Ver Cine Colombiano: Noticias | Proimágenes Colombia

The ninth edition of the Bogotá Audiovisual Market (BAM) will welcome an important delegation of 23 Spanish audiovisual producers and professionals. Among these are Arantxa Echeverría, screenwriter, producer, and the first Spanish woman director to be selected for the Directors' Fortnight at the Cannes Film Festival 2018; Sergio Frade, co-founder of the production company Frida Films, through which he has produced films that have performed well at international festivals in San Sebastián, Miami, Buenos Aires, and others; and Manuel Cristóbal, an audiovisual producer who has won four Goya awards in the category of best animation.
 
Spain, as this year's guest country, supports this edition through the Embassy of Spain in Colombia, the Instituto de la Cinematografía y las Artes audiovisuales de España (ICAA), and Acción Cultural Española as part of the Spain-Colombia Culture Focus, an ambitious wager that seeks to bring the two nations closer and promote cultural exchanges between them. Diego Nuño García, Cultural Attaché to the Embassy of Spain in Colombia, stated: "The BAM is a great opportunity for Spanish professionals from the audiovisual sector to explore the Colombian market and strengthen cooperation between the audiovisual industries of both countries." Claudia Triana, director of Proimágenes Colombia, adds that the participation of Spain in this year's edition "marks an incomparable opportunity for exchanges between the markets within each country."

Both the Colombian and Spanish audiovisual industries have seen sustained growth in recent years and there are growing business opportunities in collaboration. From 2006 to 2017, 20 Spain-Colombia co-productions were consolidated. In the same period, 10 Colombian films premiered commercially in Spain, including The Embrace of the Serpent (El abrazo de la serpiente, 2015) by Ciro Guerra, Paraíso travel (2008) by Simón Brand, and Soñar no cuesta nada (2006) by Rodrigo Triana.
 
In fact, BAM's invitation to Spain comes at a time of significant growth in the Spanish audiovisual sector. According to Spain's Instituto de la Cinematografía y las Artes Audiovisuales de España (ICAA), 241 Spanish feature films were produced in 2017, of which 120 were documentaries and 4 were animation films. Of these, 42 were co-produced with other countries. Sister of Mine (Demonios tus ojos) by Pedro Aguilera was made in co-production with Colombia. In addition, 196 feature films began shooting last year, and 153 feature films were released in commercial movie theaters.
 
BAM is a platform for viewing, making business contacts, and strengthening the audiovisual sector in Colombia. It is organized by the Bogotá Chamber of Commerce and Proimágenes Colombia with the support of the Colombian Film Fund (FDC).