FANTASTIKA CELEBRATES A YEAR OF SUCCESS AT SITGES

FANTASTIKA – Ibero-American Horror and Fantasy Co-production Forum held an event on Tuesday, October 14, as part of the Sitges Film Festival, for production companies, professionals, and creators from across the Ibero-American film industry.

With most of its international community attending in person and online, the event offered both an annual overview of recent successes and current and future strategies, as well as a round table on current affairs, challenges, and opportunities for Ibero-American financing and co-production.

The round table featured prominent figures from the industry, including Jara Ayucar – Marketing Policy Director at ICAA, Norbert Llaràs – Co-founder of Film Financing Market, Maria Florencia Torchia – Coordinator of Ventana Sur Fantastic!, Carolina Barco – Independent Consultant for EGEDA / SEGO Creative, and Ricard Sales – LaCima Producciones. It was moderated by Mònica Garcia Massagué – General Director of the Fundación Sitges Film Festival.

FANTASTIKA is a community created by and for independent production companies, with the aim of fostering a network for sharing experience and knowledge, endorsing projects in development, organizing industry initiatives, and generating Ibero-American co-productions. It is the renewed evolution of the Ibero-American Co-production Forum that, since 2021, has been led and co-organized by the production companies' associations PAC (Spain) and APIMA (Argentina). Since then, the gradual addition of new countries to the organization has not only increased the number of territories, production companies, and projects taking part, but has also opened up an exciting new stage of greater impact and influence as a professional space for the industry.

This momentum responds to an evident need: we are experiencing a boom of talent, new voices, and opportunities in genre cinema within the Ibero-American space. A boom that demands solid, professional spaces that are sustained over time, that support, give visibility to, and strengthen independent production companies and their talent.

That is why, FANTASTIKA asserts itself as a common home. A place where the industry can meet, recognize itself, and collaborate. A close-knit space where projects find alliances and partners, where ideas take hold, where professional connections become long-lasting relationships. It aims to be an active agent in the strengthening and international expansion of the Ibero-American independent genre film market. A context where co-production becomes a key tool for stories to travel farther than ever, requiring more collaborative, creative, and diverse production models. Because Ibero-American co-production is not just a viability strategy, but a way to enrich stories, add perspectives, and multiply reach. To build community.

FANTASTIKA has had a 2025 full of milestones:

• The addition of Macabro FICH as co-organizer in Mexico and of Fantasolab as a collaborator in Colombia
• The start of collaboration with international initiatives such as Sitges Film Festival (Spain), Ventana Sur Fantastic! (Argentina), and HisteriaLab (Costa Rica), where several FANTASTIKA activities have taken place or will take place.
• More than 170 projects received, associated with a total of 13 countries.
• 24 finalist projects in its Pitching Forum, attended by 78 production companies along with 41 professionals from other fields. Also noteworthy were another 20 semifinalist projects.

The most important milestone is the growth of its community, which is strengthening and responding with enthusiasm. With more than 150 professionals connected to Ibero-American co-production, it demonstrates the need for this kind of space and positions FANTASTIKA as a leading professional space in the Ibero-American arena.

FANTASTIKA news for 2026, a year of consolidation and expansion:

• Joining as co-organizers are the independent production companies' associations BRAVI - Brasil Audiovisual Independente and ASOPROD - Asociación de Productores y Realizadores de Cine del Uruguay. This expands the territorial reach of the activities, the number of projects received and selected, and the community of production companies and professionals who take part (more than 800 companies represented across all the associations that make up Fantastika).
• The relationship with VENTANA SUR is being consolidated, with various joint activities that will take place both within FANTASTIKA and at this renowned market.
• The relationship with HisteriaLab is growing, adding to the collaboration with its Costa Rica headquarters a new one with its second headquarters in the Dominican Republic.
• An expansion of programming with an annual calendar of online activities. More discussion sessions, training, and themed gatherings, designed to keep building community throughout the year. This online dimension is seen as the project's main source of value and potential.
• The holding of the Pitching Forum 2026 on March 25, 26, and 27, once again in online format to make it easier for talent and professionals from across the Ibero-American region to take part. The call for project submissions will open on December 8.

All these new developments add to the continuation and evolution of all existing activities and collaborations, including various in-person and/or online initiatives at other venues and events. ..................................................................................................................................................

FANTASTIKA wants to continue being an engine of alliances, shared stories, and professional community. Also a space where selected projects can find the tools, contacts, and momentum needed to become a reality. That is why it thanks all the production companies, professionals, talent, institutions, and stakeholders who place their trust in the project.