Art-world thriller “Triptych,” from Studio TF1’s Kubik Films; RTP-backed Afro-Portuguese music drama “Dark Hope” and “Naked,” a new drama from “Sirāt” producer Corte y Confección de Películas figure among the standout entries at this year’s Conecta Magaluf-Mallorca.
Running May 25-28 on Magaluf beach in Calvià, Mallorca, Spain, the 10th anniversary edition of Conecta Fiction & Entertainment brings 26 projects from Europe and the Americas to its international pitching sessions, spanning drama series, comedies, direct-to-streaming movies and vertical series.
Across the selection, one clear through-line is identity under pressure. “Naked” tackles eating disorders, beauty standards and family silence; Marcos Callejo’s movie “Nana” frames artistic and sexual awakening through a young painter’s bond with a charismatic classmate; and Loba Loba-produced “Adopted Girls” follows Chinese-Spanish adoptees confronting origin and belonging.
A more comic register carries the same tension elsewhere. “Breakdowns,” by Argentina’s Lab Producciones, follows a woman reconnecting with childhood friends after leaving a psychiatric hospital, only to find their seemingly functional lives marked by their own obsessions. Carla Stagno’s Chilean project “Intense” approaches motherhood as both desire and refusal, while in “Playing Away,” Uruguayan Carlos Morelli uses soccer to explore adolescence, migration and a fractured mother-daughter bond.
Real-life material drives some of the lineup’s most distinctive titles. Created by Guillermo Chapa, “Triptych” centers on Francis Bacon’s final lover, a young Spanish businessman whose hidden relationship with the painter resurfaces 25 years later, when he becomes the victim of Spain’s biggest contemporary art theft. “Papa Bas” is inspired by Dutch psychiatrist Jan Bastiaans, whose controversial LSD-assisted treatment of World War II and Holocaust survivors drew international attention.
Recent history also informs Ukraine-Germany dramedy “How Come Boris Had No Worries?” set between the 2004 Orange Revolution and Russia’s war in Ukraine.
Mexico’s “Greatest Hits” and RTP-backed “Dark Hope” give the lineup two music-driven projects in different registers: one using Spanish-language songs as triggers for stories of love, loss and emotional memory, the other following a young Afro-Portuguese musician drawn into the music business and the criminal underworld after his best friend’s murder.
Created by Ann Perelló, “Naked” pairs Menorca-based Empatic with Corte y Confección de Películas, coming off Oliver Laxe’s Cannes Jury Prize winner and six-time Goya winner “Sirāt.”
In the movie strand, Callejo’s coming-of-age drama “Nana” marks one of the projects arriving with the strongest prior operator backing, including regional broadcasters IB3 and TV3 and Filmin, Spain’s leading indie platform.
Projects at Conecta are competing for cash, services and market access, including €3,000 ($3,492) prizes from the Spain Film Commission and Triodos Bank, Dolby Atmos sessions from Warner Music, Acorde catalogue music support, New Art post-production services and invitations to BAM, SANFIC Industria and Estonia’s TV Beats Forum.
Part of Inside Content’s Event Conecta umbrella, Conecta Magaluf-Mallorca is held with the support of Calvià Town Council, ITS, ICIB, the Mallorca Island Council, Palma Town Council and IB3, reinforcing the forum’s Europe-Americas industry focus.
Here are more details on selected standout projects from Conecta’s 10th edition:
Pitch Drama Series
“Dark Hope” (Elisa Generoso, Diogo Gazella Carvalho, Portugal/Germany/Cape Verde)
Produced by Portugal’s Das Filmes, Germany’s Signed Media and Cape Verde’s KS Cinema, the drama project follows Kessa, a young Afro-Portuguese musician pulled into the music business and criminal underworld after his best friend’s murder. “‘Dark Hope’ is a declaration of belonging through music,” said co-creator Diogo Gazella Carvalho.
