Professionals from the sector will meet from October 6 to 12 at different locations in the city.
Cadiz, June 26, 2023.
. The South International Series Festival will be held in Cadiz from October 6 to 12 and will turn the city into the audiovisual capital. The presentation of the event was held today at Casa Iberoamérica, which was created with the aim of giving prestige to the series and the creative universe of which they are a part.
South Series wants to promote the great audiovisual industry, to be a meeting point for projects, businesses and a great marketing showcase, in addition to becoming the top meeting place for the Andalusian audiovisual industry as an engine of art, business, employment and prestige. This has been referred to in their speeches by the various personalities who have gathered in the capital of Cadiz.
“The emotion of the world would not be understood without the series”, paraphrased the director of the South Series, Joan Álvarez, to an analyst of the world of the series, and added that “emotion means movement and, with the South Series, we want to put into orbit something that is already present, which is the prestige of the series in a city like this”. The fact that the capital of Cadiz is the place chosen to host this first edition of the Festival “is not trivial, since Cadiz and Andalusia are in a splendid moment for major cultural events”.
“We want to be part of the audiovisual ecosystem with four dimensions: global, European, Spanish and Andalusian” continued the director in his speech, pointing out that the South Series is “aimed internationally at the general public as well as the industry”.
“South Series is a joy for the city of Cadiz,” began his speech Bruno Garcia, mayor of Cadiz, “we understand progress from the economy and employment, but real progress is seen from the culture. And from the city council we have it clear: we are going to reinforce the cultural activity in Cadiz and proposals like the one that today we present, an initiative of first level” come to contribute to this “idea of progress from the culture that I will promote from the Cadiz consistory”. Likewise, the councilman underlined the municipal commitment to culture, flamenco, literature, history and the audiovisual industry, with which the Cadiz Film Office has been in contact for years. Therefore, “full collaboration”.
Arturo Bernal, Minister of Tourism, Culture and Sports of the Junta de Andalucía closed the round of speeches by emphasizing that the South Series comes to “fill a gap that was unattended: a festival of international category series”, aligned with “the cultural program of the Andalusian Government, which understands culture as a reason to make ours an increasingly better society”. He added that Andalusia is the autonomous community “with the best network of festivals for the audiovisual industry. South Series will enhance the place of Cadiz on the map of audiovisual tourism and to support the work of the Film Commission and attract and increase the number of shootings coming from all over the world”.
Cadiz, capital of the audiovisual industry
The South Series will place Cádiz on the map of the major events of the audiovisual industry in Andalusia, in tune with two major events of reference such as the Malaga Film Festival and the Seville European Film Festival. This first edition of the Festival is expected to have an impact on the city of 7 million euros.
More than 100 films will be screened throughout the Festival in the different sections of the program. At Coming Next and Unscripted will present the fiction and non-fiction premieres of the next season, which will look at the novelties in non-fiction; while Series that are jewels will recover some of the great titles of the last seasons and with Series made in Andalusia, the focus will be on the Andalusian industry.
All these sections will seek continuous interaction with the public and will bring together manywell-known faces of the international audiovisual scene to present their projects and interact with the citizens of Cadiz.
The goal is for South Series to become one of the largest series festivals for the audiovisual industry in Southern Europe. This year will have Great Britain as the guest country, but it will also have the main focus on how Spanish-language series are made and how they can be strengthened with actors, writers, producers, analysts, institutions from Spain, Latin America and the United States.
A festival for the public
The South Series team is currently finalizing the programming and has alreadyestablished contact with the main audiovisual production companies. At the same time, an online registration process has been set up for series which, in its first three weeks, has received more than 300 series from more than twenty countries as far away as New Zealand, Argentina, Saudi Arabia, Uzbekistan, Taiwan, the Philippines and Iraq.
In addition, South Series will be the connection point for the international audiovisual industry and the meeting place for creators from all over the world with Spanish creators. Hence, it includes different actions and parallel activities that will promote the development of the audiovisual industry in both Cadiz and the rest of Andalusia.
The series industry’s big bet
South Series International Festival is a private initiative with the main sponsorship of the Junta de Andalucía and the close collaboration of the City Council of Cádiz. Its sponsors also include Mediaset España and Canal Sur. The festival will take place from October 6 to 12 in various emblematic sites in Cadiz.
