March is an exciting month for Spanish cinema fans because it’s when the Malaga Film Festival is held. From March 1 to 10 this year, crowds are once again expected to flock to the 27th anniversary of this grand event. In this guide, we take you through the history and current events of the Malaga Film Festival 2024, including where to get your tickets and what your screening options are.
1. Malaga Film Festival: What It Is & How It Started
Read the brief history of the Festival de Malaga here and learn what it is all about. There are also highlights here of this year’s features and what you can expect from them:
1.1 History
The Malaga Film Festival (Festival de Malaga) is an annual event in Malaga, Andalusia, Spain to promote Spanish cinema and other related activities. During its 10-day run, there are numerous screenings of the previous year’s top Spanish movies, documentaries, and short films. Formerly called Malaga Spanish Film Festiva (FMCE), the first edition of this event ran from May 29 to June 6, 1998. Other past editions were held anytime from March to June.
In 2017, the Festival de Malaga widened its scope by including productions from Latin America and Brazil to boost their development and international sales. It is worth noting, however, that not all of the featured films are in Spanish. In 2018, Director Juan Antonio Vigar encouraged setting March as the regular date for the festival starting with the 2019 edition. However, the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted its usual run in 2020 and 2021.
1.2 Malaga Film Festival 2024: Dates & What to Expect
The Malaga Film Festival 2024 will run from March 1 to 10. This year, there will be a foreign movie section called Mosaico Panorama International. This category features non-Spanish films that have not yet been screened in Spain but have already won awards elsewhere. There are almost 250 featured films, with 19 competing for the first prize. In addition, the guest country for this year is Paraguay.
If you’re in Malaga, you can watch the films at various locations within the city center. These include the Cervantes Theatre, the Echegaray Theatre, and the Albeniz Cinema. The opening and closing galas will be at the Cervantes Theatre, with the closing gala being the most glamorous event of this festival. You can also go to the Plaza de la Constitucion to witness all the events, including the opening and closing galas, as well as photo ops and the awarding of prizes.
1.3 Awards & Prizes
The highest prize at the Festival de Malaga is the Biznaga de Oro, which is an artful trophy made of gold jasmine flowers. Winners of the best films in Spanish and Latin American categories will also receive cash prizes of €8,000 each. Biznaga de Plata (silver jasmine flowers) are given as awards to several titles, including best actor, director, supporting actor, and music. Cash prizes for the silver awards range from €1,000 to €4,000.
2. Malaga Film Festival 2024: Dates & Screenings
To make things easy for you, we broke down the Malaga Film Festival 2024 dates and schedules with the available screenings or activities for each day. Keep in mind that every film may have a different venue for the screening. Check out the schedules outlined below for each day of the festival.
2.1 March 1 (Friday): Malaga Film Festival 2024 Opening
Day 1 of the Malaga Film Festival opens with a couple of screenings before the opening gala. Some of the highlights are Dragonkeeper (Guardiana de Dragones) and Las Milagros Existen (Miracles Exist).
- 11:00 a.m.: Feature Films Official Section
- 4:00 p.m.: Zonazine Feature Films Official Section / Cinema Cooking / Short Films Official Section
- 4:30 p.m.: Malaga Short Films Official Section – Program 1
- 6:00 p.m.: Documentaries / Short Films Official Section
- 6:30 p.m.: Feature Films Official Section
- 7:00 p.m.: Malaga Short Films Official Section – Program 2
- 8:00 p.m.: Opening Gala
- 9:00 p.m.: Documentaries / Short Films Official Section
- 9:30 p.m.: Mosaic: International Panorama
- 10:30 p.m.: Zonazine Feature Films Official Section
- 11:30 p.m.: Feature Films Official Section
2.2 March 2 (Saturday)
Day 2 of the film festival is packed with feature films and documentaries, including Matusalen (Methuselah) and La Cápsula del Tiempo (The Time Capsule).
- 8:30 a.m.: Feature Films Official Section
- 3:30 p.m.: Cinema Cooking / Short Films Official Section
- 4:00 p.m.: Zonazine Feature Films Official Section / Short Films Official Section – Program 1
- 4:30 p.m.: Feature Films Official Section
- 5:00 p.m.: Documentaries / Malaga Short Films Official Section – Program 1
- 6:30 p.m.: Feature Films Official Section
- 7:00 p.m.: Documentaries / Short Films Official Section / Feature Films Official Section
- 10:00 p.m.: Short Films Official Section – Program 2
- 10:30 p.m.: Documentaries / Short Films Official Section / Mosaic: International Panorama
- 11:00 p.m.: Feature Films Official Section
- 11:30 p.m.: Zonazine Feature Films Official Section
2.3 March 3 (Sunday)
The third day of the film festival is peppered with feature films, short films, cooking films, and documentaries. Some of the entries worth mentioning are Menudas Piezas (Little Pieces) and La Diosa Quebrada (The Broken Goddess).
