Spanish cinema was celebrated at the 38th Annual Goya Awards in Valladolid, with Netflix’s The Society of the Snow taking a total of 12 trophies, the most of the night.
J.A. Bayona won in the Best Director category for The Society of the Snow (La Sociedad de la Nieve), with the film also taking Best Film.
The top acting awards went to Malena Alterio for Antonio Méndez Esparza’s Que Nadie Duerma (Something Is About to Happen) and to David Verdaguer for David Trueba’s Saben aquell (Jokes & Cigarettes).
Sigourney Weaver was honored with an International Goya during the ceremony with Juan Mariné receiving an honorary Goya.
See all the winners in the list below.
Premios Goya 2024 Complete Winners List
Honorary Goya
Juan Mariné
Best Supporting Actor
José Coronado
Cerrar los ojos (Close Your Eyes)
Best Original Song
“Yo solo quiero amor”
Rigoberta Bandini
Te estoy amando locamente
Best...
J.A. Bayona won in the Best Director category for The Society of the Snow (La Sociedad de la Nieve), with the film also taking Best Film.
The top acting awards went to Malena Alterio for Antonio Méndez Esparza’s Que Nadie Duerma (Something Is About to Happen) and to David Verdaguer for David Trueba’s Saben aquell (Jokes & Cigarettes).
Sigourney Weaver was honored with an International Goya during the ceremony with Juan Mariné receiving an honorary Goya.
See all the winners in the list below.
Premios Goya 2024 Complete Winners List
Honorary Goya
Juan Mariné
Best Supporting Actor
José Coronado
Cerrar los ojos (Close Your Eyes)
Best Original Song
“Yo solo quiero amor”
Rigoberta Bandini
Te estoy amando locamente
Best...
- 2/11/2024
- by Armando Tinoco
- Deadline Film + TV
Que Nadie Duerma, or Something Is About to Happen, by Antonio Mendez Esparza explores a woman’s gradual descent into madness as she slowly loses the aspects of her life that make her human. In this psychological thriller, through the protagonist’s experiences, Esparza explores the darker nature of human behavior and the consequences of preying on those who are more vulnerable. This theme serves as a morbid commentary on the moral fabric of society. As the protagonist develops an obsession with another character, we see her deal with her self-image and how those around her slowly scavenge the pillars that protect her sanity. Despite its recurring theme about the disappearing line between fiction and reality, Something Is About to Happen holds a sense of realism with its similarities to the real world.
Spoilers Ahead
What Is Lucia’s Story?
Lucia, a software developer in her 30s employed by a firm in Madrid,...
Spoilers Ahead
What Is Lucia’s Story?
Lucia, a software developer in her 30s employed by a firm in Madrid,...
- 2/7/2024
- by Shrey Ashley Philip
- Film Fugitives
Ten years after clinching Cannes Critics’ Week Grand Prize with “Aquí y allá,” and half a decade following “Life and Nothing More,” which earned a John Cassavetes Award at the Independent Spirit Awards – a film Variety hailed as ‘outstanding’—Antonio Méndez Esparza returns with his fourth feature, “Something is About to Happen.”
Co-written with Clara Roquet, a Critics’ Week-selected director for “Libertad,” Esparza’s latest film delves into the life of Lucía, who loses her It job at a failing dental firm and becomes a taxi driver.
The profession she chooses is apt as we follow a character sat in loneliness moving among people while longing to connect deeply with someone. The clarity of the title and immediate rising strings of the soundtrack set the screw of tension turning in this fascinating character piece.
Esparza’s previous two features have a neorealist, almost documentary-like quality, working with non actors and using improvisation heavily.
Co-written with Clara Roquet, a Critics’ Week-selected director for “Libertad,” Esparza’s latest film delves into the life of Lucía, who loses her It job at a failing dental firm and becomes a taxi driver.
The profession she chooses is apt as we follow a character sat in loneliness moving among people while longing to connect deeply with someone. The clarity of the title and immediate rising strings of the soundtrack set the screw of tension turning in this fascinating character piece.
Esparza’s previous two features have a neorealist, almost documentary-like quality, working with non actors and using improvisation heavily.
- 11/7/2023
- by Callum McLennan
- Variety Film + TV
One of Spain’s biggest and oldest movie events, the Valladolid Intl. Film Festival, known as the Seminci in Spain, is broadening its range of Spanish films and aims to strengthen its position as an international platform for art films.
Running Oct. 21-28 in Valladolid, the capital city of Spanish region Castilla-Leon, the Seminci’s 68th edition marks the first under new director José Luis Cienfuegos, named last April.
With an illustrious near 30-year career as a festival director, at the helm of the Seville European Film Festival (2012-2023) and prior to that at the Gijon Intl. Film Festival (1995-2011), Cienfuegos has arrived to Valladolid at a time when a new generation of Spanish film auteurs, often women, is booming, making waves at the international festivals circuit.
“Valladolid is a city absolutely dedicated to the festival that demands and needs to open the doors to a new generation of filmmakers,...
Running Oct. 21-28 in Valladolid, the capital city of Spanish region Castilla-Leon, the Seminci’s 68th edition marks the first under new director José Luis Cienfuegos, named last April.
With an illustrious near 30-year career as a festival director, at the helm of the Seville European Film Festival (2012-2023) and prior to that at the Gijon Intl. Film Festival (1995-2011), Cienfuegos has arrived to Valladolid at a time when a new generation of Spanish film auteurs, often women, is booming, making waves at the international festivals circuit.
“Valladolid is a city absolutely dedicated to the festival that demands and needs to open the doors to a new generation of filmmakers,...
- 10/20/2023
- by Emiliano De Pablos
- Variety Film + TV
José Luis Cienfuegos is in his first year as festival director, joining after stints in Gijon and Seville.
José Luis Cienfuegos is ready to launch his first edition as director at one of Spain’s oldest film events, Valladolid International Film Week (October 21-28) also known as the Seminici.
Previously in charge of the Gijón and Seville film festivals, Cienfuegos’ Valladolid is embracing new voices and has enhanced industry activities as it continue the work of finding new audiences for independent cinema while debating film heritage in the 21st century.
He talks to Screen about this year’s programme and...
José Luis Cienfuegos is ready to launch his first edition as director at one of Spain’s oldest film events, Valladolid International Film Week (October 21-28) also known as the Seminici.
Previously in charge of the Gijón and Seville film festivals, Cienfuegos’ Valladolid is embracing new voices and has enhanced industry activities as it continue the work of finding new audiences for independent cinema while debating film heritage in the 21st century.
He talks to Screen about this year’s programme and...
- 10/20/2023
- by Elisabet Cabeza
- ScreenDaily
The 68th edition will screen a mix of new Spanish films and 2023 favourites and host an expanded industry programme.
The 68th edition of the Seminci, the Valladolid International Film Week opens this weekend (October 21) with a screening of The Movie Teller, directed by Lone Scherfig, starring Bérénice Béjo, Antonio de la Torre and Daniel Brühl and written by Walter Salles, Isabel Coixet and Rafa Russo.
For what is a vital launchpad into the Spanish market, new festival director José Luis Cienfuegos has programmed a series of international festival favourites from 2023 alongside new films by Spanish directors Antonio Méndez Esparza and...
The 68th edition of the Seminci, the Valladolid International Film Week opens this weekend (October 21) with a screening of The Movie Teller, directed by Lone Scherfig, starring Bérénice Béjo, Antonio de la Torre and Daniel Brühl and written by Walter Salles, Isabel Coixet and Rafa Russo.
For what is a vital launchpad into the Spanish market, new festival director José Luis Cienfuegos has programmed a series of international festival favourites from 2023 alongside new films by Spanish directors Antonio Méndez Esparza and...
- 10/20/2023
- by Elisabet Cabeza
- ScreenDaily
Madrid-based Aquí y Allí Films, one of Spain’s most successful auteur movie production houses, is joining forces with popular Spanish actor turned writer-director Daniel Guzmán to produce drama thriller “La deuda.”
Backed by Spain’s pay TV giant Movistar+ and public broadcaster Rtve, “La deuda” will be produced by Aquí y Allí’s Pedro Hernández and Guzmán at El Niño Producciones.
The film is scheduled to roll in Madrid by the fall.
Written by Guzmán, “La deuda” tells the story of Lucas, a 37-year-old man and the 86 year-old woman Antonia, who live together in a city too big to be alone. Lucas is looking for a job but the job seems not to be looking for him.
