The Canarian Government has announced a major investment in local filmmaking, allocating more than three million euros to support 36 new projects. The funding will bolster feature films, series, animation, documentaries, and short films.
A total of €3,329,000 has been awarded through two public calls for proposals organised in 2025 by the Directorate General for Cultural Innovation and Creative Industries. The initiatives targeted projects in both production and development phases, including minority co-productions and short film production. The selected projects were chosen by independent committees of experts.
In the Production category, nine projects have been subsidised from thirty-seven submissions. These include fiction films, animation, and documentaries. The supported production companies now have until 2028 to complete their works and will receive funding in instalments. Furthermore, for the third year running, support has been extended to minority co-productions, a move designed to enable Canarian companies to collaborate on larger international projects. Six of ten submissions in this co-production category were selected.
Additional funding was awarded in the Development phase, with twelve projects chosen from sixty applicants. For Short Film Production, nine projects were selected from forty-three entries.
A Showcase of Selected Projects
The feature films selected for production funding are: ‘Especies distintas’ (Different Species) by Laura Pérez Gómez; ‘El jardín de Té’ (The Tea Garden) to be directed by Gonzalo López-Gallego; ‘La sombra de la arena’ (The Shadow of the Sand) directed by Aarón J. Melián; and ‘Fiesta negra’ (Black Party) written and directed by Guillermo Magariños.
They are joined by the feature-length documentaries ‘Milagro y miseria’ (Miracle and Misery) co-directed by Marina Alberti and José A. Alayón; ‘Regreso al rayo verde’ (Return to the Green Ray) directed by Juanma V. Betancort; and ‘Herr Franco must go!’ by Miguel G. Morales. The animation projects include the series ‘Limbo ville’ by Israel Hernández and ‘Super Truck’ directed by Rubén Zarauza and Iria G. Caballero. Notably, four of these projects received development grants last year.
The minority co-productions feature international collaborations, including the film ‘El día del fin del mundo encontraré tu pasado’ with Chile, ‘Señoras de la limpieza’ (Cleaning Ladies) with Portugal, ‘Caza y pesca’ (Hunting and Fishing) with Uruguay and Argentina, and ‘Ya no siento el corazón’ (I No Longer Feel My Heart) with Sweden. Documentaries in this category include “The Possibility of Man” with Dutch partners and “La mujer del barco” (The Woman on the Boat) with Spanish companies.
The development slate includes promising feature films such as ‘Tropic’, ‘La fuga’, ‘Tierra’, ‘Seres eléctricos’, ‘¿Quién es la virgen?’, ‘Los extraños’, and ‘Arroró (canción de cuna)’. Documentaries and animation projects in development include ‘Heurtebise’, ‘Y punto’, ‘Ruidos en el agua’, ‘Cave of Dreams’, and the series ‘Howly Wooly’.
Finally, the nine short films to receive production support are: ‘Cayó la tarde’ (The Evening Fell), ‘La teta’ (The Breast), ‘Graniza en Tacoronte’ (Hail in Tacoronte), ‘El traductor de pájaros’ (The Bird Translator), ‘Barranco’, ‘210’, ‘Naturaleza cálida’ (Warm Nature), ‘Por los pelos’ (By the Skin of Their Teeth), and ‘La maceta’ (The Flowerpot).
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