"They love us more abroad"
Spanish movies took twice as much money outside Spain than at home in 2011
In 2011 Spanish films took more than double at the international box office than they did at home - 185 million euros compared with 93 million euros - the FAPAE, the Audiovisual Producers Association of Spain, announced Wednesday. The figure is more than double what it was in 2010, when Spanish movies made 90 million euros internationally.
As FAPAE president Pedro Pérez put it: "They love us more abroad than at home." However, delivering the figures at the close of Madrid de Cine, a three-day event for international film buyers, Pérez warned that Spain's cinema was facing a difficult time: "We ought to sell more abroad, because we run the risk of producing marginal cinema, something that doesn't correspond at all to the history of Spanish film."
The event named Pedro Almodóvar's The Skin I Live In the winner of this year's FAPAE-Rentrak prize for the Spanish film that had the most impact in 2011, with the director's brother and producer, Agustín Almodóvar, picking up the award.
However, the most-seen homegrown production was Woody Allen's Midnight in Paris, which was the most popular Spanish film in 14 countries. The New York director's Spain-financed, English-language film, together with Roman Polanski's Carnage - also made with Spanish money and shot in English - plus the Almodóvar movie, are the three main reasons for the doubling of Spain's international takings.
In the US alone, Midnight in Paris took almost 45 million euros, a quarter of the 185 million total. In all, five Spanish films took over five million euros at the global box office: Midnight in Paris, The Skin I Live In, Carnage, Alejandro González Iñarritu's Biutiful and Julia's Eyes.
In total, 199 films were produced in Spain last year, making it the fourth-biggest country in Europe in terms of production and the ninth in the world - three spots down from 2010. In terms of national market share, homegrown films accounted for 15 percent of takings at the Spanish box office - putting Spain in 27th place out of the 57 territories studied by Rentrak. In terms of ticket sales, Spain has the 14th biggest market in the world, with 95.6 million spectators.
In 2011, 110 Spanish films were shown abroad - up from 91 in 2010. Mexico was the country where Spain had the biggest presence, with 36 films.
Speaking at the event, Gonzalo Salazar-Simpson, president of the State Cinema Association, told Spanish film producers to "not only export more, but also co-produce more internationally, looking for global themes, making international sales deals before shooting [and] heading abroad right from the script."
Enrique Urbizu, director of this year's big Goya Award winner No habrá paz para los malvados and patron of Madrid de Cine, said he was optimistic about the future. "There is a lot of talent. We are used to scant financing, and when they see our films abroad they are surprised by our low budgets. [...] I have faith in the quantity of ideas bubbling up among young directors. Our filmmaking is very, very attractive."
