Award for the best international project, with a travel grant (3,000 euros) to attend an international market, has been awarded to “Coragem Hoje, Abraços Amanha” (Courage Today, Hugs Tomorrow), a historical feature film in development by Real Ficção (Portugal), directed and scripted by Joana Brandão and produced by Jacinta Barros and Rui Simões.
The Award was presented by Rosario González Carballo, Councillor for Social Action and President of the Municipal Institute for Social Action of the Santa Cruz de Tenerife City Council, and was collected by Joana Brandão.
“Courage Today, Hugs Tomorrow” is a story of courage and resilience, created through true stories, that follows seven women in different eras, who lived through the Portuguese dictatorship and were detained and tortured by the secret police of the New State.
The project leaders were looking at CIIF Market to “find a Spanish co-producer, who would allow us to apply for international co-production funds. We also want international partners, distributors and sales agents who would help us define a more detailed strategy in terms of participation in festivals, as well as release in cinemas in Europe and on streaming platforms, so this award will undoubtedly help us continue on our path,” they said.
The Tenerife Island Council Award for the project with the greatest European reach, with accreditation to attend a European film and/or audiovisual market, went to “Perro viejo” (Spain). This psychological drama and social fable directed by Alejandro Cortés and produced by Clara Santaolaya (Batiak Films) is about Thomas, a retired pilot who tries to commit suicide on the cliffs of La Gomera, causing a fatal accident with one of the twins of his immigrant neighbour who is fleeing from an abusive husband. To redeem himself, he befriends the surviving twin, teaches him the language of whistling and invents fables that the boy manipulates to save his mother and avenge his twin, after discovering that she died because of Thomas.
Alejandro Cortés received the award from José Carlos Acha, Councillor for Culture and Museums of Tenerife of the Cabildo de Tenerife. “We are presenting ourselves at CIIF Market with the aim of finding a Canarian co-producer to complete the project puzzle at a national level, as well as to make the leap to the international market, making it easier for the project to continue to complete its financing and grow at a creative and production level. In addition, we are looking for a distributor, international sales agent and pre-sales with television and platforms, stated Cortés and Santaolaya during their participation in the market.
“Tourist go Home” (Spain, United Kingdom) received the Focus Canarias Award for the best Canarian project with accreditation to attend an international market. This social satire directed by Hugo Santa Cruz and produced by Eduardo Cubillo and Esther Agúndez (La Gaveta Producciones) tells the story of Ñako, who changes radically when he takes over the illegal management of more than one hundred holiday apartments belonging to a vulture fund. Ñako enters a world in which he is the tourist. “At CIIF Market we want to start building bridges with other international co-producers, sales agents and national or international distributors,” said the delegates present.
The Music Library & SFX Award, with a flat rate for production, which will allow the synchronization of production music from the Music Library & SFX catalogues, for the best European project was also awarded to “Tourist go Home”, and the best Latin American project to “Marido a domicilio” (Argentina), a comedy directed by Hernán Belón and produced by Paula Goldstein (Paula Goldstein PC), about Julieta, a 35-year-old criminal lawyer, who temporarily houses Sebastián, 53, an unemployed chef. Enthusiastic about the dishes he cooks, she agrees to hire him as a live-in employee. She likes young and muscular men, and he wants nothing to do with love. But soon an unexpected connection develops between them.
The MAFIZ Award, with participation in MAFIZ 2025, the industry area of the Malaga Festival, for the best European project went to “Perro viejo” and for the best Latin American project to “Webmasters” (Uruguay), a drama directed by Maximiliano Contenti and produced by Lucía Gaviglio, Virginia Hinze and Lluis Fe Pérez (U Films), whose plot is set at the beginning of the new millennium, where a group of clever and daring teenagers emerge. Calling themselves ‘Webmasters’, they unravel a hidden digital business that quickly catapults them to wealth via the Internet. These young people navigate the turbulent waters of a still unexplored virtual world, challenging the limits of success and morality.
The Blurr Stories Award, with laboratory services that will enable the project to be completed with professional quality standards for its distribution and exhibition, was awarded to “Coragem Hoje, Abraços Amanha” and “El bosque sumergido” as the best European projects; and to “El Intermediario” as the best Latin American project.
“El bosque sumergido” (Spain) is a drama directed by Marina Seresesky and produced by Álvaro Lavín (Meridional Producciones), which tells the story of two women marked by the past: Teresa, a survivor of the Argentine military dictatorship, and Pilar, the Spanish woman who took her biological daughter, who face their secrets and guilt in the middle of a mysterious forest.
“El Intermediario” (Mexico, Guatemala) is a drama by Izabel Acevedo, produced by Nina Wara (Estación Marte Films), whose synopsis covers the story of Agustín Brito, 67 years old, foreman of the Dolores coffee farm. He wants to retire and make changes in his life, and to do so, he must confront the owner, K. Lutman, who wants to build a hydroelectric plant in Q’eqchi territory. Brito becomes an intermediary between Lutman and the Q’eqchi’ resistance in defense of their territory, led by the community’s journalist, Jacinta Lu.
The Térrea Award, which consists of the formulation of a sustainability plan to implement strategies to reduce emissions and improve the social impact of projects, went to “Perro viejo” as the best European project, and to “Las Memorias” (Colombia), a series directed by Julián Camilo Sánchez and produced by Sebastián Caballero and Vanessa Gómez (Red Collision Studios). In this thriller, Arturo owns a shop that sells stolen cell phones. Together with his best friend, he traffics with the information he extracts from the devices he steals. But when Arturo receives a cell phone that contains snuff videos (torture and murder), he realizes that he made a grave mistake: he is now the prey of the original owner of the device, an individual that no one would want to meet.
CIIF Market is organised by Festeam, Communication and Events, with the sponsorship of the Tenerife Island Council, 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.
The market has the collaboration of Tenerife Tourism, through the Tenerife Film Commission; Canary Islands Audiovisual Cluster and Macaronesia Films, among other entities, such as Music Library & SFX, AECINE, Bankinter, Blurr Stories, CIMA Impulsa, Control Freaks, IsLABentura Canarias, MAFIZ Málaga, PNR, RAHN Star, Riverflow Pictures, Térrea y ZEC (Canary Islands Special Zone).