- 8:30 a.m.: Feature Films Official Section
- 4:00 p.m.: Zonazine Feature Films Official Section / Cinema Kitchen / Feature Films Official Section / Short Films Official Section – Program 3
- 5:00 p.m.: Documentaries / Short Films Official Section – Program 1 / Series
- 6:30 p.m.: Feature Films Official Section
- 7:00 p.m.: Documentaries / Short Films Official Section / Feature Films Official Section
- 8:00 p.m.: Short Films Official Section – Program 2
- 8:30 p.m.: Feature Films Official Section
- 9:00 p.m.: Short Films Official Section – Program 4
- 9:30 p.m.: Documentaries / Mosaic: International Panorama
- 10:15 p.m.: Feature Films Official Section
- 11:30 p.m.: Zonazine Feature Films Official Section
2.4 March 4 (Monday)
Day 4 is a day of empowerment for women and a great day to take the kids to the movies. Some of the titles featured on this day are Nina (Little Girl) and Robot Dreams.
- 8:30 a.m.: Feature Films Official Section
- 10:00 a.m.: Film Forum / Cinema for Children
- 12:30 p.m.: Feature Films Official Section
- 4:00 p.m. Zonazine Feature Films Official Section / Cinema Kitchen / Feature Films Official Section
- 5:00 p.m.: Affirming Women’s Rights / Short Films / Feature Films Official Section / Documentaries / Series
- 6:30 p.m.: Feature Films Official Section / Golden Movie
- 7:00 p.m.: Documentaries / Short Films Official Section / Feature Films Official Section / Special Passes
- 7:30 p.m.: Feature Films Official Section
- 8:00 p.m.: Affirming Women’s Rights / Short Films
- 8:30 p.m.: Special Sessions / Feature Films Official Section
- 9:00 p.m.: Documentaries / Short Films Official Section
- 9:30 p.m.: Feature Films Official Section / Mosaic: International Panorama
- 10:15 p.m.: Feature Films Official Section
2.5 March 5 (Tuesday)
Day 5 of the Spanish Film Festival is similar to the previous day. Titles worth seeing here include La Casa (Home) and Segundo Premion (Second Prize).
- 8:30 a.m.: Feature Films Official Section
- 10:00 a.m.: Cinema for Children / Feature Films Official Section
- 11:00 a.m.: Cinema for Children
- 12:30 p.m.: Feature Films Official Section
- 3:45 p.m.: Animazine Short Films Official Section – Unique Program
- 4:00 p.m.: Zonazine Feature Films Official Section / Cinema Cooking / Short Films Official Section / Cinema and Health
- 4:30 p.m.: Feature Films Official Section
- 5:00 p.m.: Feature Films Official Section / Documentaries
- 5:30 p.m.: Affirming Women’s Rights / Women on Stage Film Exhibition
- 6:30 p.m.: Feature Films Official Section / Special Sessions
- 7:00 p.m.: Documentaries / Short Films Official Section / Feature Films Official Section
- 9:30 p.m.: Mosaic: International Panorama
- 10:00 p.m.: Feature Films Official Section
- 10:30 p.m.: Zonazine Feature Films Official Section
2.6 March 6 (Wednesday)
On Day 6, you can enjoy a rich lineup of feature films plus one from the guest country, Paraguay. Highlight films on this day include El Hombre Bueno (The Good Man) and 7 Cajas (7 Boxes).
- 8:30 a.m.: Feature Films Official Section
- 10:00 a.m.: Film Forum / Cinema for Children
- 12:30 p.m.: Feature Films Official Section
- 4:00 p.m.: Zonazine Feature Films Official Section / Cinema Cooking / Short Films Official Section / Focus Paraguay
- 4:30 p.m.: Feature Films Official Section
- 5:00 p.m.: Documentaries / 5 Minutes of Cinema
- 6:30 p.m.: Feature Films Official Section / Malaga Cinema Gala / Tribute to Patricia Ferreira
- 7:00 p.m.: Documentaries / Special Passes / Feature Films Official Section
- 8:00 p.m.: Feature Films Official Section / Short Films Official Section – Program 3
- 8:30 p.m.: Feature Films Official Section
- 9:00 p.m.: Documentaries / Short Film Official Section
- 9:30 p.m.: Documentaries / Short Film Official Section / Mosaic: International Panorama
- 10:00 p.m.: Feature Films Official Section
- 10:30 p.m.: Zonazine Feature Films Official Section
2.7 March 7 (Thursday)
Day 7 of the Malaga Film Festival is just as full of feature films as the previous day, and this time, with a whole new set of titles. These include Descansar en Paz (Rest in Peace) and Solos en la Noche (Alone in the Night).
