MEXICO CITY, Oct 2, 2008 (AFP) - Film makers from Latin American, Portugal and Spain are seeking ways for their burgeoning movie industries to better compete with the United States, at their first joint cultural congress here.

Mexican President Felipe Calderon, Spanish movie star Antonio Banderas and Portuguese director Manoel de Oliveira opened the five-day meeting Wednesday by praising recent successes and calling for new strategies to overcome US dominance of the movie world.

A string of hits from Spain to Brazil to Mexico, with directors such as Pedro Almodovar, Walter Salles and Alfonso Cuaron, has helped Spanish and Portuguese language film makers conquer the globe in recent years.

But back home, US-made films still snap up the bulk of ticket sales.

'They (the US) don't need to invade us militarily because they're invading us culturally, which is the worst invasion we can have. This congress is also a call for freedom,' said Uruguayan actor Hector Guido.

Spanish star Antonio Banderas, due to return shortly to Mexico to shoot a film with Mexican director Luis Mandoki, led calls for more support from governments and a 'patronage law to finance cinema in the region.'

'The problem is not so much about producing movies, because we find the money one way or another, but we have a problem of terrible distribution,' he said.

'With the system of production that prevails today, there's no bigger threat for cinema than economic censorship, that imposes greater restrictions than official censorship,' said Mexican director Arturo Ripstein.

Meanwhile Spanish producer and president of Filmax Entertainment Julio Fernandez lamented a lack of good scripts and projects of interest to international audiences.

'When we speak of Spanish, Mexican or Argentine cinema, we usually hear of themes that are too local,' he said. 'We can't try to create a Latin American market with each country continuing to make local films.'

The heir to the Spanish throne, Crown Prince Felipe, attended the gathering, along with Enrique Iglesias, secretary general of the Ibero-American Community, and ministers and ambassadors from its 22 member countries.

Results of the Mexico City film confab are to be presented at the next Ibero-American summit, from October 29 to 31 in El Salvador.

Iglesias underlined the importance of cinema in creating a common identity.

'A community without cinema is a community without a mirror, it doesn't know its reflection,' he said.