The Malaga Festival reveals the program for its 29th edition

From March 6 to 15, the Malaga Festival returns for its 29th edition to once again photograph the diversity of Spanish audiovisuals through an ambitious program with 263 formats, covering fiction feature films, documentaries, short films and television series under the motto “Culture is an encounter and Málaga, the best moment.”

Juan Antonio Vigar, manager of Málaga Procultura and director of Malaga Festival, has outlined the contents of this new edition of the Malaga Festival. As for the stake, this year a total of 2,883 audiovisuals (compared to the 2,745 of the last edition, 5% more), for a total of 263 selected works, coming from 71 countries (compared to 54 in 2025), which demonstrates the important international positioning of the festival, with a set of titles that are an x-ray of audiovisuals in Spanish in recent months.

“Some important data, which make up the x-ray of our festival: 66% of those registered are Spanish, which shows that we are the reference Festival for Spanish cinema. In addition, we have received 864 Latin American audiovisuals, which reflects the important prestige and our growing positioning in sister territories. And one fact that we especially like: we are a festival that continues to be a promoter of emerging talent, with 31.5%, 909 debut works, of those registered,” explained Vigar.

The director of the contest has also explained that, of the 2,745 films registered, 1.182 of sido led by women, which means 41% of the total; while, of those selected, 102 have been directed by women, 39%, "which represents practically the same average of registered films directed by women, thus maintaining proportionality and, with it, the already historic commitment to cinema made by women. And of the 22 feature films in the Official Selection in competition, 9 have been directed by women, which means practically 41% of the total."

Official Section and official passes outside the competition

The Official Section in competition It will include 22 films (12 Spanish and 10 Latin American). To these we must add 21 films (19 Spanish and 2 Latin) in the non-competitive Official section, including the closing.

To the Spanish ones already announced Malaga Street, of Maryam Touzani, inaugural film; High Capacities, of Victor García León, y After Kim, of Ángeles González-Sinde, they add up Runner, of Laura Garcia Alonso; Iván & Hadoum, of Ian de la Rosa; The good daughter, of Julia de Paz; Lapönia, of David Serrano; Bad beast, of Barbara Farre; My dear lady, of Fernando González Molina; Pioneers. They just wanted to play, of Marta Díaz de Lope Díaz; Pizza Movies, of Carlo Padial, y I will not die of love, of Marta Matute.

Along with these, the Latin American Angels, of Paula Markovitch (Mexico, Argentina); The heart of the wolf, of Francisco J. Lombardi (Peru); The Guardian, of Nuria Ibanez (Mexico, Spain); The garden we dream of, of Joaquin del Paso (Mexico); red hangar, of Juan Pablo Sallato (Chile, Argentina, Italia); Juana, of Daniel Gimenez Cacho (Mexico); The woman in line, of Benjamin Avila (Argentina, Spain); The Condor daughter, of Alvaro Olmos Torrico (Bolivia, Peru, Uruguay); a thousand pieces, of Sergio Castro-San Martín (Chile Argentina, Spain), and Anonymous neurotic, of Jorge Perugorría Rodríguez (Cuba).

And the official out-of-competition passes of the Spanish women 9 cures, of Patricia Ortega; To an island of you, of Alexis Morante; Andy, of Roman Parrado in cineforum format; Auri, of Violeta Salama; Every day a smart one is born, of Arantxa Echevarria; Almost everything good, of Andrés Salmoyraghi and Rafael López Saubidet; hunting day, of Peter Aguilera; two days, of Gonzaga Manso; Feminine Singular, of Xavi Puebla; Hour and twenty, of Marc Romero; Hugo 24, of Luc Knowles; The Benetón family +2, of Joaquin Mazon, which will be the closing; The righteous, of Jorge A. Lara and Fernando Pérez; Confidential Mallorca, of David in the Dark; Solos, of Guillermo Rios; all colors, of Beatriz de Silva (cinema); Another home, of David Moragas; a son, of Nacho the House (cineforum), and Trip to the country of the whites, of Daniel Sancho. And the Latinas Bye bye paradise, of Kim Elizondo Navarro (Costa Rica, Colombia, Uruguay) and God's jacket, of Fernan Miras (Argentina, United States).

He jury of the Official Section will be made up of the Basque director and screenwriter Jaione Camborda Coll (chairwoman); the director of the Morelia International Film Festival, Daniela Michel (Mexico); the Peruvian writer and screenwriter Santiago Roncagliolo; the spanish actress Loreto Mauleon; the spanish director Belen Funes; the Argentine director and actor Gaston Pauls and the also Spanish Rosa Montero.

Alternative sections: series, a window to America, cooking...

The Festival will also feature Zonazine, a commitment to new cinema that is now 23 years old; the sections of Short films; Documentaries y Mosaic: International Panorama, where there will be seven non-Latin American films that have won important awards at festivals. Additionally, the section is presented Affirming women's rights, where seven audiovisuals have been selected.

