From Barça to Atlantic History, Canary Islands Producers Eye the World
If the Canary Islands’ audiovisual sector is increasingly pitching itself as both rooted and exportable, a handful of new and recent titles suggest why. Across cultural history, elite sport, climate emergency and intimate observational portraiture, local companies are shaping projects that start from Canarian experience and reach out from there.
At the heritage end stands “Insulae: Chronicle of Our History,” Las Hormigas Negras’ flagship series for Televisión Canaria, now in its second season on Canarias Play. Elsewhere, César Armas’ “Fragile Islands,” from Videoreport Canarias, looks set to push Canarian factual production onto a global climate canvas, moving from the Maldives to the Philippines and Colombia before returning to the islands’ own eroding coasts. David Baute’s “Benigno,” from Tinglado Film, travels in the opposite direction: inward, towards one ageing man.
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What these producers share is a conviction that the Canaries’ historical position — as a staging post for conquest, migration and ecological transformation — generates stories with the kind of cross-cultural resonance that buyers in Japan, West Asia and Latin America will recognize.
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Elsewhere, Canarian docs reflect a broader market trend. Global streaming services invested nothing in in live sports rights in 2017, but $9.5 billion by 2025, according to Ampere Analysis. A growing investment of such an order requires companion programming to promote it. Non-live sports programming licensing surged from nearly 5,000 hours in second quarter 2022 to 12,000 hours in the last quarter of 2025.
Canarian companies have rolled off that demand, also seen at more traditional TV players. Produced by Wakai, “FC Barcelona: Dreaming, Playing, Winning” has launched globally across ESPN and Disney+. “King Puma” has closed deals with NHK, Caracol Televisión, Asharq News and RTV Slovenia.
A closer look at key doc titles from the Canary Islands:
Insulae: Chronicle of Our History, Las Hormigas Negras/Televisión Canaria
Now in its second season on Canarias Play, a flagship cultural series exploring Canary Islands history through archival materials, expert testimony, and cinematic visual language. The project positions the archipelago — a crossroads between Europe, Africa, and the Americas — as a protagonist of Atlantic history rather than a peripheral footnote. Producer Luis Luque argues the series demonstrates that “local history can also be universal storytelling,” and with Season 2 consolidating its audience, the question turns to whether a project this culturally rooted can find the international broadcaster or streamer willing to bet on that proposition.
“FC Barcelona: Dreaming, Playing, Winning,” Wakai
Director Paula Fernández Crespo, a lead editor on Amazon Prime’s “Simeone: Live Game by Game,” secured exclusive access to FC Barcelona Femení during a defining cycle of dominance, building an intimate portrait that uses elite women’s soccer as a lens for wider questions of equality, visibility and empowerment. The film marked Wakai’s first deal with ESPN and went out globally across ESPN and Disney+, a breakthrough that reframes Wakai’s market positioning considerably. More than a sports doc, Fernández Crespo describes it as the story of “a cultural movement.” The Disney+ platform gives the title genuine long-tail reach.
“King Puma,” Boxmedia International Sales
Director Fernando Ureña and screenwriter Arturo Lezcano González reconstruct the extraordinary career of Hans Henningsen, the Canarian sports marketing visionary who engineered Pelé’s famous bootlace moment at the 1970 Mexico World Cup, a stunt that rewired the relationship between athletic celebrity and commercial branding forever. “He was a magnetic figure, Everybody in the soccer business know him, but he wasn’t famous outside it,” The film frames Henningsen as the central figure in the Adidas-Puma trade war and tracks his influence through Maradona and beyond, until Nike’s arrival reshapes the landscape. Broadcast deals already closed with NHK, Caracol Televisión, Asharq News and RTV Slovenia speak to the film’s ability to travel across radically different cultural markets.
“Fragile Islands,” Videoreport Canarias
Director César Armas takes his cameras to the Maldives, the Philippines and Colombia to document communities living on the front line of climate-driven coastal collapse — places where the boundary between land and ocean has already ceased to hold. The film moves between the world’s most densely populated artificial island, permanently flood-submerged streets in Bulacan, and bleaching coral reefs in the Indian Ocean, with the Canary Islands’ own coastal erosion providing a closing mirror. Currently in pre-production and without a sales agent, the project carries strong environmental timeliness and a genuinely global geographic canvas that should attract factual commissioners.