Despite the economic difficulties they are going through, and their generational difference, they live day to day with a certain enthusiasm. Until Lucas’ decision will change the rest of their lives.
“I...
Backed by Spain’s pay TV giant Movistar+ and public broadcaster Rtve, “La deuda” will be produced by Aquí y Allí’s Pedro Hernández and Guzmán at El Niño Producciones.
The film is scheduled to roll in Madrid by the fall.
Written by Guzmán, “La deuda” tells the story of Lucas, a 37-year-old man and the 86 year-old woman Antonia, who live together in a city too big to be alone. Lucas is looking for a job but the job seems not to be looking for him.
Despite the economic difficulties they are going through, and their generational difference, they live day to day with a certain enthusiasm. Until Lucas’ decision will change the rest of their lives.
“I...
- 2/20/2023
- by Emiliano De Pablos
- Variety Film + TV
Festival names 16 projects from Spain and Latin America.
Sónia Méndez’s As Neves (The Snows), Laura Ferrés’ The Permanent Picture and Agustín Toscano’s I Trust You are among 16 projects selected for the sixth edition of Malaga Work In Progress,
Spain’s Aquí y Allí Films, the company behind the winner of 2012 Critics’ Week with emigration drama Aquí y Allá, by Antonio Méndez Esparza, is producing the Sonia Méndez’s feature debut As Neves, a psychological drama with thriller touches set in Galicia.
Scroll down for full list of projects
After her 2017 Cannes Critics’ Week short film winner The Disinherited,...
Sónia Méndez’s As Neves (The Snows), Laura Ferrés’ The Permanent Picture and Agustín Toscano’s I Trust You are among 16 projects selected for the sixth edition of Malaga Work In Progress,
Spain’s Aquí y Allí Films, the company behind the winner of 2012 Critics’ Week with emigration drama Aquí y Allá, by Antonio Méndez Esparza, is producing the Sonia Méndez’s feature debut As Neves, a psychological drama with thriller touches set in Galicia.
Scroll down for full list of projects
After her 2017 Cannes Critics’ Week short film winner The Disinherited,...
- 2/14/2023
- by Emilio Mayorga
- ScreenDaily
Que nadie duerma
Settling into his fourth feature film (and third fiction following 2020’s Courtroom 3H) in February of last year, Spaniard Antonio Mendez Esparza teamed with writer-director Clara Roquet on the screenplay for professional impasse in a woman’s life. Starring Aitana Sánchez-Gijón and Malena Alterio, this was originally titled “Madrid It Is,” and is about reinvention and….revenge and is based on Juan José Millás’ novel. Esparza first blasted onto the scene with 2012’s Aquí y Allá (a Cannes Critic’s Week winner) and 2017’s Life and Nothing More (TIFF/San Sebastián entry), the filmmaker reteamed with Barbu Balasoiu. Aquí y Allí Films’ Pedro Hernández produced what smells like a comedy tweaked with darkness.…...
Settling into his fourth feature film (and third fiction following 2020’s Courtroom 3H) in February of last year, Spaniard Antonio Mendez Esparza teamed with writer-director Clara Roquet on the screenplay for professional impasse in a woman’s life. Starring Aitana Sánchez-Gijón and Malena Alterio, this was originally titled “Madrid It Is,” and is about reinvention and….revenge and is based on Juan José Millás’ novel. Esparza first blasted onto the scene with 2012’s Aquí y Allá (a Cannes Critic’s Week winner) and 2017’s Life and Nothing More (TIFF/San Sebastián entry), the filmmaker reteamed with Barbu Balasoiu. Aquí y Allí Films’ Pedro Hernández produced what smells like a comedy tweaked with darkness.…...
- 1/13/2023
- by Eric Lavallée
- IONCINEMA.com
Top Spanish arthouse distributor-producer Avalon had boarded “La niña de la cabra” (“Goat Girl”), the sophomore film by actor-director Ana Asensio whose “Most Beautiful Island” feature snagged the SXSW Grand Jury Award in 2017.
The project, which has just earned support from Spain’s Icaa film institute, is set up at Aquí y Allí Films and co-produced with Romania’s Avantpost Media. Pedro Hernández’s Aquí y Allí Films is the producer behind Antonio Méndez Esparza’s festival hits “Here and There,” a Cannes Critics’ Week winner, and “Life and Nothing More.”
An allegorical drama set in the suburbs of Madrid in the late ’80s, “Goat Girl” is scheduled to roll in 2023 and has been acquired for international sales by Paris-based Alpha Violet.
Both Avalon and Aquí y Allí share a close relationship since they teamed on Carlos Vermut’s “Magical Girl,” which scooped San Sebastian’s Golden Shell in 2016, distribution...
The project, which has just earned support from Spain’s Icaa film institute, is set up at Aquí y Allí Films and co-produced with Romania’s Avantpost Media. Pedro Hernández’s Aquí y Allí Films is the producer behind Antonio Méndez Esparza’s festival hits “Here and There,” a Cannes Critics’ Week winner, and “Life and Nothing More.”
An allegorical drama set in the suburbs of Madrid in the late ’80s, “Goat Girl” is scheduled to roll in 2023 and has been acquired for international sales by Paris-based Alpha Violet.
Both Avalon and Aquí y Allí share a close relationship since they teamed on Carlos Vermut’s “Magical Girl,” which scooped San Sebastian’s Golden Shell in 2016, distribution...
- 9/26/2022
- by Emiliano De Pablos
- Variety Film + TV
Alpha Violet founding co-heads Virginie Devesa and Keiko Funato are at the Venice Film Festival this year with Indonesian filmmaker Makbul Mubarak’s first film Autobiography, which plays in Horizons ahead of trips to Toronto and London among other festivals.
The coming-of-age drama, exploring the legacy of Indonesia’s 30-year military dictatorship, revolves around a young boy working as a housekeeper in the empty mansion of a retired general.
Venice Film Festival: Memorable Moments 1945-1984 Gallery
Devesa and Funato, who fete the 10th anniversary of their Paris-based sales boutique Alpha Violet in October, have a strong record of launching debut features on the Lido having previously handled Japanese filmmaker Kei Ishikawa’s 2016 feature Gukoroku, Traces of Sin and Greek director Christos Nikou’s 2020 breakout Apples, which both played in Horizons.
Neither title won the top prize, but both works put the directors on the international festival and industry map. Ishikawa...
The coming-of-age drama, exploring the legacy of Indonesia’s 30-year military dictatorship, revolves around a young boy working as a housekeeper in the empty mansion of a retired general.
Venice Film Festival: Memorable Moments 1945-1984 Gallery
Devesa and Funato, who fete the 10th anniversary of their Paris-based sales boutique Alpha Violet in October, have a strong record of launching debut features on the Lido having previously handled Japanese filmmaker Kei Ishikawa’s 2016 feature Gukoroku, Traces of Sin and Greek director Christos Nikou’s 2020 breakout Apples, which both played in Horizons.
Neither title won the top prize, but both works put the directors on the international festival and industry map. Ishikawa...
- 9/2/2022
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- Deadline Film + TV
Spanish thesp Luis Tosar has joined the cast of sci-fi comedy “Golem,” produced by Spain’s top indie house Aquí y Allí Films.
Directed by Juan González and Fernando Martínez (a.k.a. Burnin’ Percebes), the project toplines Brays Efe, star of Netflix hit series “Paquita Salas,” Goya Award winner Bruna Cusí (“Summer 1993”) and Javier Botet.
Aquí y Allí Films’ Pedro Hernández and Elamedia’s Roberto Butragueño produce the film, scheduled to roll in Madrid from August.
Elamedia will distribute in Spain.
Aquí y Allí is one of the five Spanish companies selected by Spain’s trade promotion board Icex and the Icaa film institute to pitch their production slates at Cannes’ Producers Network.
Burnin’ Percebes earned a reputation as a cult indie film pair with previous features “Searching for Meritxell,” “Ikea 2” and “The Lizard Queen.”
“Golem” narrates the story of two friends, Juan and David, who after an...
Directed by Juan González and Fernando Martínez (a.k.a. Burnin’ Percebes), the project toplines Brays Efe, star of Netflix hit series “Paquita Salas,” Goya Award winner Bruna Cusí (“Summer 1993”) and Javier Botet.
