In 2024, Spain’s government, the same that has stood up to Trump over Iran, launched a campaign Where Talent Ignites – Audiovisual From Spain.
Less than two years later, with Cannes having announced its main competition line-up on April 9, the slogan has proved anything but hype. In the last two years, no country anywhere in the world outside France, not even the U.S., has scored more Palme d’Or contenders than Spain.
“There is a definite movement within Spanish cinema,” said Cannes Festival head Thierry Frémaux, announcing the 2026 Cannes Official Selection on April 9.
Organized by Spain’s Academy of Cinematographic Arts and Sciences, its ICAA film agency and export and investment board ICEX, And the Goya Goes To – New Spanish Films runs April 16-19 in New York. It looks set to capture Spain’s new explosive and exciting movie energies.
Set to screen at New York’s Village East by Angelika, the films on show are not only any old titles, moreover, but all the big winners and best picture nominees at this year’s Feb. 28 Goya Awards, held by Spain’s Academy, which fielded arguably the strongest ever contenders lineup in their history.
Spain’s 2026 Goya Awards winners also take in the latest movies from some of Spain’s new generation who have exploded recently onto the international scene: Oliver Laxe’s “Sirāt,” a two-time Oscar nominee and Cannes Jury Prize laureate; San Sebastian Golden Shell winner “Sundays,” from Alauda Ruiz de Azúa, and doc feature “Afternoons of Solitude,” which also scooped a Golden Shell, marking the latest from Albert Serra, behind Cannes competition entry “Pacification,” whose “Out of This World” is tipped for big fest selection later this year.
And the Goya Goes To – New Spanish Films “embodies “the values of Where Talent Ignites, positioning Spain’s audiovisual talent – both creative and industrial – at the center of the program,” says Teresa Martin, ICEX head of audiovisual.
“Via screenings and panels, the showcase adds names and faces to our its figures, connecting it with the U.S. industry and reenforcing Spain as a first-class creative partner in international.”
Further highlights are “Deaf,” Eva Libertad’s Berlin Panorama Audience Award winner, which proved the biggest breakout at this year’s Goya Awards, scoring new director and new actress (Miriam Garlo), plus supporting actor (Álvaro Cervantes).
Also unspooling at And the Goya Goes To – New Spanish Films is “Maspalomas,” an actor winner for Jose Ramón Soroiz, “The Dinner,” another breakout, which scooped original screenplay and costume design, and animated feature Goya laureate “Decorado,” helmed by Spanish animation doyen Alberto Vázquez.
“We are very proud of our cinema, which is triumphing in Spain and abroad,” says Fernando Méndez-Leite, president of Spain’s Academy. “The showcase is an “opportunity to highlight internationally outstanding tiles from this year’s Goyas Awards, at such a significant date as the 40th anniversary of the Academy and the Goyas,” he adds.
“Spanish cinema is on creative fire, tackling human issues, often from the perspectives of women, and without stereotypes,” says Laura Turégano, director of And the Goya Goes to – New Spanish Films.
It also fills a gaping hole. New York has lacked a dedicated, consistent showcase for contemporary Spanish cinema since the last of the Lincoln Center’s long-running Spanish Cinema Now series, held in 2012.
“Exporting the best films voted on democratically by Spanish Academy members gives a particular splendor to the event, says Pedro Palacios, producer of “Afternoons of Solitude.”
New York, again, is not any old city. The showcase “places Spanish cinema at the center of one of the most powerful media capitals in the world,” says its co-ordinator, Diana Vargas. “New York offers unmatched access to distributors, buyers, press and multicultural audiences where visibility can translate into international circulation, partnerships, and new commercial opportunities.”
On April 16, a special event at NYU Espacio de Culturas, honoring legendary Spanish screenwriter Rafael Azcona and 40 years of Spain’s Film Academy, will be followed by a screening of Academy Award-winning film “Belle Époque.”
Goya actress awardee Patricia López Arnaíz and supporting actress winner Nagore Aramburu will present “Sundays” at Village East by Angelika, opening the showcase on April 16. Aramburu will on double duty, fielding questions at a Q&A on “Maspalomas.” Cervantes will lead a post-screening discussion of “Deaf.”
A panel, Spain as a Filming Destination – A Dialogue With New York, will feature representatives from ICEX’s Where Talent Ignites – Audiovisual from Spain and the New York State Governor’s Office of Motion Picture & Television Development. The latter will present the main support programs, tax incentives, and mechanisms for international collaboration. Panel speakers from Spain are Oriol Maymó, producer of “Sirāt”; Pedro Palacios, producer at La Cima Producciones of “Afternoons of Solitude” and Spain’s Academy VP Rafael Portela.
A second panel, Spanish Cinema Today – In Front of and Behind the Camera, will invite an open dialog on the current state of Spanish cinema, its narratives, aesthetics, and challenges, featuring directors and actors invited to the showcase along with Spanish professionals based in the U.S. and members of the Spanish diaspora.
“I see film festivals and screenings as a kind of matchmaker that brings films and their audiences together: they get to know each other, flirt, and, in the best-case scenario, hit it off. I’m confident that this date will be the first of many and that New York audiences will experience a great love story with our cinema,” says Alvaro Cervantes.
Industry conversation is likely to turn on the explosion of Spanish cinema on the international stage. There is one cardinal reason. “Spanish cinema is a mixture of art and a lack of money,” said José Isbert, the aphonic codger of an impoverished ‘50s Spanish cinema.
75 five years later, at least for some top-echelon Spanish creators, that has changed. One case in point is “Sirāt,” which combined three key financing models for higher-end Spanish movie: Co-production by a streaming service, here Movistar Plus+, behind all three of Cannes’ 2026 Spanish competition films; international co-production, and a mix of national and regional funding, the latter on “Sirāt,” coming from Catalonia’s ICEC. That gave “Sirāt”a €6.5 million ($7.7 million) budget. Without such a budget, notes producer Oriol Maymó, the film could never have afforded such hallmark creative achievements as its signature immersive soundtrack and hipnotic music. Both were created with Atmos Dolby whose use is exceptional on non-mainstream Spanish films, Maymó notes.
With such budgets, Spain’s top-notch directors, distinguished by their huge cinematographic ambitions, can begin to let their full creativity flow.
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