- 8:30 a.m.: Feature Films Official Section
- 10:00 a.m.: Film Forum / Cinema for Children
- 12:30 p.m.: Feature Films Official Section
- 4:00 p.m.: Feature Films Official Section / Zonazine Feature Films Official Section / Cinema Cooking / Short Films Official Section
- 4:30 p.m.: Feature Films Official Section / Focus Paraguay
- 5:00 p.m.: Documentaries / Feature Films Official Section / 5 Minutes of Cinema
- 6:30 p.m.: Feature Films Official Section
- 7:00 p.m.: Documentaries / Feature Films Official Section
- 8:00 p.m.: Short Films Official Section
- 8:30 p.m.: Feature Films Official Section
- 9:00 p.m.: Documentaries / Short Films Official Section
- 9:30 p.m.: Feature Films Official Section / Documentaries / Series
- 10:15 p.m.: Feature Films Official Section
- 10:30 p.m.: Zonazine Feature Films Official Section
2.8 March 8 (Friday)
Day 8 includes an Andalusian Underground entry, but it’s the last day for kids to take part in this event. Some of the titles to watch out for are La Zona Vacia (The Empty Area) and La Mujer Salvaje (The Wild Woman).
- 8:30 a.m.: Feature Films Official Section
- 10:00 a.m.: Film Forum / Cinema for Children
- 12:30 p.m.: Feature Films Official Section
- 4:00 p.m.: Zonazine Feature Films Official Section / Focus Paraguay / Cinema Kitchen / Feature Films Official Section
- 4:30 p.m.: Feature Films Official Section
- 5:00 p.m.: Documentaries / Feature Films Official Section
- 5:30 p.m.: Cinema and Health
- 6:30 p.m.: Feature Films Official Section / Andalusian Underground
- 7:00 p.m.: Documentaries / Short Films Official Section / Recovery of Cinema Figures: Nadia Werba / Series
- 7:30 p.m.: Feature Films Official Section
- 8:30 p.m.: Special Passes / Short Films Official Section – Program 4
- 9:00 p.m.: Documentaries / Short Films Official Section
- 9:30 p.m.: Feature Films Official Section / Documentaries / Mosaic: International Panorama
- 10:00 p.m.: Feature Films Official Section
- 10:30 p.m.: Zonazine Feature Films Official Section
2.9 March 1 (Saturday)
Day 8 offers a slew of feature films from beginning to end, which include La Familia Beneton (The Beneton Family) and Historias (Stories).
- 9:00 a.m.: Feature Films Official Section
- 8:00 p.m.: Closing Gala
- 8:30 p.m.: Feature Films Official Section
- 10:30 p.m.: Last Screening for Feature Films Official Section
2.10 March 10 (Sunday): Malaga Film Festival 2024 Closing
The Malaga Film Festival 2024 wraps up with a concert by Spanish violinist Ara Malikian on Day 10. His two closing concerts for this festival start at 7:00 p.m. and 10:00 p.m. at the Cervantes Theatre.
3. Malaga Film Festival 2024: Tickets & Prices
To secure your slots for the events and film screenings that you want to attend, you can purchase your tickets at the box office or from the official website of the Festival de Malaga. Below are the prices for the tickets and venues where you can procure them from:
Ticket Prices
- Box Office: €6
- Online: €7
- Films in the official section: €12
Discounts
- 10%: Tickets for 5 to 9 screenings
- 15%: Tickets for 10 to 19 screenings
- 20%: 20 screenings or more
Box Offices:
- Cervantes Theatre: 11:00 a.m. until 30 minutes before the last screening
- Albeniz Cinema: 3:45 p.m. until 30 minutes before the last screening
- Echegaray Theatre: 5:00 p.m. to 9:30 p.m.
Wondering what else to do in Malaga aside from partaking in the film festival? Read our guide to exploring Malaga in one day to know the best tourist spots in the city. After a tiring day, grab a comforting meal of hotpot in Malaga’s top recommended Asian restaurants.
Check out Malaga’s official Tourism website to obtain more information on the best places to visit within the city. We also recommend visiting Malaga’s Metro Lines page so that you can gain ideas on how to map out your vacation routes.