“Idyllic” (Samuel Jefferson, Pierre Puget, Germany)
A cozy crime show with a tech sting, “Idyllic” turns on a retired British-German couple investigating murders in Mallorca before discovering they live inside a VR retirement simulation. Berlin’s newly launched BRAINS Narrative Studio is taking the early-development project to Conecta in search of a Spanish minority co-producer.
“Naked” (“Nua,” Ann Perelló, Spain)
Set between Mallorca and Barcelona, “Naked” pairs Menorca-based Empatic — producer of “Favàritx” and co-producer of Goya-nominated “Rock Bottom” — with Corte y Confección de Películas, whose credits include Leticia Dolera’s Canneseries-winning “Perfect Life” and Oliver Laxe’s “Sirāt.” Now in development, the project also has support from Serializados and the Institut d’Estudis Baleàrics.
“Papa Bas” (Keren Weissman, Israel/Netherlands/Germany)
ZOA Films and The Ripple Effect’s English-language limited series tracks Dutch psychiatrist Jan Bastiaans, who treated traumatized World War II survivors with LSD from the late 1950s. Structured as a Netherlands-Germany-Israel co-production, it seeks creative partners, broadcasters and development financing in territories tied to the story. The team describes it as “a true story almost no one knows.”
“The Refined Palate” (“Morro Fino,” Rodrigo Martín Antoranz, Pedro García Ríos, Spain)
From Dexiderius Producciones, founded in 1990, builds on the creators’ previous collaboration on “Asuntos Internos,” winner of the RTVE Award at Conecta Fiction Reboot 2020 and later produced by RTVE and Mediacrest. The six-part drama turns gastronomy into emotional memory, following a young chef who becomes the pupil — and memory-holder — of a food inspector in the early stages of Alzheimer’s.
“Triptych” (“Tríptico,” Guillermo Chapa, Spain)
Moving between a thriller and romantic drama, “Triptych” draws on two little-known real-life events: Francis Bacon’s final Madrid romance and the biggest contemporary art theft in Spain. The project comes with Series Mania Writers Campus Lab pedigree and is seeking co-producers, broadcasters and platforms, with potential U.K. links given part of the story’s setting.
Pitch Comedy Series
“Breakdowns” (“Brotes,” Sofía Szelske, Jimena Aguilar, Florencia Sokol, Argentina)
From Buenos Aires-based Lab Producciones, founded by “Los Simuladores” and “El Gerente” writer Patricio Vega, “Breakdowns” follows Francisca, 33, after she leaves a psychiatric hospital and reconnects with friends whose functional lives hide obsessions of their own. Szelske previously created WarnerMedia Latinoamérica’s “Naturaleza Muerta.”
“Emmanuel Klaus, The Lady Heartbreaker” (“Emmanuel Klaus, Le Tombeur de ces Dames,” Caroline Tracanelli, France)
Cannes-based TDCB Productions brings a bilingual French-Spanish dramedy about a failed Spanish con artist who moves into a Riviera senior residence with his mother to seduce wealthy widows. The project seeks a Spanish co-production anchor for a darkly comic story about loneliness, manipulation and the need to matter.
“Intense: To Be or Not to Be” (“Intensas: ser o no ser,” Carla Stagno, Chile)
Motherhood becomes a pressure point for two lifelong friends nearing 40: one can have children but does not want them; the other desperately wants to conceive but cannot. Backed by Chile’s Fondo Audiovisual de Escritura, the comedy targets Spanish-speaking co-producers and platforms. It comes from Mazal Producciones, whose recent credits include Prime Video’s “Secretos de Familia” and Netflix’s “Al Sur del Corazón.”
“Mallorca, Things to Do” (Clara Fiol, Joan Tomàs Martínez, Joan Fullana, Spain)
In an overheated, overcrowded Mallorca, three precarious women accidentally kill a tourist while stealing electricity, then drag two more women into the cover-up. Developed after Serializados Kick and PROMercat, the project comes from Bastera Films, the Mallorca outfit behind “Forastera,” winner of a Fipresci Prize at Toronto in 2025.
