Two years later, Agora premiered in Colombia
Think about the extensive film production in Spain This makes us question the distribution of films abroad. Why do so few films reach Latin America? Why do they take so long to be shown? It's important to ask these questions, given the substantial investment in film and the need for broader markets to recoup that investment. This suggests that the distribution mechanisms clearly have problems and that the proposed solutions are not proving effective.

It's strange that, despite producing 201 films a year in Spain, so few are released abroad. It's even more intriguing that, given Latin America's linguistic and cultural proximity to the Iberian Peninsula, its films struggle to reach cinemas. A concrete example is... Agora. A 2009 film directed by Alejandro Amenábar, which premiered in Colombia two years later. Despite its significant box office success in Spain, the €50 million budget was not recouped. This makes its poor distribution abroad all the more surprising, given that the film had long been known to cinephiles. What's going on with the distribution of Spanish films internationally?

If this happens with a blockbuster like the one directed by Amenábar, what can we say about films with more modest budgets? Among the various reasons to justify the problem, one could cite the influence of film industries like the American one, which have greater resources to dominate the international market. But we should consider the alternative of making films whose themes or approach appeal to broader audiences. It's time to decide who we make films for. Undoubtedly, films are produced for viewers, and given their high costs, it's not enough to limit them to the box office of a single country.

Alejandro Amenábar's films respond to his personal needs as a creator, tailored to a universal narrative that reaches audiences worldwide. Despite this, Agora, Its major production has not been well distributed abroad. This leads us to believe that, going forward, efforts to maintain high production levels will need to be made across all areas of the Spanish film industry. It's worth noting that this reflection can also be applied to Latin American cinema.