Aquí y Allí Films’ Pedro Hernández and Elamedia’s Roberto Butragueño produce the film, scheduled to roll in Madrid from August.
Elamedia will distribute in Spain.
Aquí y Allí is one of the five Spanish companies selected by Spain’s trade promotion board Icex and the Icaa film institute to pitch their production slates at Cannes’ Producers Network.
Burnin’ Percebes earned a reputation as a cult indie film pair with previous features “Searching for Meritxell,” “Ikea 2” and “The Lizard Queen.”
“Golem” narrates the story of two friends, Juan and David, who after an...
- 5/26/2022
- by Emiliano De Pablos
- Variety Film + TV
Based out of the U.S. and Spain, 34T Sales has taken international rights to surrealist romcom “The Queen of Lizards,” directed by Nando Martínez and Juan González, who go by the name of Burnin’ Percebes.
The feature is produced by Pedro Hernández at Madrid-based Aquí y Allí Films which first caught notice with “Here and There,” the debut feature of Antonio Méndez Esparza, which won Cannes Critics’ Week Grand Prize in 2012. Carlos Vermut’s “Magical Girl” scooped San Sebastian’s Golden Shell in 2016, while another Aqua y all production, Méndez Esparza’s “Life and Nothing More,” was proclaimed an “essential film2 of 2017 by Variety.
The Spanish producer has proven to have a keen eye for discovering young original talent working on stories deeply rooted in memorable characters.
Martínez and González broke out with their first feature, 2014’s “Searching for Meritxell,” then made “Ikea 2,” two low-cost indie features which confronted classic scenarios,...
The feature is produced by Pedro Hernández at Madrid-based Aquí y Allí Films which first caught notice with “Here and There,” the debut feature of Antonio Méndez Esparza, which won Cannes Critics’ Week Grand Prize in 2012. Carlos Vermut’s “Magical Girl” scooped San Sebastian’s Golden Shell in 2016, while another Aqua y all production, Méndez Esparza’s “Life and Nothing More,” was proclaimed an “essential film2 of 2017 by Variety.
The Spanish producer has proven to have a keen eye for discovering young original talent working on stories deeply rooted in memorable characters.
Martínez and González broke out with their first feature, 2014’s “Searching for Meritxell,” then made “Ikea 2,” two low-cost indie features which confronted classic scenarios,...
- 10/21/2021
- by Emilio Mayorga
- Variety Film + TV
Antonio Méndez Esparza on Courtroom 3H: 'I think the only reason why the movie exists, from a legal standpoint, is because it's transparent' Spanish director Antonio Méndez Esparza's documentary Courtroom 3H steps inside the family courts of Florida to take a look at the way the system operates. The director - who previously won the Independent Spirit John Cassavetes Award for Life And Nothing More - takes a fly-on-the-wall approach to the Tallahassee court, first following a number of cases before the second part of the film zeroes in on two specific sets of proceedings. The court takes a rehabilitation approach to family relationships, aiming to keep parents and children together where possible - while still stepping in when it isn't - and the film offers a clear-eyed view of the legal process and the challenges of judging cases.
We caught up with the director ahead of the film's screening...
We caught up with the director ahead of the film's screening...
- 6/24/2021
- by Amber Wilkinson
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
The 2021 summer film festival season is continuing forward, slightly off-kilter, with Tribeca in June and Cannes in July, before the fall season takes off with in Venice, Telluride, Toronto and New York. The American Film Institute’s AFI Docs 2021 (June 22-27), which is skewed toward the virtual, (much like the lockdown iteration of 2020), will screen 77 Films from 23 countries, opening with Garrett Bradley’s “Naomi Osaka”, a world premiere of the upcoming mini-series about the tennis champion, and closing with Isabel Bethencourt and Parker Hill’s Sundance 2021 premiere “Cusp.” Morgan Neville’s Tribeca 2021 debut “Roadrunner: A Film About Anthony Bourdain” as the centerpiece gala.
Like last year, all the films will be available to view online at Docs.AFI.com, plus in-person screenings at the AFI Silver Theatre and Cultural Center in Silver Spring, Maryland. Select films will be available with closed captioning and descriptive audio. 52 percent of the films are directed by women,...
Like last year, all the films will be available to view online at Docs.AFI.com, plus in-person screenings at the AFI Silver Theatre and Cultural Center in Silver Spring, Maryland. Select films will be available with closed captioning and descriptive audio. 52 percent of the films are directed by women,...
- 5/26/2021
- by Anne Thompson
- Indiewire
The 2021 summer film festival season is continuing forward, slightly off-kilter, with Tribeca in June and Cannes in July, before the fall season takes off with in Venice, Telluride, Toronto and New York. The American Film Institute’s AFI Docs 2021 (June 22-27), which is skewed toward the virtual, (much like the lockdown iteration of 2020), will screen 77 Films from 23 countries, opening with Garrett Bradley’s “Naomi Osaka”, a world premiere of the upcoming mini-series about the tennis champion, and closing with Isabel Bethencourt and Parker Hill’s Sundance 2021 premiere “Cusp.” Morgan Neville’s Tribeca 2021 debut “Roadrunner: A Film About Anthony Bourdain” as the centerpiece gala.
Like last year, all the films will be available to view online at Docs.AFI.com, plus in-person screenings at the AFI Silver Theatre and Cultural Center in Silver Spring, Maryland. Select films will be available with closed captioning and descriptive audio. 52 percent of the films are directed by women,...
Like last year, all the films will be available to view online at Docs.AFI.com, plus in-person screenings at the AFI Silver Theatre and Cultural Center in Silver Spring, Maryland. Select films will be available with closed captioning and descriptive audio. 52 percent of the films are directed by women,...
- 5/26/2021
- by Anne Thompson
- Thompson on Hollywood
Condor Entertainment acquires French rights
Paris-based Alpha Violet has picked up worldwide sales rights excluding Bolivia and Uruguay to Alejandro Loayza Grisi’s anticipated Utama and will show footage at the virtual Cannes market next month.
The sales agent has licensed French rights on the Bolivia/Uruguay drama to Condor Distribution, whose slate includes Quo Vadis, Aida?, and First Cow. Buyers have been tracking the Alma Films production since it won three key awards at Films In Progress 39 in Toulouse earlier this year.
Currently in post, Utama is expected to land prestige festival slots this year and is set against...
Paris-based Alpha Violet has picked up worldwide sales rights excluding Bolivia and Uruguay to Alejandro Loayza Grisi’s anticipated Utama and will show footage at the virtual Cannes market next month.
The sales agent has licensed French rights on the Bolivia/Uruguay drama to Condor Distribution, whose slate includes Quo Vadis, Aida?, and First Cow. Buyers have been tracking the Alma Films production since it won three key awards at Films In Progress 39 in Toulouse earlier this year.
Currently in post, Utama is expected to land prestige festival slots this year and is set against...
- 5/19/2021
- by Jeremy Kay
- ScreenDaily
Libertad
Another title we thought would appear in 2020 was the debut of screenwriter Clara Roquet, who co-wrote Carlos Marques-Marcet’s 10,000km (2014), Jaime Rosales’ Petra (a Cannes 2018 in Directors’ Fortnight selection) and upcoming films such as Antonio Méndez Esparza’s horror flick Que nadie duerma and Mounia Akl’s debut Costa Brava Lebanon. The highest ranked directorial debut on our list, Roquet’s film stars Nora Navas, Vicky Pena, Nicolle Garcia, Maria Rodriguez Soto and David Selvas. Libertad, was produced by Tono Folguera, Sergi Moreno, Stefan Schmitz and Maria Zamora through Barcelona’s Lastor Media, Madrid’s Avalon and Snowglobe. The film (which landed a prize at the San Sebastian’s 7th Europe-Latin America Co-Production Forum) is lensed by Gris Jordana.…...
Another title we thought would appear in 2020 was the debut of screenwriter Clara Roquet, who co-wrote Carlos Marques-Marcet’s 10,000km (2014), Jaime Rosales’ Petra (a Cannes 2018 in Directors’ Fortnight selection) and upcoming films such as Antonio Méndez Esparza’s horror flick Que nadie duerma and Mounia Akl’s debut Costa Brava Lebanon. The highest ranked directorial debut on our list, Roquet’s film stars Nora Navas, Vicky Pena, Nicolle Garcia, Maria Rodriguez Soto and David Selvas. Libertad, was produced by Tono Folguera, Sergi Moreno, Stefan Schmitz and Maria Zamora through Barcelona’s Lastor Media, Madrid’s Avalon and Snowglobe. The film (which landed a prize at the San Sebastian’s 7th Europe-Latin America Co-Production Forum) is lensed by Gris Jordana.…...
