Miradas Afroindígenas Firmly Establishes Canary Islands as Afro-Latin Film Hub

The Miradas Afroindígenas, an international festival and market for reality cinema in the Canary Islands, is establishing the islands as a key meeting point for African and Latin American filmmaking. The latest edition, which ended on Saturday, November 29, was a great success. According to its director, Tenerife filmmaker David Baute, "This edition marks the firm establishment of Miradas Afroindígenas in Puerto de la Cruz. From industry events to film screenings and audience engagement, it was very well received. We believe it met the needs of everyone – the public, students, and film professionals – and we are very pleased with it."

Miradas Afroindígenas ran from November 22, marking its first year as a full-scale program. It grew out of a project incubator started five years ago between the Dominican Republic and Tenerife. Now, the program has three main parts: an international market for the film industry, the festival itself with film screenings and discussions with filmmakers, and a training section. This training aims to educate new audiences and encourage them to think critically about reality cinema, exploring its themes, artistic styles, and storytelling methods.

Baute explains that Miradas Afroindígenas is designed as "a place where films from the Global South – from Africa and Latin America – come together to create new projects. The Canary Islands serve as a crucial hub for this, and local filmmakers also take part. This happens especially in our market's project development section, where connections are strengthened, and projects can find support for funding, production, and sales. For us, it's a vital workspace because it helps shape the film lineup for the festival."

The festival director noted, "We were pleased to screen several films that originated from the Miradas Afroindígenas incubator, a project we've been developing for five years with Johanné Gómez Terrero, spanning the Dominican Republic and the Canary Islands." Beyond these, the Sala Timanfaya also showcased works by "renowned filmmakers like José Luis Guerín and Maite Alberdi, whom we were delighted to host in Puerto de la Cruz. This establishes the festival as a significant platform for discussing and reflecting on modern documentary cinema – a place not just to watch films, but to engage in conversations and debates about reality cinema."

The third key part of Miradas Afroindígenas is education, aimed at building new audiences. This includes special screenings for schoolchildren and high school students, who also get to meet and talk with the film's subjects and discuss the films. The goal is to encourage critical thinking among viewers. Baute explained this is crucial for navigating "the increasingly complex world of audiovisual content today, which often moves from social media towards shallow messages, lacking depth or research. This is very different from the thoughtful approach of documentarians, who build entire stories from careful observation." He added, "We want people to connect with this kind of cinema, so we've set up critical thinking classrooms for both audiovisual students and the general public."

Valentín Romero, the coordinator of the Miradas Afroindígenas Market, confirmed its "very satisfactory" progress. Projects from a wide range of countries, including Peru, Portugal, Argentina, Brazil, Venezuela, Mauritania, Honduras, Panama, and the Canary Islands, were presented to various TV channels and funding bodies. These organizations, including RAI, RTVE, Asharq, TVP, ORF, and Portuguese Public Radio and Television, responded very positively, with the latter already committing to some projects. Online meetings with channels like Al Jazeera are also continuing this week.

These meetings have also greatly benefited local Canarian production companies that presented their projects, as well as those who attended professional meetings and consultations within the market.

Romero also noted that participants were very impressed with Puerto de la Cruz and the venues used, particularly the unique Sala Andrómeda at the Martiánez Tourist Complex.