“The Collectors” (“Los cobradores,” Andrés Sánchez Belzunces, Camilo Fonseca, Spain/Colombia)
Mixing social realism and black humor, the story centers on Miguel, a gambling-addicted debt collector trapped between loan sharks, impossible collections and a family losing faith in him. The Spain-Colombia project is produced by La Guapa Media.
Pitch Direct to Streaming Movies
“Adopted Girls” (“Adoptadas,” Xiaomei Espiro Rosselló, Ángeles Maeso, Spain)
Loba Loba, the production company founded by Spanish actor Inma Cuesta and Ángeles Maeso, develops a story about three Chinese-Spanish women adopted under China’s One-Child Policy. A possible return to China after Liu’s father dies opens questions of racial dysphoria, abandonment and belonging. The project has participated in the Spanish Film Academy’s Summer Campus.
“Dog Rose” (“Rosa Canina,” Sofía Martell, Spain)
An inheritance draws Lena into a world of luxury unsettled by a disappearance in this advanced-development feature, backed by Mallorca’s Espaitemps and supported by an ICAA screenplay development grant. With the script completed, the project is seeking European co-production partners.
“Greatest Hits” (“Grandes Éxitos,” Leonardo Linkowski, Aro Vázquez, Mexico)
Blockmedia’s musical fiction project converges in a live-music bar run by Alex, a frustrated musician who sees life as a record: some people have greatest hits, others only filler. Sony Music Latin is attached as a strategic music partner, bringing expertise in rights, sync and supervision, as well as potential access to talent from its roster.
“Horns” (“Toro,” Arturo Ruiz Serrano, Toni Bestard, Spain)
A Pamplona Sanfermines trip turns deadly when friends dodge a police checkpoint and end up trapped in an isolated dehesa, hunted by a massive wild bull. The survival-horror movie comes from two Spanish short-film veterans with Goya nominations and long festival track records, turning bull-running iconography into primal genre material.
“How Come Boris Had No Worries?” (Eugen Tunik, Ukraine/Germany)
A dramedy set between the 2004 Orange Revolution and Russia’s war in Ukraine, the project turns on Boris, who hides evidence of his father’s corruption as a teenager and faces the consequences decades later. It is produced by Prokino with Kyiv-and-Berlin outfit DIM Filmhouse.
“Nana” (Marcos Callejo, Spain)
An LGTBIQ+ coming-of-age movie produced by Principal Segona Films, Cinètica Produccions and Dacsa Produccions, the project builds on a Balearic-Catalan-Valencian production axis, with a strong support network that includes regional institutions and broadcasters.
“Playing Away” (“El otro mundial,” Carlos Morelli, Uruguay)
A 15-year-old football player is forced to leave Uruguay for Madrid with the mother who abandoned her, turning the sport into a test of loyalty, anger and adaptation. The project comes from U Films; writer-director Carlos Morelli previously broke out with “Mi Mundial,” which reached HBO, Busan and posted strong cunema ticket sales in Uruguay.
“To Catch an Old Lady” (“Amparo, pero no Olvido,” Luis Miles, Spain)
A lonely elderly woman decides prison may be her best chance to reunite with her only friend, setting out to commit a crime serious enough to get locked up. Winner of La Traca’s comedy feature screenplay competition and backed by an AGADIC writing grant, the dark comedy is produced by Galician outfit Tréboa.
“Tribe” (“Plemię,” Olga Chajdas, Poland)
After a sex scandal with a student detonates her life, Ela flees Poland with a friend and joins two sisters carrying their mother’s ashes to Albania. Produced by Furia Film, the road movie turns shame, desire and grief into the engine of a volatile female alliance across Eastern Europe.
“What You Did” (Julián Camilo Sánchez, Colombia/U.S.)
Arturo, a hacker trading in stolen phone data, receives a device containing murder videos and is pulled into a revenge trap. The English-language thriller positions digital anonymity as a gateway to cruelty, voyeurism and the trade in private lives. The project has 60% financing in place, with Plot Twist Capital and Magic Trick attached.