- 1/3/2021
- by Nicholas Bell
- IONCINEMA.com
Spanish producer-distributor Wanda Films is set to co-produce Antonio Méndez Esparza‘s “Madrid Is It,” a thriller with comedic touches produced by Pedro Hernández’s Aquí y Allí Films, the Madrid-based outfit that has backed all of the features directed by Esparza, one of Spain’s most laureled and lauded directors.
“Madrid Is It” focuses on Lucía, who leads a discrete life, has a peculiar sense of humor and sense of duty, and a dreamy personality. Her quiet life suddenly changes, however, when her boss embezzles funds at the company and everybody lose their jobs. She decides to reinvent her life, working as a taxi driver. When her life finally seems to regain a certain stability and ease, Lucía sees how everything takes another turn for the worst and the film, to this point a comedy, turns into a revenge thriller.
“‘Madrid Is It’ will also be a road movie across Madrid,...
“Madrid Is It” focuses on Lucía, who leads a discrete life, has a peculiar sense of humor and sense of duty, and a dreamy personality. Her quiet life suddenly changes, however, when her boss embezzles funds at the company and everybody lose their jobs. She decides to reinvent her life, working as a taxi driver. When her life finally seems to regain a certain stability and ease, Lucía sees how everything takes another turn for the worst and the film, to this point a comedy, turns into a revenge thriller.
“‘Madrid Is It’ will also be a road movie across Madrid,...
- 11/18/2020
- by Emilio Mayorga
- Variety Film + TV
The title of the last film by Antonio Méndez Esparza - a Spanish director who now calls Tallahassee, Florida, his home - was Life And Nothing More. It was a slice-of-life drama about a single mum and her kids struggling on the poverty line in Florida that often had a documentary feel, not least because he used a non-professional cast. This time out, he's gone for a pure documentary in the Frederick Wiseman mould, that could have been titled Court And Nothing More, such is his spare approach to the material, filmed over 30 days in Tallahassee's Unified Family Court - where future rights of children and their parents are decided on a daily basis.
If the set up is simple and the camera static, the emotional journeys that are represented in the near-two hours of this well-edited film are anything but. We see the flow of parents through the court,...
If the set up is simple and the camera static, the emotional journeys that are represented in the near-two hours of this well-edited film are anything but. We see the flow of parents through the court,...
- 9/28/2020
- by Amber Wilkinson
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
Madrid-born director Antonio Méndez Esparza has been living in Tallahassee, Florida for the best part of eight years, where he combines a job as a professor teaching film at Florida State University with directing.
Having already proven himself in fiction, making “Here and Now” a Mexican immigrant tale that won the Cannes Critics’ Award in 2012 and “Life & Nothing More” about a struggling African-American family in Florida, which won the John Cassavetes Award at the 2018 Film Independent Spirit Awards, his first documentary, “Courtroom 3H,” is playing in competition at the San Sebastian Film Festival.
“When I made ‘Life and Nothing More’ in 2017, one of the moving aspects that I didn’t explore enough was the court system,” says Esparza. “I am very intrigued by juvenile courts.”
The Tallahassee Unified Family Court (Florida) specializes in judicial cases involving minors. It uses the Unified Family Court Model, whereby families get summoned when accused of abuse,...
Having already proven himself in fiction, making “Here and Now” a Mexican immigrant tale that won the Cannes Critics’ Award in 2012 and “Life & Nothing More” about a struggling African-American family in Florida, which won the John Cassavetes Award at the 2018 Film Independent Spirit Awards, his first documentary, “Courtroom 3H,” is playing in competition at the San Sebastian Film Festival.
“When I made ‘Life and Nothing More’ in 2017, one of the moving aspects that I didn’t explore enough was the court system,” says Esparza. “I am very intrigued by juvenile courts.”
The Tallahassee Unified Family Court (Florida) specializes in judicial cases involving minors. It uses the Unified Family Court Model, whereby families get summoned when accused of abuse,...
- 9/22/2020
- by Kaleem Aftab
- Variety Film + TV
Nine out of 13 features will be presented as world premieres.
San Sebastian International Film Festival (Ssiff) is set to world premiere a raft of new features, which will compete for the coveted Golden Shell award.
The 68th edition, which runs September 18-26, will see 13 films play in competition from the Official Selection, nine of which are world premieres.
Scroll down for full list of titles
These include Harry Macqueen’s UK drama Supernova, starring Colin Firth and Stanley Tucci, and UK documentary Crock Of Gold: A Few Rounds With Shane MacGowan, directed by Julien Temple and produced by Johnny Depp.
San Sebastian International Film Festival (Ssiff) is set to world premiere a raft of new features, which will compete for the coveted Golden Shell award.
The 68th edition, which runs September 18-26, will see 13 films play in competition from the Official Selection, nine of which are world premieres.
Scroll down for full list of titles
These include Harry Macqueen’s UK drama Supernova, starring Colin Firth and Stanley Tucci, and UK documentary Crock Of Gold: A Few Rounds With Shane MacGowan, directed by Julien Temple and produced by Johnny Depp.
- 9/18/2020
- by Michael Rosser
- ScreenDaily
Matt Dillon’s ‘El Gran Fellove’ has also been selected to play out of competition.
San Sebastian International Film Festival has added four new titles that will compete for the Golden Shell award at its 68th edition, set to run September 18-26.
They include Harry Macqueen’s Supernova, Eduardo Crespo’s We Will Never Die, Danielle Arbid’s Simple Passion and Julien Temple’s Crock Of Gold: A Few Rounds With Shane McGowan.
The festival has also added documentary El Gran Fellove as a special screening out of competition, which marks the second feature directed by actor Matt Dillon.
All...
San Sebastian International Film Festival has added four new titles that will compete for the Golden Shell award at its 68th edition, set to run September 18-26.
They include Harry Macqueen’s Supernova, Eduardo Crespo’s We Will Never Die, Danielle Arbid’s Simple Passion and Julien Temple’s Crock Of Gold: A Few Rounds With Shane McGowan.
The festival has also added documentary El Gran Fellove as a special screening out of competition, which marks the second feature directed by actor Matt Dillon.
All...
- 8/6/2020
- by 1100453¦Michael Rosser¦9¦
- ScreenDaily
Akelarre Photo: Courtesy of San Sebastian Film Festival
The Official Selection at San Sebastian Film Festival has been expanded by the announcement of several Spanish titles, including Pablo Agüero’s Akelarre and Antonio Méndez Esparza’s Courtroom 3H.
Akelarre is a period film which sees women accused of witchcraft and marks the second time Agüero has competed for the Golden Shell after Eva Doesn't Sleep in 2015. Esparza, who won the Fipresci prize at the festival with his previous drama Life And Nothing More returns with a documentary observing a Floridian court that deals with family cases.
Two series also join the line-up - Rodrigo Sorogoyen’s six-part Riot Police, playing out of competition, and Aitor Gabilondo’s eight-episode Patria, which will be a special screening.
The festival has previously announced that the Official Selection will open with Woody Allen's Rifkin's Festival, which will also play out of competition.
In...
The Official Selection at San Sebastian Film Festival has been expanded by the announcement of several Spanish titles, including Pablo Agüero’s Akelarre and Antonio Méndez Esparza’s Courtroom 3H.
Akelarre is a period film which sees women accused of witchcraft and marks the second time Agüero has competed for the Golden Shell after Eva Doesn't Sleep in 2015. Esparza, who won the Fipresci prize at the festival with his previous drama Life And Nothing More returns with a documentary observing a Floridian court that deals with family cases.
Two series also join the line-up - Rodrigo Sorogoyen’s six-part Riot Police, playing out of competition, and Aitor Gabilondo’s eight-episode Patria, which will be a special screening.
The festival has previously announced that the Official Selection will open with Woody Allen's Rifkin's Festival, which will also play out of competition.
In...
- 8/5/2020
- by Amber Wilkinson
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
eOne and Australian pay TV company Foxtel have inked an expanded deal on a slate of the former’s recent titles. Included are the Oscar-winning 1917, Green Book, and Judy, as well as Wild Rose, Booksmart, Babyteeth, and more. The agreement sees Foxtel take both pay TV and SVOD rights for the pics in the territory and extends a long-running partnership between the two companies.