“Benigno,” Tinglado Film
Goya-winning director David Baute shoots on Super 8 to follow 87-year-old Benigno, who still lives in the house of his birth, tending inherited seeds and his turtle Totó as illness and blindness close in. The film uses one man’s late life as an elegy for a disappearing Canarian way of being, its rituals, its rootedness, its relationship to the land. Co-written with María Abenia, the film world premieres at the Shanghai Film Festival, with a release scheduled for late 2026 or early 2027. “Through an intimate observational approach, the film explores memory, solitude and our relationship with the places and traditions that shape who we are,” Baute tells Variety.
“The Sergio Factor,” R2 Media Films
Directed by Manoj Daswani and sold by Juan Manuel Bethencourt, Daswani’s doc profiles Sergio Rodríguez, the Tenerife-born point guard whose flair, vision and risk-taking helped define Spain’s golden basketball generation. Structured in four chapters, like a game’s quarters, it tracks Rodríguez from Tenerife to Real Madrid, five NBA seasons and national-team glory, mixing his own testimony, archive and voices of teammates, coaches, rivals and family.
John Hopewell contributed to this article.
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Badenoch blasts 'moaning' female Labour MPs over Burnham jobs 'quota'
Kemi Badenoch has told Labour women to earn a job in Andy Burnham's Cabinet instead of demanding they are handed jobs because of their gender.
The Tory leader lashed out today amid reports that female MPs are demanding the de-facto new prime minister introduce a 50:50 gender split 'quota' in his government.
Amid reports that former foreign secretary David Miliband is being lined up to return to the role, possibly with his brother Ed as Chancellor, one female minister also complained that Burnham could not have 'more Milibands than women' in the top posts.
But in a scathing article in the Times today Mrs Badenoch told them to 'stop moaning' and get chosen on merit instead of retreating into 'more of the failed identity politics that is holding back our country'.
'There are many, many reasons why you shouldn't have any Milibands in the cabinet,' she said.
'But complaining that the boys haven't given them the right jobs or that the boys are taking all the jobs, just shows that Labour's women still don't get it.'
The idea of quotas was also attacked by Baroness Jacqui Smith, Labour's Skills Minister.
Asked by Times Radio if Mr Burnham should reserve jobs for women, she said: 'No, I think what Andy Burnham should be doing is building the very best team around him to change this country.'
A letter written by the Women's Parliamentary Labour Party has called on Mr Burnham to ensure a 50:50 split between men and women in government jobs
Amid reports that former foreign secretary David Miliband (above, right, in 2010) is being lined up to return to the role, possibly with his brother Ed as Chancellor, one female minister complained that Burnham could not have 'more Milibands than women' in the top posts
But Mrs Badenoch told them to pipe down and get chosen on merit instead of retreating into 'more of the failed identity politics that is holding back our country'
A letter written by the Women's Parliamentary Labour Party and seen by the BBC has called on Mr Burnham to ensure a 50:50 split between men and women in government jobs after he succeeds Sir Keir Starmer.
'We are asking you to demonstrate this change from day one and address the toxicity and misogyny within our own party and government,' it said.
Labour has never had a female leader, while the Conservatives have had three, and Mrs Badenoch urged the government to follow its meritocratic example.
'If you run a meritocracy, then you do not have to worry about jobs for the boys,' she wrote.
'Every woman who is a Conservative MP, every woman who has ever won the leadership, has had to fight to get where she is.
'By contrast, Labour women are demanding guarantees from Burnham. But the truth is he doesn't have to give any guarantees.
'If none of Labour's women are prepared to get their hands dirty and challenge him for the leadership, their demands are toothless.'
'In fact, it's quite revealing that the women's parliamentary Labour Party has written to Burnham asking him to commit himself to at least 50 per cent female ministers.
'This has nothing to do with meritocracy. It is yet more of the failed identity politics that is holding back our country.'
Venezuela Fury and Noah Price subsidising their life by livestreaming
Venezuela Fury and her husband Noah Price look to be making their own way in the world by raking it in from their lucrative social media accounts.
