The Film Academy and the Malaga Festival recognize Manuela Ocón with the Ricardo Franco Award

The Film Academy and the Malaga Festival awards the 2026 Ricardo Franco Prize to production director Manuela Ocón Aburto. This recognition distinguishes the contribution of film professionals whose work, developed from the technical and creative field of production, is essential for the materialization of cinematographic works.

Manuela Ocón has a consolidated career in the field of Spanish audiovisual production management. With about three decades of professional experience, has participated in more than twenty feature films and fiction series, performing functions in all categories of the production department since 1996 and assuming responsibilities in projects of notable artistic and organizational complexity.

After his first works with filmmakers such as Carlos Saura or Fernando Fernán Gómez, his professional career has developed in close collaboration with directors such as Alberto Rodríguez, Santi Amodeo, Ana Rosa Diego or Paco Baños, participating in productions that have contributed to the evolution of contemporary Andalusian and Spanish cinema.

His collaboration with director Alberto Rodríguez and the production company Atypical Films has given rise to a reference filmography, including 7 virgins (2004), After (2008), Group 7 (2012), The minimal island (2014), The man of a thousand faces (2016) and the series To the fish (2017–2019). In 2022 he assumed the production direction of Model 77, work for which she was recognized with the Prize Goya for Best Production Direction and the Carmen Award from the Andalusian Film Academy.

Throughout her career she has received various distinctions, including the Luz Award from the Huelva Ibero-American Film Festival and the ASECAN Josefina Molina Award, as well as recognitions granted by professional associations and entities in the audiovisual sector.

Manuela Ocón has a doctorate from the Faculty of Communication Sciences of the University of Seville. She is the author of the book Singular Female Time, derived from her doctoral thesis Gender inequality in the management team of fiction production in Spain, a work that won the ASECAN Award for Best Film or Audiovisual Book.

The production director from Huelva will collect the award within the framework of the 29th Malaga Festival, which will be held between March 6 and 15.