Pedigreed Argentine helmer Milagros Mumenthaler, a Golden Leopardo winner in Locarno for her debut “Back to Stay,” and Rodrigo Teixeira of RT Pictures, producer of James Gray’s “Palme d’Or entry “Paper Tigers,” will take centre stage at the third ECAM Forum co-production market, due to run June 9-11 at Madrid Matadero.
The complete retrospective dedicated to Mumenthaler will kick-start with her latest and third feature “The Currents,” which bowed at Toronto, San Sebastian, where it won the RTVE Otra Miranda Award), and starts a US theatrical run May 29 via Kino Lorber. The film will also open the 12th Filmadrid, the main coordinator of the tribute, together with Cineteca Madrid, DAMA, Atalante and the embassies of Switzerland, Spain and Andorra.
“This year we wanted to place at the centre an auteur who may be less obvious to wider audiences but who is fundamental to understanding contemporary cinema of the last decade,” said ECAM Forum coordinator Alberto Valverde.
Besides Mumenthaler, heavyweight Brazilian producer Rodrigo Teixeira will deliver a masterclass June 10, about the role of the producer as a key driving force behind indie cinema. The multiple Oscar and Bafta-winning mogul – behind Luca Guadagnino’s “Call Me By Your Name,” Walter Salles’ “I’m Still Here,” Rober Eggers’ “The Lighthouse,” Noah Baumbach and Greta Gerwig’s “Frances Ha” – will take stock of the filmmaking process from development to distribution, and discuss his 20 years at the helm of RT Features, one of Latin America’s leading audiovisual banners, and his relationship with internationally recognized auteurs.
The topic of filmmaking between industry and vision’ and the current tensions between creation, industry and authorship will be further expanded at ECAM Forum’s The State of Things conference strand organized by the industry arm of Madrid’s prestigious ECAM film school.
Three of Spain’s most acclaimed contemporary filmmakers will share their visions on the subject: this year’s Palme d’Or nominee Rodrigo Sorogoyen (“The Beloved,” “Madre”), Alauda Ruiz de Azúa (“Los Domingos,” the series “Querer”) and Sandra Romero (“As Silence Passes By”).
Elsewhere, filmmaker Celia Rico (“The Good Manners,” “Journey to a Mother’s Room”) and performer-writer Violeta Gill will talk ‘Rediscovering the Image,’ artist-essayist Joan Fontcuberta ‘the evolution of the image from analogue to streaming and the impact of AI at the session I Should Have Taken More Photos.
Beatriz Navas, former head of ICAA and curator of Europalia, will explore with filmmaker Jorge Juárez, The Myth of the Future or the role of cultural institution in shaping the contemporary imaginaries of the future.
In another dynamic session – the second one at ECAM Forum – writer Johanna Koljonen will present the findings of the influential industry Nostradamus Report from the Göteborg Film Festival, fresh from its Cannes launch.
Commenting on ECAM Forum’s third State of Things program, Valverde said: “As the 2025 edition drew to a close, one set of images came to dominate public attention. Disturbing scenes prompted renewed reflection on the boundaries between photography, journalism, images of violence, and the role of witnessing events as they unfold. At that moment, it became clear to us that this year’s theme could only be to reflect on the image itself. Not from a pessimistic standpoint, but from a more humanistic one that places artistic creation and cinema in particular, in a crucial position for contributing new realities amid this over-saturation of images.”
The inspirational State of Things talks come as an add-on to ECAM Forum’s centerpiece pitching program where more than 50 films in development or post-production, plus shorts and TV series, will be looking for co-financing, co-production and distribution.
As already reported, the Madrid event which in only three years has secured its position as a go-to co-production market and networking event bridging Spain with the rest of the world, will be broadening its international reach this June, with projects spanning Europe, Latin America, and the Middle East.
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