Spanish art-house producer-distributor Wanda Films has taken all Spanish rights to Oscar-winner Danis Tanovic’s new war drama Cirkus Columbia which played in the San Sebastian Film Festival’s Zabaltegi-Pearls section.

Deal was closed at San Sebastián by Wanda CEO Jose Maria Morales with sales
company The Match Factory’s managing director Michael Webber.

Wanda is also handling Spanish distribution rights to Judith Colell and Jordi Cadena’s
raped girl story Elisa K, a San Sebastián Competition player sold internationally by Imagina Intl. Sales.

In further San Sebastián trading,Adolfo Blanco’s new popular arthouse distribbery A Contracorriente Films inked all rights to Rodrigo Grande’s Argentine comedy A Matter of Principles, toplining Federico Luppi, Norma Aleandro and Pablo Echarri.

Principles acquisition was negotiated with Madrid-based sales agent Urban Films, which also pacted at the fest with Miami-based Venevision Intl.

Venevision closed U.S.DVD,video-on-demand, pay and free-to-air TVrights to Jesus Mora’s docudrama Villa Tranquila, a Spain- Argentina co-production sold by Urban. Pacts were part of a small clutch of deals put through at the San Sebastián Festival this year.

In other unannounced deals, and upping its bet on local film productions, Barcelona-based indie company Savor- Emon has acquired distribution rights to another Spanish San Sebastián contender, Agusti Villaronga’s Catalan-language drama Black Bread.

A strong DVD distrib, Savor-Emon has become one of Spain’s most active indie distributors, making its debut last April as a theatrical distribbery with the first part of Italian Federico Moccia’s trilogy Sorry I Want to Marry You.

It’s also taken fest closer, Gilles Paquet- Brennet’s Sarah’s Key, sold by Paris-based
Kinology.

If business was calm-to-cautious at this year’s San Sebastián fest,however, there’s
one very good reason for that.

It’s not not just soccer.Spain near rules the world in the toughness of its movie market.Only the U.S. and Japan are as difficult to sell to. And sales to Spain drives
much of the trading at San Sebastián, as deals for Italy do at Venice.

“Spain’s market faces a large degree of uncertainty,” said Wanda’s Jose Maria Morales.“On one hand, it’s ravaged by piracy. On the other, there’s little visibility on RTVE’s financing model.”

The jury’s still out, for example, as to whether Spanish telcos will be forced to stump up part of RTVE’s budget. That’ s not to say that there wasn’t a significant business presence at San Sebastián.

The Basque festival hardly boasts Toronto’s massed distributor presence. But, as in recent years, its international sales agents contingent proved larger than Venice’s. This year,Wild Bunch, Fortissimo, Match Factory,MK2,Rezo, Elle Driver, Funny Balloons,Coproduction Office, U Media, Beta, and Finecut,among many largely Euro sales agents, all hailed into town.

Also, with some of San Sebastián’s best-received films playing late in the running,
a considerable amount of business looks set to go down after the market.

U Media is now fielding interest from French distributors on Colombian drama The Colors of the Mountain, said U Media’s Virginie Devesa.World preeming to acclaim Thursday, Carlos Cesar Arbelaez’s debut is placed second behind Diego Luna’s Abel in the Euskaltel Youth Award voting, a key sign of audience appeal.

Sales traction also looks likely on Agusti Villaronga’s Beta-sold Black Bread, which
world preemed Wednesday and has proved the best-received of Competition films in
a Spanish critics’ chart.

Films in Progress fielded a strong lineup, with reports of sales agents circling some of its more mainstream propositions, such as Mexico’s Asalto al cine and Colombia’s
Todos tus muertos.

“There were interesting titles in the section and some might see sales agents’pickups,”
said MK2’s Dorothee Pfistner.

Of earlier Competition entries, Magnet Releasing acquired I Saw the Devil at Toronto
for North America. At San Sebastian, Finecut’s Youngjoo Suh said she was now negotiating Germany and Latin America sales.

Emiliano de PABLOS
John HOPEWELL