The San Sebastian Film Festival has unveiled its line-up of Spanish titles screening this year. They include two series – HBO Europe’s Patria and Movistar+ series Riot Police, both of which take part in the Official Selection. Films added include Pablo Agüero’s Akelarre and Antonio Méndez Esparza’s Courtroom 3H both of which compete for the Golden Shell, as well as David Pérez Sañudo’s Ane, Isabel Lamberti’s Last Days Of Spring, and Imanol Rayo’s Death Knell, which are in the New...
The San Sebastian Film Festival has unveiled its line-up of Spanish titles screening this year. They include two series – HBO Europe’s Patria and Movistar+ series Riot Police, both of which take part in the Official Selection. Films added include Pablo Agüero’s Akelarre and Antonio Méndez Esparza’s Courtroom 3H both of which compete for the Golden Shell, as well as David Pérez Sañudo’s Ane, Isabel Lamberti’s Last Days Of Spring, and Imanol Rayo’s Death Knell, which are in the New...
- 7/30/2020
- by Tom Grater
- Deadline Film + TV
Two series selected for out of competition slots.
Pablo Agüero’s Akelarre and Antonio Méndez Esparza’s Courtroom 3H will compete for the Golden Shell at this year’s San Sebastian Film Festival (Ssiff), which runs September 18 to 26.
The latest project from Argentinian director Agüero, previously at San Sebastian with competition title Eva Doesn’t Sleep in 2015, is a historical witchcraft drama shot in Spanish and Basque.
Esparza also returns to competition, following Fipresci Prize winnerLife and Nothing More in 2017, with documentary Courtroom 3H, about a Florida court specialising in judicial cases involving minors. The previously announced competition films include five Cannes label titles.
Pablo Agüero’s Akelarre and Antonio Méndez Esparza’s Courtroom 3H will compete for the Golden Shell at this year’s San Sebastian Film Festival (Ssiff), which runs September 18 to 26.
The latest project from Argentinian director Agüero, previously at San Sebastian with competition title Eva Doesn’t Sleep in 2015, is a historical witchcraft drama shot in Spanish and Basque.
Esparza also returns to competition, following Fipresci Prize winnerLife and Nothing More in 2017, with documentary Courtroom 3H, about a Florida court specialising in judicial cases involving minors. The previously announced competition films include five Cannes label titles.
- 7/30/2020
- by 1101184¦Orlando Parfitt¦38¦
- ScreenDaily
In a sign of the times, Spain’s San Sebastian Festival, the biggest movie event in the Spanish-speaking world, announced Thursday two of its biggest Spanish premieres, both of which are TV series: Rodrigo Sorogoyen’s “Riot Police,” a Movistar Plus original, and Aitor Gabilondo’s “Patria,” a banner title at HBO Europe.
They will be joined in San Sebastian’s official selection by two in-competition movies from directors who underscore other trends now coursing through Spain’s content industries: Pablo Agüero’s “Akelarre” and Antonio Méndez Esparza’s “Courtroom 3H.”
As scripted drama looks to reach far larger audiences, the cream of Spain’s directorial talent has moved into the longer format, few with more lauded results than Sorogoyen, whose “Riot Police” is being talked up by the few who have seen its first episodes as one of the crowning achievements to date of Movistar Plus.
The first full...
They will be joined in San Sebastian’s official selection by two in-competition movies from directors who underscore other trends now coursing through Spain’s content industries: Pablo Agüero’s “Akelarre” and Antonio Méndez Esparza’s “Courtroom 3H.”
As scripted drama looks to reach far larger audiences, the cream of Spain’s directorial talent has moved into the longer format, few with more lauded results than Sorogoyen, whose “Riot Police” is being talked up by the few who have seen its first episodes as one of the crowning achievements to date of Movistar Plus.
The first full...
- 7/30/2020
- by John Hopewell
- Variety Film + TV
The San Sebastian International Film Festival on Thursday unveiled two Spanish-language titles that will compete for this year's Golden Shell for best film: Akelarre, by Pablo Agüero, and Courtroom 3H from director Antonio Méndez Esparza.
Akelarre is a period drama inspired by a real-life witchcraft trial that took place in the Basque Country in the 17th century. Courtroom 3H is a documentary set in a Florida court that specializes in judicial cases involving minors.
San Sebastian also picked two Spanish TV series — Riot Police, a Moviestar+ series created by Rodrigo Sorogoyen, and Patria, an HBO Europe production created by Aitor ...
Akelarre is a period drama inspired by a real-life witchcraft trial that took place in the Basque Country in the 17th century. Courtroom 3H is a documentary set in a Florida court that specializes in judicial cases involving minors.
San Sebastian also picked two Spanish TV series — Riot Police, a Moviestar+ series created by Rodrigo Sorogoyen, and Patria, an HBO Europe production created by Aitor ...
- 7/30/2020
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
The San Sebastian International Film Festival on Thursday unveiled two Spanish-language titles that will compete for this year's Golden Shell for best film: Akelarre, by Pablo Agüero, and Courtroom 3H from director Antonio Méndez Esparza.
Akelarre is a period drama inspired by a real-life witchcraft trial that took place in the Basque Country in the 17th century. Courtroom 3H is a documentary set in a Florida court that specializes in judicial cases involving minors.
San Sebastian also picked two Spanish TV series — Riot Police, a Moviestar+ series created by Rodrigo Sorogoyen, and Patria, an HBO Europe production created by Aitor ...
Akelarre is a period drama inspired by a real-life witchcraft trial that took place in the Basque Country in the 17th century. Courtroom 3H is a documentary set in a Florida court that specializes in judicial cases involving minors.
San Sebastian also picked two Spanish TV series — Riot Police, a Moviestar+ series created by Rodrigo Sorogoyen, and Patria, an HBO Europe production created by Aitor ...
- 7/30/2020
- The Hollywood Reporter - Film + TV
The first non-fiction film by the director of Life and Nothing More is once again being produced by Aquí y Allí Films, like his previous works. Madrilenian helmer Antonio Méndez Esparza is currently shooting his third film, 2nd Judicial Court, a documentary about the Tallahassee Unified Family Court in Florida, USA, where he lives and works as a university professor. The film, like his two previous efforts – Aquí y allá: Here and There (2012) and Life and Nothing More – is being produced by Aquí y Allí Films. The latter title was the first Spanish production to obtain the John Cassavetes Award at the Independent Spirit Awards, in 2018. His new feature marks a real step forward for this filmmaker who has always hovered in between fiction and documentary, and who is forging a strong career hinging on social problems, as he demonstrated with his previous movies. Méndez Esparza...
Antonio Méndez Esparza’s “Que nadie duerma,” Fernando Franco’s “La consagración de la primavera” and Agustí Villaronga’s “3.000 obstáculos” figure among the seven projects to be pitched at Paris’ Small Is Biutiful forum.
The closing event for the alternative Spanish film festival Dífferent 12!, Small Is Biutiful takes place June 26, bringing together French distributors and sales executives around a selection of Spanish feature projects seeking partners.
Backed by the Cannes Film Market, Different! is organised by Espagnolas en Paris and the Ile-de-France Film Commission.
Past projects presented at Small Is Biutiful take in Oliver Laxe’s “Mimosas,” which won Cannes 2016 Critics’ Week; Carlos Vermut’s “Magical Girl,” San Sebastián’s top Golden Shell Award in 2014, and Arantxa Echevarría’s “Carmen & Lola,” winner of breakout director and supporting actress nods at February’s Goya Awards, as well as a Cannes Directors’ Fortnight contender.
“Que nadie duerma” is produced by Pedro Hernández...
The closing event for the alternative Spanish film festival Dífferent 12!, Small Is Biutiful takes place June 26, bringing together French distributors and sales executives around a selection of Spanish feature projects seeking partners.
Backed by the Cannes Film Market, Different! is organised by Espagnolas en Paris and the Ile-de-France Film Commission.
Past projects presented at Small Is Biutiful take in Oliver Laxe’s “Mimosas,” which won Cannes 2016 Critics’ Week; Carlos Vermut’s “Magical Girl,” San Sebastián’s top Golden Shell Award in 2014, and Arantxa Echevarría’s “Carmen & Lola,” winner of breakout director and supporting actress nods at February’s Goya Awards, as well as a Cannes Directors’ Fortnight contender.
