Seeking for more opportunities for Spanish Cinema in theatres

Spanish Cinema Day arrives with mirages from the darkness of the theater. The box office numbers are better than ever, but few Spanish titles are part of them. The fact that Maixabel and Mediterráneo remain among the top 10 most-watched films is almost a novelty – and a welcome one at that – after months when only A todo tren. Destino Asturias held its own amidst American blockbusters. Now that significant and anticipated Spanish releases are coming to improve the impressive numbers, it’s worth remembering that the reality of distribution in our cinema theaters is quite different.

The inequality in the number of copies and exhibition options in cinemas has reached unprecedented levels in 2021. There have been very few domestic releases this year that have been able to premiere in more than 150 or 200 theaters, a private domain of major multinational distributors. The rest have arrived with limited space and fewer resources, and they’ve hardly aspired to make it to the top 10 most-watched list each day or even to achieve greater visibility, simply because they couldn’t.

Many distributors have cautiously navigated the summer waters. The fluctuating restrictions in some regions and the public’s perceived risk kept many people away from theaters. And when they did come, Spanish films faced competition from an international release each week with over 300 copies, with the latest installment of the Fast & Furious franchise being the most-watched film in our country so far this year (now threatened by Dune and the latest Bond film), even beating out Santiago Segura and his umpteenth family comedy.

This is logical yet simultaneously tragic, as companies in the industry are realizing that their window to achieve good figures or enjoy a decent market share is minimal. It’s no longer just about accepting the commercial rules of the game that label and undermine projects as «risky» or «not accessible,» depriving them of space (separate mention must be made for copies of festival award-winning films like Ama or La Mami). This is also happening to those with more «potential» to reach a wider audience.

«At the very least, Spanish films should have the opportunity to compete with foreign titles of the same genre»

It’s enough to look at what’s happened with some Spanish films recently. We’ve analyzed titles here that later performed well when they made their streaming debut, such as El Cover, which barely had time to grace the theaters. We’ve also seen what happened with others, like La casa del caracol, which, despite achieving more than notable figures (during the pandemic) that exceeded international horror releases with greater distribution, lost 100 theaters from its second to third week.

It’s a vicious cycle. Let’s look at the data: Chavalas ,Carol Rodríguez-Colás’ debut film, premiered on the weekend of September 3rd to 5th in 73 theaters. That same weekend, Shang-Chi started in Spain with 341 theaters, «After We Fell» with 352, and Malignant with 302. The German animated film Los Olchis, which grossed less than Chavalas, debuted in 177 theaters, a hundred more than the Spanish film.

Clearly, we don’t believe that a socially-themed Spanish film will outgross the latest Marvel blockbuster – although in the 80s, something like that might have been possible in comparison to today’s equivalent of Disney productions. However, at the very least, Spanish films should have the opportunity to compete with foreign titles of the same genre or audience on something resembling a level playing field.

«We need budgets, investments, and support to have strong distributors capable of acting and organizing themselves»

Of course, it will be said that the distributors themselves are making these cuts to their own products, but ignoring the enormous advantage in terms of advertising and negotiation that the major international companies possess is either naive or self-interested. Nor do the pandemic and sector fluctuations, with the surge of streaming and significant changes in exhibition windows, fully explain these vast differences in access to the audience.

We often tout Spanish cinema that matches foreign films in all genres. That cliché has already been surpassed; even the genre dearth of the 90s wasn’t a reality. However, if we want «big-budget productions like the Americans» or to stop enviously gazing across the Pyrenees, we need budgets, investments, and support to match. We need strong distributors – as well as producers and exhibitors – capable of acting and organizing themselves to provide space for their films.

If someone wants a trilogy about Blas de Lezo, instead of asking for fewer subsidies, they should ask for more and better-used ones. While not harming theaters, which are already carrying a heavy load, we should allow Spanish cinema, with our culture and discourse, to grow rather than being crushed by films that might have many positive aspects but don’t say much about ourselves. Let’s set aside false debates about the lack of quality; when the Spanish audience has access to its own cinema, they can be entertained and enjoy it, as demonstrated countless times. But we need to provide them with that option.

Cover Image: Still from «Ama,» directed by Júlia de Paz Solvas (14 copies in its theatrical debut).