Conecta Fiction Pitches: What Spanish Screenwriters Are Working On
Spanish creators will pitch their series projects to producers as the SGAE Foundation celebrates its eighth consecutive year of boosting regional talent at this year’s Conecta Fiction & Entertainment market.
Heading to the forum are six projects from writers and filmmakers Roberto Márquez, Borja Echevarría, Samu Fuentes, David Caiña, Vicenta Ndongo, Diego Sabanés, Ignacio del Valle and Rai García.
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Developed as part of the foundation’s XI Television Series Creation Laboratory, the narratives range from historical to crime and social justice drama to horror thriller and coming-of-age comedy.
More on the titles in production:
“Dark Suns” (“Soles Negros”), Ignacio del Valle & Raimundo García
Based on del Valle’s 2016 crime novel of the same name, the six-part episodic follows protagonist Captain Arturo Andrade. The fourth installment in his experimental written rubicon is directed for the screen by García and covers a poorly known period of Spain’s post-civil war. “With the aesthetics of ‘Mindhunter’ or ‘True Detective,’ we dive into a nightmare in which more than 30,000 children disappeared through the mechanisms of Franco’s regime over 40 years,” says del Valle.
“The Crazy Queen” (“La Reina Loca”), Borja Echevarría
In this period drama set in 1721, rebellious adolescent Isa is married to Louis I of Bourbon, the future King of Spain. The young couple faces backlash as Isa’s actions firmly separate her from trite traditions. Echevarría, who wrote “The Lost Voices” alongside Carlos Suara, relays that the project is one of rebellion, which “vindicates a female historical figure who was misunderstood in her time and who, in essence, criticizes the remnants of patriarchy throughout history.”
“Outkasts” (“Makarras”), David Caiña
It’s Bilbao, 1996, and this coming-of-age tale follows its protagonists through parental conflict, their first kiss and punk music outings against the tense background of the Basque Conflict. The seven-episode comedy pairs the strife of adolescence with the weight of the world at large, “a fresh new way to reflect on the basque conflict, by focusing on the things that both sides have in common rather than the ones that tear them apart,” Caiña notes.
“The Obscurity” (“La Obscuridad”), Roberto Márquez
When a dark, supernatural force descends on neighbors of a tourist town in the Pyrenees, they’re tormented by visions that reveal personal and communal secrets, long buried. According to Márquez, the eight-episode horror series “puts a twist on the typical ‘small town thriller’ by offering a fresh new and sophisticated perspective, through a narrative that combines two timelines that are nested in different genres: high horror and character drama, something never seen in Spain.”
“Ike’s” (“Las de Ike”), Samu Fuentes
In Spain, the ’90s marked a seemingly forward progression for the country on the global stage, but on the ground, people suffered the effects of high inflation and staggering unemployment. Based on the true story of 200 women who staged a four-year lock-in at the IKE shirt factory to retain their livelihood, the project offers “an extraordinary example of resistance and a process of collective female empowerment that deserves to be rescued from oblivion,” according to Fuentes.
“Mediators” (“Mediadores”), Vicenta Ndongo, Diego Sabanés, Xabi Puerta
Lawyer Elsa and psychologist Manu collide while working at a family support center in a blue-collar community in Madrid. The cases they handle reflect their own desires for change in their personal lives, and though their distinct personalities often clash, they’ll lean on each other to maneuver this mid-life metamorphosis. Selected for the 2022-23 Residence of the Film Academy, the project teams actress and writer-producer Ndongo (“Zorras”) with award-winning screenwriter and director Sabanés (“El chico del tren”) alongside Puerta.
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