“Que nadie duerma” is produced by Pedro Hernández...
- 6/25/2019
- by Emiliano De Pablos
- Variety Film + TV
With a seemingly endless amount of streaming options — not only the titles at our disposal, but services themselves — we’re highlighting the noteworthy titles that have recently hit platforms. Check out this week’s selections below and an archive of past round-ups here.
A Bittersweet Life (Kim Ji-woon)
Kim Ji-woon has always been a director interested in taking a genre and pushing it to the extreme. A Bittersweet Life, his take on the crime/revenge thriller, is an uber-slick thrill ride with a beating heart. From his camera placement in a car getaway scene to an intense weapon disassembly (and life-or-death reassembly) to a take-no-prisoners finale shoot-out, most Hollywood directors could bite the bullet and learn a great deal about pacing and execution from this South Korean action spectacle. – Jordan R.
Where to Stream: Amazon Prime
BlacKkKlansman (Spike Lee)
One of the many marvels of Spike Lee’s latest is...
A Bittersweet Life (Kim Ji-woon)
Kim Ji-woon has always been a director interested in taking a genre and pushing it to the extreme. A Bittersweet Life, his take on the crime/revenge thriller, is an uber-slick thrill ride with a beating heart. From his camera placement in a car getaway scene to an intense weapon disassembly (and life-or-death reassembly) to a take-no-prisoners finale shoot-out, most Hollywood directors could bite the bullet and learn a great deal about pacing and execution from this South Korean action spectacle. – Jordan R.
Where to Stream: Amazon Prime
BlacKkKlansman (Spike Lee)
One of the many marvels of Spike Lee’s latest is...
- 4/26/2019
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
Madrid — Nicolás Britos’ “Nada,” Jorge Hernández and Ainara Mentxaka’s “Los años de plomo” and Pablo Díaz and Alberto Heredia’s “La novena provincia” figure among the seven TV drama projects in development set to be presented at the 2nd Madrid TV Pitchbox.
An event focused on Spanish TV drama, organized by online platform Filmarket Hub, The 2018 Madrid TV Pitchbox will take place on Dec. 18.
The seven projects will be pitched before executives from some of the most important Spain-based TV companies. Broadcasters Mediaset España, Rtve and Atresmedia Studios, and Telefónica’s leading paybox Movistar + have confirmed their presence.
For this upcoming edition, organizers are opening Madrid TV Pitchbox to key independent production houses such as Weekend Studio and Dynamo, which have good relations with global Ott operators.
After the pitching session, there will be a networking lunch, where projects representatives and companies’ executives will be able to share impressions.
An event focused on Spanish TV drama, organized by online platform Filmarket Hub, The 2018 Madrid TV Pitchbox will take place on Dec. 18.
The seven projects will be pitched before executives from some of the most important Spain-based TV companies. Broadcasters Mediaset España, Rtve and Atresmedia Studios, and Telefónica’s leading paybox Movistar + have confirmed their presence.
For this upcoming edition, organizers are opening Madrid TV Pitchbox to key independent production houses such as Weekend Studio and Dynamo, which have good relations with global Ott operators.
After the pitching session, there will be a networking lunch, where projects representatives and companies’ executives will be able to share impressions.
- 11/28/2018
- by Emiliano De Pablos
- Variety Film + TV
Spanish-born filmmaker Antonio Méndez Esparza’s second feature, “Life and Nothing More,” is a sensitive portrait of an African-American working class family struggling on the margins of society. In a tense climate teeming with fiery debates over authorship in race and representation in film and TV, it’s hard to ignore that the movie has been made by an outsider. But Esparza knows this space well: His first feature, “Aquí y allá,” captured a working class* Mexican family in Mexico. He has embraced the challenge on both occasions.
“I’m always questioning my own subjectivity, my own perspective,” he said. “If you look at both of the films I’ve made, I only focus on what I see, which I admit could render me blind to certain things, but, as an outsider, that was my only solution. I have to approach each world like I am a total stranger to it,...
“I’m always questioning my own subjectivity, my own perspective,” he said. “If you look at both of the films I’ve made, I only focus on what I see, which I admit could render me blind to certain things, but, as an outsider, that was my only solution. I have to approach each world like I am a total stranger to it,...
- 11/9/2018
- by Tambay Obenson
- Indiewire
Some movies obsess about saving the world — from natural disasters, supervillains, and other things that might destroy us all. In its own modest but no-less-ambitious way, Antonio Méndez Esparza’s “Life and Nothing More” narrows that concern to a single individual, detailing what it would take to rescue a 14-year-old boy from being swallowed up by the system, incarcerated and forgotten by lawmakers and enforcers who think in terms of figures, rather than individuals. Set in and around Tallahassee — the corner of Florida where the crime rate is highest, and where juveniles from single-parent homes are so easily derailed from fulfilling their potential — this no-frills portrait of teenage Andrew (Andrew Bleechington) and his minimum-wage mom Regina (Regina Washington) is one the year’s most essential films.
At least, it would be if audiences could be compelled to seek out this understated indie masterwork amid all the bigger-budget, more attention-grabbing competition.
At least, it would be if audiences could be compelled to seek out this understated indie masterwork amid all the bigger-budget, more attention-grabbing competition.
- 10/26/2018
- by Peter Debruge
- Variety Film + TV
Regina (Regina Williams), a black North Florida waitress living somewhere below the poverty line, snaps at her 14-year-old son, Andrew (Andrew Bleechington), after he’s been arrested for at least the second time: “This is your life you’re fucking up, not mine!” It’s one of the only lies that she tells in Antonio Méndez Esparza’s “Life and Nothing More,” an elliptical and documentary-like drama that’s endowed with sober honesty in almost every scene.
For better or worse, Regina’s hardscrabble existence is inextricably intertwined with that of her teenage child, and that of the kid’s incarcerated father, and — to a certain extent — even that of a new love interest named Robert (Robert Williams), an unambiguously interested stranger who first hits on Regina while she’s at work. She’s the nucleus of an unstable cell in a hostile body, forced to manage her own problems...
For better or worse, Regina’s hardscrabble existence is inextricably intertwined with that of her teenage child, and that of the kid’s incarcerated father, and — to a certain extent — even that of a new love interest named Robert (Robert Williams), an unambiguously interested stranger who first hits on Regina while she’s at work. She’s the nucleus of an unstable cell in a hostile body, forced to manage her own problems...
- 10/24/2018
- by David Ehrlich
- Indiewire
If, per Thoreau, the mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation, what do the mass of women lead? To watch single mom Regina (Regina Williams), the central figure in Antonio Méndez Esparza’s dramatic feature “Life and Nothing More,” as she struggles to raise a three-year-old daughter and 14-year-old son, the notion of quiet desperation might seem like a luxury. Contemplative brooding doesn’t keep you on your feet at a minimum-wage diner job, or put food on the table, or keep a teenager from worrisome choices with life-altering consequences.
It’s the steady drip of sustaining oneself and one’s loved ones, in a world in which your problems are invisible to nearly everyone else, that undergirds Esparza’s attentive, unvarnished work of modern neorealism, his second such effort in this realm after his 2012 debut about Mexican migrant workers, “Aquí y Allá.”
As with that film, Esparza uses...
It’s the steady drip of sustaining oneself and one’s loved ones, in a world in which your problems are invisible to nearly everyone else, that undergirds Esparza’s attentive, unvarnished work of modern neorealism, his second such effort in this realm after his 2012 debut about Mexican migrant workers, “Aquí y Allá.”
As with that film, Esparza uses...
- 10/22/2018
- by Robert Abele
- The Wrap
Many filmmakers find the need to politicize truths without realizing or believing their existence has already politicized them. There’s power in this sort of manipulation because the product created is working towards opening eyes or (in most cases) reinforcing what those eyes accepted long ago. That power can also be warped to the other side, however, as detractors will claim the politicization is proof there’s nothing to “really” worry about. They’ll say the artist drew his/her narrative with partisan intent and work towards disputing its message to their own followers on those terms — politicizing the politicization until we find ourselves with an insurmountable chasm between echo chambers populated by folks who’ve forgotten how to debate or argue beyond screaming their opinions without any evidence to back them up.
This is America today: a place inundated with so much information that we’ve decided to replace...
