This talk explores how an Ibero-American finishing fund competition known as ‘Films in Progress’, based at the San Sebastian Film Festival in Spain, helps Latin American films to be completed in order that these films have a chance of entering a prestigious, European film festival the following year.

This process is analysed to show how a jury comprised of post-production industry professionals select a film they think will be successful, not only in art house film festival venues, but also potentially at the box office.

The paper examines a case study of the 2011 Films in Progress competition to see which of the five nominated films won and the possible reasons why it was selected.

A major theoretical discussion is how these films might embody what can be called a ‘globalised art house aesthetic’ given that they are made locally but in this case are ultimately destined for a larger global art house market. Finally, the selected film then becomes a co-production, and a collaboration between a Latin American country (in this case, Paraguay) and Spain. These financing arrangements have both strengths and pitfalls, to be analysed in this research project.