The award, recognising the best promotional campaigns for auteur cinema releases, was presented at the closing ceremony of the MERCI Independent Film Market.
The jury of the first edition of the La Meseta Distribution Award, composed of Piluca Baquero, Director of the Degree in Film and Audiovisual Fiction at Camilo José Cela University; film journalist Gregorio Belinchón; and Juan Manuel Guimeráns, President of the Spain Film Commission, announced today the winners of this inaugural edition, which honours the best promotional campaigns for auteur film releases. Mar Sancho, Deputy Minister for Cultural Action of the Junta de Castilla y León, presented the awards during the closing of the fifth MERCI Valladolid Independent Film Market, held within the framework of the 70th Valladolid International Film Festival (SEMINCI).
The first prize, worth €10,000, was awarded to The Chronology of Water by Kristen Stewart, distributed by Sideral, for ‘presenting a solid, balanced and innovative campaign proposal that demonstrates a comprehensive understanding of the evaluation criteria.’ The jury praised ‘the clarity of its communication strategy, the feasibility of its execution and the precision with which it defines its target audience, revealing a professional and coherent vision consistent with its cinematic potential.’
The other two awards, each worth €5,000, went to La Buena Hija by Júlia de Paz, submitted by Avalon and MadAvenue, and The Love That Remains by Hlynur Pálmason, distributed in Spain by Elástica, which collaborated on its campaign with the agency Revolutionary.
The prize awarded to Avalon’s campaign recognises ‘its ability to enhance the value of the original work while demonstrating a remarkable capacity for critical analysis.’ According to the jury, ‘the team identified potential weaknesses in the film and turned them into strengths, building a communication strategy that reinforces and amplifies the virtues of an already solid piece with strategic intelligence and cinematic sensitivity.’
Meanwhile, the award given to Elástica’s campaign ‘highlights the achievements of European auteur cinema, acknowledging its aesthetic and emotional coherence.’ The jury praised ‘its ability to connect with the tradition of festival-winning films, offering a respectful and effective approach to promoting its vision.’
Special Mention
The jury also decided to give a special mention to the campaign presented by Beta Fiction for Rondallas by Daniel Sánchez Arévalo, ‘for being the most original promotional proposal and for showing a notable learning process derived from the mentoring sessions within the programme.’ According to the jury’s statement, ‘the campaign successfully integrates all the film’s elements to engage audiences in a creative and honest way, reflecting a rich and coherent development process.’
About the La Meseta Distribution Award
The La Meseta Distribution Awards, promoted by the Junta de Castilla y León and the Valladolid City Council through SEMINCI, recognise the best promotional campaigns for auteur film releases through professional mentorship and a total financial endowment of €20,000.
Launched in 2025, the initiative is aimed at joint applications submitted by an independent Spanish distributor and a press agent or agency specialising in film, as well as distributors with an in-house PR department. This focus on collaborative work seeks to strengthen the synergy between distribution and communication from the early stages leading up to a film’s release.
The goal is to support, guide and reward joint projects that develop creative campaigns for fiction, documentary or animated feature films of at least 60 minutes in length, scheduled for theatrical release in Spain within the next twelve months.
The La Meseta laboratory was founded in 2025 as a platform dedicated to film creation, development, distribution and outreach, offering continuous training and mentorship for filmmakers and producers while strengthening the connection between creators and the industry. The initiative is co-financed by the Department of Culture, Tourism and Sport of the Junta de Castilla y León with funds provided by the Ministry of Culture to promote audiovisual project laboratories and incubators for creation and development.