This is America today: a place inundated with so much information that we’ve decided to replace...
- 10/17/2018
- by Jared Mobarak
- The Film Stage
After hearing about a handful of festival titles for at least the past month (and perhaps beyond), a number of much-acclaimed films arrive in October alongside a few essential documentaries, and more. For the better half of the month we’ll also be continuing to cover the 56th New York Film Festival and one can our reviews here.
Matinees to See: The Hate U Give (10/5), Studio 54 (10/5), The Happy Prince (10/10), The Sentence (10/12), Thunder Road (10/12), Sadie (10/12), Apostle (10/12), Beautiful Boy (10/12), The Kindergarten Teacher (10/12), What They Had (10/19), and Galveston (10/19)
15. Bad Times at the El Royale (Drew Goddard; Oct. 12)
It’s been too long since Drew Goddard’s inventive debut The Cabin in the Woods, but thankfully the director is returning this month. Bad Times At The El Royale follows a group of shady characters–played by Chris Hemsworth, Jeff Bridges, Cynthia Erivo, and more–as they descend on a rundown hotel in a 1960s California.
Matinees to See: The Hate U Give (10/5), Studio 54 (10/5), The Happy Prince (10/10), The Sentence (10/12), Thunder Road (10/12), Sadie (10/12), Apostle (10/12), Beautiful Boy (10/12), The Kindergarten Teacher (10/12), What They Had (10/19), and Galveston (10/19)
15. Bad Times at the El Royale (Drew Goddard; Oct. 12)
It’s been too long since Drew Goddard’s inventive debut The Cabin in the Woods, but thankfully the director is returning this month. Bad Times At The El Royale follows a group of shady characters–played by Chris Hemsworth, Jeff Bridges, Cynthia Erivo, and more–as they descend on a rundown hotel in a 1960s California.
- 10/1/2018
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
The 33rd Independent Spirit Awards took place on Saturday, March 3 in Los Angeles. The full winners list is below.
Best Feature
“Get Out”
Producers: Jason Blum, Edward H. Hamm Jr., Sean McKittrick, Jordan Peele
“Call Me by Your Name”
Producers: Peter Spears, Luca Guadagnino, Emilie Georges, Rodrigo Teixeira, Marco Morabito, James Ivory, Howard Rosenman
“The Florida Project”
Producers: Sean Baker, Chris Bergoch, Kevin Chinoy, Andrew Duncan, Alex Saks, Francesca Silvestri, Shih-Ching Tsou
“Lady Bird”
Producers: Eli Bush, Evelyn O’Neill, Scott Rudin
“The Rider”
Producers: Mollye Asher, Bert Hamelinck, Sacha Ben Harroche, Chloé Zhao
Best Female Lead
Frances McDormand
“Three Billboards outside Ebbing, Missouri”
Salma Hayek
“Beatriz at Dinner”
Margot Robbie
“I, Tonya”
Saoirse Ronan
“Lady Bird”
Shinobu Terajima
“Oh Lucy!”
Regina Williams
“Life and Nothing More”
Best Male Lead
Timothée Chalamet
“Call Me by Your Name”
Harris Dickinson
“Beach Rats”
James Franco
“The Disaster Artist”
Daniel Kaluuya
“Get Out...
Best Feature
“Get Out”
Producers: Jason Blum, Edward H. Hamm Jr., Sean McKittrick, Jordan Peele
“Call Me by Your Name”
Producers: Peter Spears, Luca Guadagnino, Emilie Georges, Rodrigo Teixeira, Marco Morabito, James Ivory, Howard Rosenman
“The Florida Project”
Producers: Sean Baker, Chris Bergoch, Kevin Chinoy, Andrew Duncan, Alex Saks, Francesca Silvestri, Shih-Ching Tsou
“Lady Bird”
Producers: Eli Bush, Evelyn O’Neill, Scott Rudin
“The Rider”
Producers: Mollye Asher, Bert Hamelinck, Sacha Ben Harroche, Chloé Zhao
Best Female Lead
Frances McDormand
“Three Billboards outside Ebbing, Missouri”
Salma Hayek
“Beatriz at Dinner”
Margot Robbie
“I, Tonya”
Saoirse Ronan
“Lady Bird”
Shinobu Terajima
“Oh Lucy!”
Regina Williams
“Life and Nothing More”
Best Male Lead
Timothée Chalamet
“Call Me by Your Name”
Harris Dickinson
“Beach Rats”
James Franco
“The Disaster Artist”
Daniel Kaluuya
“Get Out...
- 3/4/2018
- by William Earl
- Indiewire
A Fantastic Woman wins best international honour.
Jordan Peele was named best director and Get Out claimed the best feature award at Film Independent’s 2018 Spirit Awards on Saturday (March 3).
The penultimate awards show before Sunday’s 90th annual Academy Awards also honoured Sebastian Lelio’s Chilean drama A Fantastic Woman for best international film, Greta Gerwig for best screenplay (Lady Bird), and Timothée Chalamet (Call Me By Your Name) and Frances McDormand (Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri) in the lead acting stakes.
Sam Rockwell (Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri) and Allison Janney (I, Tonya) prevailed in the supporting acting contests,...
Jordan Peele was named best director and Get Out claimed the best feature award at Film Independent’s 2018 Spirit Awards on Saturday (March 3).
The penultimate awards show before Sunday’s 90th annual Academy Awards also honoured Sebastian Lelio’s Chilean drama A Fantastic Woman for best international film, Greta Gerwig for best screenplay (Lady Bird), and Timothée Chalamet (Call Me By Your Name) and Frances McDormand (Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri) in the lead acting stakes.
Sam Rockwell (Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri) and Allison Janney (I, Tonya) prevailed in the supporting acting contests,...
- 3/3/2018
- by Jeremy Kay
- ScreenDaily
A Fantastic Woman wins best international honour.
Jordan Peele was named best director and Get Out claimed the best feature award at Film Independent’s Indie Spirits on Saturday (March 3).
The penultimate awards show before Sunday’s 90th annual Academy Awards also honoured Sebastian Lelio’s Chilean drama A Fantastic Woman for best international film, Greta Gerwig for best screenplay (Lady Bird), and Timothée Chalamet (Call Me By Your Name) and Frances McDormand (Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri) in the lead acting stakes.
Sam Rockwell (Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri) and Allison Janney (I, Tonya) prevailed in the supporting acting contests,...
Jordan Peele was named best director and Get Out claimed the best feature award at Film Independent’s Indie Spirits on Saturday (March 3).
The penultimate awards show before Sunday’s 90th annual Academy Awards also honoured Sebastian Lelio’s Chilean drama A Fantastic Woman for best international film, Greta Gerwig for best screenplay (Lady Bird), and Timothée Chalamet (Call Me By Your Name) and Frances McDormand (Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri) in the lead acting stakes.
Sam Rockwell (Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri) and Allison Janney (I, Tonya) prevailed in the supporting acting contests,...
- 3/3/2018
- by Jeremy Kay
- ScreenDaily
My Own Private HellThe titles for the 47th International Film Festival Rotterdam are being announced in anticipation of the event running January 24 - February 4, 2018. We will update the program as new films are revealed.SIGNATURESInsect (Jan Švankmajer)Asino (Anatoly Vasiliev)Lek and the Dogs (Andrew Kötting)The Bottomless Bag (Rustam Khamdamov)Mrs. Fang (Wang Bing)Readers (James Benning)The Wandering Soap Opera (Valeria Sarmiento, Raúl Ruiz)Lover for a Day (Philippe Garrel)Bright FUTUREThe Flower Shop (Ruben Desiere)Look Up (Fulvio Risoleo)My Friend the Polish Girl (Ewa Banaszkiewicz)Rabot (Christina Vandekerckhove)Respeto (Alberto Monteras II)The Return (Malene Choi Jensen)Windspiel (Peyman Ghalambor)All You Can Eat Buddha (Ian Lagarde)Azougue Nazareth (Tiago Melo)My Own Private Hell (Guto Parente)Ordinary Time (Susana Nobre)3/4 (Ilian Metev)Cocote (Nelson Carlo De Los Santos Arias)Drift (Helena Wittmann)The Wild Boys (Bertrand Mandico)Gutland (Govinda Van Maele)The Watchman (Alejandro Andújar...
