The moment has arrived for Spanish cinema, with productions from Spain and Latin America ready to illuminate blank theatre screens with stories—dramas, comedies, thrillers, documentaries, and thoughtful reflections about who we are and who we aspire to become. The pandemic is behind us, and the Malaga Festival, celebrated for its 25th year, opens a new chapter that continues the craft and philosophy of the last decade. It remains a festival that quietly, confidently benefits the films it programs and the people who bring them to life.
The red carpet will return to the neighborhood, signaling a renewed sense of community and spectacle at Cervantes Theatre. Yet this year, time itself seems to stand beside the event: the festival promises bright light and clearer skies, a relief after the rain and weather conditions that marred recent editions, even when masks were in place. Expect standout moments from national audiovisual talent, including honorees Blanca Portillo, Carla Simón, Alberto Rodríguez, Raphael, and Yuyu Beringola, alongside the teams behind the featured films in and around the competition. Above all, Málaga’s fans and cinephiles will stream back, seeking selfies and moments of shared connection with the beloved faces from our films and series. As one festival director put it, Málaga is “a great celebration of cinema and joy, two words that feel especially right.”
Outline of the festival
From a strictly filmmaking perspective, the competition maintains its historical core: a commitment to fresh leadership practices, with a focus on empowering women in management and elevating more independent and alternative works. This philosophy allows Juan Antonio Vigar and his team to proudly note that many of today’s prominent Spanish filmmakers found their first opportunities here. Notable names such as Rodrigo Sorogoyen, Carla Simón, Alauda Ruiz de Azúa, and Carlos Marqués-Márquez are among those who have benefited from the platform the festival provides.
The festival is expected to set new records for scale. More than 200 films populate the festival schedule, with a flagship feature film competition capped at around 20 titles. Festival leadership notes a 20 percent increase in film submissions, underscoring a moment of vibrant audiovisual production and a rising interest in Málaga as a launching pad for careers and projects. This growth also spurred a new exhibition window, Málaga Premiere, where films that deserve to be seen but did not make the competition could still find an audience. As part of this expansion, nearly 20 titles are set to join the lineup, including long-anticipated works related to Miguel Ángel Vivas, and projects from a broader commercial spectrum such as Part Two by García and García, or the reimagined Wolf and the Rose. The festival also shines a light on non-Latin American international cinema, with “Mosaicos” emerging as a standout—an acclaimed foreign film showcase that has earned important awards and is not yet widely released in Spain. The festival’s reach extends beyond films to friendships and collaborations; this season brings new sponsors, and Spanish public television will amplify the event with broader media coverage, broadcasting the opening premiere live on La 2 for a widening audience. [Attribution: Malaga Festival press materials]
As shown, the festival, now well past its first quarter century, refuses to be complacent. It continues inviting audiences to the ultimate celebration: the live experience of cinema, where a screen and a chair become a shared space of wonder and conversation. This is cinema as a communal ritual, accessible to fans across the United States, Canada, and beyond, who crave the ideas, voices, and stories that travel from Iberia to the Americas and back again. [Attribution: Málaga Festival overview]