The influencer daughter of Tyson and Paris Fury, 16, has become an internet sensation after tying the knot with her husband Noah, 19, earlier this year.
Since getting married and moving in together the couple have been earning thousands of pounds a month, livestreaming their life as newlyweds in their static caravan in the East Riding of Yorkshire.
And fans can't get enough of their regular life updates on TikTok and Kick, which have proved to be very profitable for the pair.
They look to be supporting themselves after Noah denied that he was given £5million by Venezuela's family as a wedding gift.
Despite his wife's huge family wealth, an estimated combined £160 million, Noah recently told his Kick followers that he 'pays for everything' for the couple.
Making light of the claims about Venezuela's millionaire financial status, Noah said: 'I actually pay for everything unfortunately. You'd expect the millionaire to pay for it wouldn't you.'
Venezuela Fury and Noah Price are earning thousands livestreaming their caravan life - after her new groom insisted he pays all the bills and denied he had £5m handout from her dad
The influencer daughter of Tyson and Paris Fury , 16, has become an internet sensation after tying the knot with her husband Noah, 19, earlier this year
Venezuela then asked their fans: 'Do you think I am a millionaire?'
Noah joked: 'She isn't a secret millionaire guys', before she broke into song and sang: 'But I live like a millionaire!'
But it seems according to estimated calculations from their social media work, Noah and Venezuela can more than afford to support themselves.
Noah has been livestreaming on platforms such as Kick and TikTok, where viewers can send paid gifts or donations.
He was previously encouraging viewers to send gifts on his honeymoon during livestreams, suggesting this is one revenue stream.
Both Noah and Venezuela have built substantial followings on Instagram and TikTok. They can potentially earn money through sponsored posts, brand collaborations, affiliate links and creator payouts.
Kick allows its creators to take home 95 per cent of the £4.99 subscription cost that fans pay.
Streamers keep 100 per cent of direct tips and donations, minus minor standard payment processing fees.
It is unclear how many subscribers Noah currently has because this information is hidden, but he does have 7,200 followers which is publicly viewable.
An industry insider has suggested Noah is making around £400 per video on TikTok, while Venezuela is likely to make £2,000 due to her following count of 1.3 million.
An industry insider has suggested Noah is making around £400 per video on TikTok, while Venezuela is likely to make £2,000 due to her following count of 1.3 million
In one video on their honeymoon, Noah asked his followers if they'd give them some more gifts now that they were married.
In a TikTok live viewed by 20,000 he said: 'Keep liking our videos people, keep sending gifts.'
After saying thank you to several of his followers he joked they should stick around on the livestream and 'watch Venezuela punch me in the mouth'.
The other half of the honeymooning couple said: 'I am, honestly!'
Noah previously confirmed that the pair don't share their finances after they were asked whether they have a shared bank account.
'She earns her money, I earn mine,' said Noah, as Venezuela joked: 'Yeah, what you gonna do about it.'
Noah went on to debunk the rumour that Tyson gave him £5million when he tied the knot with his daughter as he insisted: 'No Tyson did not give me £5million'.
Meanwhile Venezuela is being eyed up by executives for a fly on the wall TV series.
Noah went on to debunk the rumour that Tyson gave him £5million when he tied the knot with his daughter as he insisted: 'No Tyson did not give me £5million'
Boasting 1.3 million TikTok followers, Venezuela is already entertaining fans with her honest musings and candid moments, from cooking to kitting out her and Noah's static caravan home.
And following the success of the Netflix series At Home With The Furys, it is no wonder bosses are wanting to draw on the Fury popularity.
A TV insider said: 'The couple are not A-list celebrities but everyone has become obsessed with their love story.
'People are genuinely intrigued by them. Whether it’s the fact they have married so young, Venezuela’s famous family or their gypsy lifestyle, they have the ‘X factor'.
'Several TV executives think a proper fly-on-the-wall series following their lives as newlyweds in the gypsy community would be fascinating,' they told The Sun.
It is thought Netflix would be likely to produce the series due to their already established relationship with the Furys.
Venezuela's representatives told The Daily Mail: 'We have many offers on the table regarding Venezuela which we are discussing.'