In the selection of Series (official non-competitive section), seven titles participate: Acoustic Home, by Alexis Morante (Hbo Max/Sony Music); Pigs, by Andrea Jaurrieta, Laura M. Campos and Núria Gago (Prime Video); Between lands 2, by Humberto Miró, Salvador García and David Montoya (Atresmedia); The girl, by Paco Cabezas (Atresmedia); Millennial mal, by Lorena Iglesias and Andrea Jaurrieta (Filmin and Tornasol); For one hundred million, by Nacho G. Velilla (Movistar), and if If it's Tuesday, it's murder, by Salvador Calvo and Abigail Schaaff (Disney).

As announced last edition, the new section is incorporated America, America, non-competitive, dedicated to the cinema of American identities and which, in this reiteration of the term, covers these territories in their entirety, from the urban and well-known to the indigenous and rural, showing the diversity of cultures and forms of audiovisual creation that America offers today. In it there will be three titles from Mexico, Brazil and Chile.

Regarding the gastronomic section of the Festival, Cinema Kitchen, in collaboration with Lumen, Gastronomic Productions and sponsored by Victoria Beers y Food from Spain with the collaboration of Bodegas Emilio Moro, nine documentaries participate that are competing for the silver biznagas in this section, which will also feature the usual round tables and Gala Dinner at the Gran Hotel Miramar.

Industry and business, at the 29th Malaga Festival

The Villa del Mar, inaugurated last year on Malagueta beach, will once again be the headquarters of the Festival in collaboration with the Polo Digital in which the ties, projects and synergies between the audiovisual and cultural industry and the technologies that are changing it day by day will be shown. It will be a meeting point where entertainment, technology, creativity and sustainability merge with the audiovisual, open to professionals and the general public and will host free open-air concerts.

Juan Antonio Vigar has also highlighted a strategic project for the Festival, the MAFIZ Industry area, made up of events that promote the financing, co-production, distribution and sale of cinema in Spanish, all from the support and promotion of new Ibero-American audiovisual talent in its consideration as a transversal objective for this broad industrial area. Inside, it stands out in the Industry area Spanish Screenings Content, audiovisual market, which is held from March 10 to 12 thanks to the support of the Ministry of Culture through the ICAA, and the ICEX and in collaboration with the San Sebastián Festival.

MAFIZ will have a new event this year, Andalucía International Audiovisual Networking, co-financed by the Feder Andalucía 2021-2027 Program and the Junta de Andalucía through the Ministry of Tourism and Foreign Andalusia, which is celebrated on March 10, 11 and 12 and is conceived as a space to truly boost the Andalusian business fabric, aimed at business development, financing and international projection. Besides, Latinamerican Focus, the bilateral co-production forum, will have Panama as its protagonist this year, Country of Honor of the 29th edition.

Tributes from the Malaga Festival 2026 and parallel activities

As for the honored, the Málaga-Sur Award will go to the actress Rossy de Palma; the Ricardo Franco-Film Academy Award will go to the production director Manuela Ocón Aburto; the Málaga Talent-La Opinión de Málaga Award for Alauda Ruiz de Azúa; the Retrospective-Málaga Hoy Award will go to the Peruvian director Francisco Lombardi and the Biznaga Ciudad de Paraíso, for the essentials of Spanish cinema, to Victoria Vera. To these we must add several Biznagas of Honor: to the Uruguayan actress Natalia Oreiro; the late Argentine director Fabian Bielinsky on the 25th anniversary of his film 9 queens; Argentine directors Mariano Cohn and Gastón Duprat, and the Spanish actor Saturnino Garcia. In addition, the Festival, like every year, will host the delivery of the Canal Sur Andalusian Talent Award, whose winner will be announced soon.

The Golden Film of the Festival will be The disenchantment, directed in 1976 by Jaime Chávarri, commemorating the fifty years of its premiere. It will be a tribute shared with the San Sebastián Festival, which will also remember this film in its Klasikoak section. This film can be viewed in a restored copy thanks to Videomercury and Flix Olé. For this reason and in collaboration with Filmoteca y Española and DAMA, the Festival has published the book 'El desencanto. 50 years', written by Felipe Cabrerizo, Santiago Aguilar and Carlos Heredero. On the other hand, the Festival will once again have two sections framed in its objective of recovering Spanish film heritage: The time capsule y Underground andaluz, the latter curated by Alberto Rodríguez.

Once again, the Plaza de la Merced will have the Solidarity Space, organized by the Festival with the Area of Social Rights, Equality, Accessibility and Inclusive Policies of the Malaga City Council in collaboration with the ”la Caixa” Foundation and whose objective is to open the Festival to different social groups and promote their inclusion. In addition, for the third year, a cycle will be offered in the extended programming of the MaF, Neopolis, which will bring together various activities that connect audiovisual arts with science and technology.

The exhibition on Larios Street belongs to the photographer Amparo Garcia under the title out of plane, with photographs taken in the last edition. In addition, the MUCAC will host an exhibition dedicated to Val del Omar.

The Festival will conclude on Sunday the 15th with the now traditional movie marathon at the Albéniz Cinema and Rosaleda Multicines with the winning films and with a concert closing by Luz Casal.