- 12/15/2017
- MUBI
The American Film Institute (AFI) has announced the films that will be featured in their New Auteurs and American Independents sections at the upcoming AFI Fest 2017 presented by Audi. Selections include a number of lauded features from around the festival circuit, including Cannes offerings like “I Am Not a Witch,” SXSW favorites like “Gemini” and “Mr. Roosevelt,” the Sundance breakout “Thoroughbreds,” and Joseph Kahn’s Toronto Midnight Madness favorite “Bodied,” among others.
Highlighting first- and second-time feature film directors, New Auteurs is designed as the festival’s platform for upcoming filmmakers from all over the world to showcase their new films. This year, the section includes 11 films, nine of which come from female directors. Similarly, AFI Fest’s American Independents section aims to represent the best of this year’s independent filmmaking. Pushing boundaries of form and content across narrative and documentary cinema, this section includes 11 films from both fresh...
Highlighting first- and second-time feature film directors, New Auteurs is designed as the festival’s platform for upcoming filmmakers from all over the world to showcase their new films. This year, the section includes 11 films, nine of which come from female directors. Similarly, AFI Fest’s American Independents section aims to represent the best of this year’s independent filmmaking. Pushing boundaries of form and content across narrative and documentary cinema, this section includes 11 films from both fresh...
- 10/16/2017
- by Kate Erbland
- Indiewire
“I’m done. I’m done with you.” These are the first words we hear harried single mom Regina say to her surly 14-year-old son Andrew, in Antonio Méndez Esparza‘s exceptional “Life and Nothing More.” But as so often in this rich, quiet film, that despite being shot in docu-realist style is invested with a Bressonian respect for silence, stillness and the movement of bodies in unobtrusively eloquent choreography within the frame, words are a lie.
Continue reading ‘Life And Nothing More’: Stunning Performances Highlight A Moving Tale Of Black America [San Sebastian Review] at The Playlist.
Continue reading ‘Life And Nothing More’: Stunning Performances Highlight A Moving Tale Of Black America [San Sebastian Review] at The Playlist.
- 10/11/2017
- by Jessica Kiang
- The Playlist
Exclusive: First look at Toronto premiere from Aqui Y Alla director Antonio Méndez Esparza.
Film Constellation is handling world sales on Antonio Méndez Esparza’s (Aqui Y Alla) first English-language film Life And Nothing More, which will get its world premiere in Toronto’s Contemporary World Cinema programme.
Following a similar filming process to his well-received 2012 drama Aqui Y Alla, which turned on a Mexican immigrant returning to his home country, Life And Nothing More was shot over a period of two and a half years in North Florida with non-professional Us actors.
Screen can reveal the first look at the film which tracks the life of a young African American family, unfolding the obstinate realities of family, race, and the legal system, against the backdrop of the 2016 Us presidential election.
In particular, the feature reveals the coming-of-age experience of the family’s young son who is forced to take on more familial responsibilities and whose search...
Film Constellation is handling world sales on Antonio Méndez Esparza’s (Aqui Y Alla) first English-language film Life And Nothing More, which will get its world premiere in Toronto’s Contemporary World Cinema programme.
Following a similar filming process to his well-received 2012 drama Aqui Y Alla, which turned on a Mexican immigrant returning to his home country, Life And Nothing More was shot over a period of two and a half years in North Florida with non-professional Us actors.
Screen can reveal the first look at the film which tracks the life of a young African American family, unfolding the obstinate realities of family, race, and the legal system, against the backdrop of the 2016 Us presidential election.
In particular, the feature reveals the coming-of-age experience of the family’s young son who is forced to take on more familial responsibilities and whose search...
- 8/15/2017
- by andreas.wiseman@screendaily.com (Andreas Wiseman)
- ScreenDaily
Films from Olivier Nakache and Éric Toledano, Alexandros Avranas and Diego Lerman added to competition line-up.
Further competition titles for the 2017 San Sebastian Film Festival (22-30 September) have been announced, including The Disaster Artist.
Written, directed and starring James Franco, the project tells the story of Tommy Wiseau’s infamous cult film The Room. It will also appear at the Toronto International Film Festival.
Other titles competing for the Golden Shell include Diego Lerman’s A Sort Of Family (Una Especie De Familia); Love Me Not from Alexandros Avranas; Barbara Albert’s Mademoiselle Paradis; and The Lion Sleeps Tonight from Nobuhiro Suwa.
Olivier Nakache and Éric Toledano’s C’est La Vie!, Ivana Mladenovic’s Soldiers. Story From Ferentari and Matt Porterfield’s Sollers Point have also been announced.
Alexandros Avranas won the best director Silver Lion at Venice for Miss Violence in 2013. Diego Lerman’s Suddenly won the Silver Leopard at the Locarno Festival in 2002.
Nakache...
Further competition titles for the 2017 San Sebastian Film Festival (22-30 September) have been announced, including The Disaster Artist.
Written, directed and starring James Franco, the project tells the story of Tommy Wiseau’s infamous cult film The Room. It will also appear at the Toronto International Film Festival.
Other titles competing for the Golden Shell include Diego Lerman’s A Sort Of Family (Una Especie De Familia); Love Me Not from Alexandros Avranas; Barbara Albert’s Mademoiselle Paradis; and The Lion Sleeps Tonight from Nobuhiro Suwa.
Olivier Nakache and Éric Toledano’s C’est La Vie!, Ivana Mladenovic’s Soldiers. Story From Ferentari and Matt Porterfield’s Sollers Point have also been announced.
Alexandros Avranas won the best director Silver Lion at Venice for Miss Violence in 2013. Diego Lerman’s Suddenly won the Silver Leopard at the Locarno Festival in 2002.
Nakache...
- 8/4/2017
- by orlando.parfitt@screendaily.com (Orlando Parfitt)
- ScreenDaily
Handia will premiere at the festival Photo: Courtesy of San Sebastian Film Festival Jurassic World 2 and The Impossible screenwriter Sergio G Sánchez will premiere his directorial debut Marrowbone out of competition at San Sebastian Film Festival.
The film - about three siblings threatened by something otherworldly after the death of their mother - was among the 21 films with Spanish production that were announced for the programme today (July 28). The selection will also include Antonio Méndez Esparza's Life And Nothing More, Basque champions Jon Garaño and Aitor Arregi's Handia and El autor by Manuel Martín Cuenca, the third time his films have been selected for competition at the Spanish festival.
The festival's showcase Pearls section will close with Fernando Leon de Aranoa’s Loving Pablo - which will have its premiere in Venice, which charts Pablo Escobar’s love affair with a TV presenter and starring Javier Bardem and Penelope Cruz.
The film - about three siblings threatened by something otherworldly after the death of their mother - was among the 21 films with Spanish production that were announced for the programme today (July 28). The selection will also include Antonio Méndez Esparza's Life And Nothing More, Basque champions Jon Garaño and Aitor Arregi's Handia and El autor by Manuel Martín Cuenca, the third time his films have been selected for competition at the Spanish festival.
The festival's showcase Pearls section will close with Fernando Leon de Aranoa’s Loving Pablo - which will have its premiere in Venice, which charts Pablo Escobar’s love affair with a TV presenter and starring Javier Bardem and Penelope Cruz.
- 7/28/2017
- by Amber Wilkinson
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
“Life and Nothing More” is the next feature film by Spanish filmmaker and teacher Antonio Méndez Esparza, following his his debut film “Aquí y Allá,” which premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in 2012 where it won the Critic’s Week… Continue Reading →...
- 4/17/2017
- by shadowandact
- ShadowAndAct
A good four days after all hullabaloo of Thierry Frémaux’s Main Comp plus Un Certain Regard announcement takes hold the film world, it is the programming team lead by Artistic Director Charles Tesson that get to unwrap an approximate baker’s half-dozen gifts of their own. On the 21st, the selections for the 53rd edition of the Critics’ Week will be announced with the closing film to be held back for a later mention, and because our Cannes bound Ioncinema.com team comprised of Blake Williams, Nicholas Bell, and I (Eric Lavallee) are always up for the challenge in prognosticating what is easily the most futile festival guessing game of them all, we’ve gone ahead and listed eight films from first and second time feature filmmaker for the seven plus 2 or 3 special screening slots for the upcoming edition.
If we build off what Tesson et al. programmed in...
If we build off what Tesson et al. programmed in...
- 4/16/2014
- by IONCINEMA.com Contributing Writers
- IONCINEMA.com
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