Leading Chilean TV producer Maria Elena Wood, whose multiple credits include “News of a Kidnapping,” “Ramona” and “Dignity,” is developing a follow up to her company’s latest hit documentary “Operation Chile: Top Secret,” which, until the end of September, was the most-watched Chilean TV program that marked the 50th anniversary of the military coup d’état in Chile.
Wood will be at Ventana Sur to present the first animation feature she has boarded, “Lucila,” which has its market debut at this year’s Animation! Pitching Sessions.
“Our original idea is to make a documentary for a global audience and that is what we are working on now,” said Wood of the upcoming “Chile: An American Secret,” a Canada-Chile co-production, with Canada represented by director- producer Orlando Arriagada of Pimiento Prods. and Chile repped by her company Maria Wood Producciones and local partner Un día en la vida. They are...
Wood will be at Ventana Sur to present the first animation feature she has boarded, “Lucila,” which has its market debut at this year’s Animation! Pitching Sessions.
“Our original idea is to make a documentary for a global audience and that is what we are working on now,” said Wood of the upcoming “Chile: An American Secret,” a Canada-Chile co-production, with Canada represented by director- producer Orlando Arriagada of Pimiento Prods. and Chile repped by her company Maria Wood Producciones and local partner Un día en la vida. They are...
- 11/17/2023
- by Anna Marie de la Fuente
- Variety Film + TV
Chile’s at it again. Since’s Andrés Wood’s breakout “Machuca” in 2004, Chilean filmmakers, led by Pablo Larraín, Sebastián Lelio and now Maite Alberdi, have punched consistently above the country’s weight, consistently winning plaudits at Sundance, Berlin and Cannes. Chile has also won three Oscars – for Claudio Miranda’s cinematography on 2012’s “Life of Pi,” 2015’s animated short “Bear Story” and Lelio’s 2017’s fiction feature “A Fantastic Woman” – more any other South American country apart from Argentina.
First half 2023 has proved no exception in Chile’s statue trawl. Some of the awards on offer are among the biggest out: Alberdi’s “The Eternal Memory,” from Fabula, scooped Sundance’s World Cinema Grand Prize; Andrés Wood’s “News of a Kidnapping” walked off with best series at the Platino Awards, the Spanish-speaking world’s nearest kudos fest to the Oscars.
In all, according to a CinemaChile study released during Sanfic,...
First half 2023 has proved no exception in Chile’s statue trawl. Some of the awards on offer are among the biggest out: Alberdi’s “The Eternal Memory,” from Fabula, scooped Sundance’s World Cinema Grand Prize; Andrés Wood’s “News of a Kidnapping” walked off with best series at the Platino Awards, the Spanish-speaking world’s nearest kudos fest to the Oscars.
In all, according to a CinemaChile study released during Sanfic,...
- 8/24/2023
- by John Hopewell, Anna Marie de la Fuente and Holly Jones
- Variety Film + TV
Few European arthouse-crossover film sales agents have better weathered the ebb and flow of international market dynamics than Madrid’s Latido Films, which turns 20 in 2023.
Proof of that came at April’s Platino Awards, where Latido scored six statuettes, split between an acting double for Alauda Ruiz de Azúa’s “Lullaby” and four for Rodrigo Sorogoyen’s “The Beasts,” which has already swept Spain’s Goya Awards and scored a French Cesar for foreign film.
Scoring €6.8 million ($7.5 million) in Spain, and 327,000 admissions in France, “The Beasts” also rates as one of the top-performing recent Spanish-language movies.
If Latido has survived for so long, insists director general Antonio Saura, it’s because of a core strategy of “working with talent, our search for talent.” Beyond that, other keys have been “collaboration with production companies that understand long-term relationships, and well-established relationships with clients.”
Companies with which Latido has held or holds...
Proof of that came at April’s Platino Awards, where Latido scored six statuettes, split between an acting double for Alauda Ruiz de Azúa’s “Lullaby” and four for Rodrigo Sorogoyen’s “The Beasts,” which has already swept Spain’s Goya Awards and scored a French Cesar for foreign film.
Scoring €6.8 million ($7.5 million) in Spain, and 327,000 admissions in France, “The Beasts” also rates as one of the top-performing recent Spanish-language movies.
If Latido has survived for so long, insists director general Antonio Saura, it’s because of a core strategy of “working with talent, our search for talent.” Beyond that, other keys have been “collaboration with production companies that understand long-term relationships, and well-established relationships with clients.”
Companies with which Latido has held or holds...
- 5/16/2023
- by John Hopewell and Emiliano De Pablos
- Variety Film + TV
A wealthy woman is drawn into Chile’s anti-Pinochet resistance in this thrilling feature debut from actor turned director Manuela Martelli
An outstanding performance from Aline Küppenheim is the driving force in this engrossing suspense drama-thriller about an elegant and prosperous woman being drawn into Chile’s anti-Pinochet resistance in 1976. It is a terrific feature debut from performer turned director Manuela Martelli, who herself acted opposite Küppenheim in the film Machuca, which was set in Chile in 1973, the time of the Allende overthrow. But this film has more bite.
Küppenheim plays Carmen, the stylish wife of a Santiago hospital doctor, currently working on the redecoration of the family’s holiday home by the sea, where she and her family mingle with reactionary friends of her husband’s from the local yacht club. Slightly imperiously, she lectures the contractor in his workshop on the exact shade of red paint she needs and as she does so,...
An outstanding performance from Aline Küppenheim is the driving force in this engrossing suspense drama-thriller about an elegant and prosperous woman being drawn into Chile’s anti-Pinochet resistance in 1976. It is a terrific feature debut from performer turned director Manuela Martelli, who herself acted opposite Küppenheim in the film Machuca, which was set in Chile in 1973, the time of the Allende overthrow. But this film has more bite.
Küppenheim plays Carmen, the stylish wife of a Santiago hospital doctor, currently working on the redecoration of the family’s holiday home by the sea, where she and her family mingle with reactionary friends of her husband’s from the local yacht club. Slightly imperiously, she lectures the contractor in his workshop on the exact shade of red paint she needs and as she does so,...
- 3/22/2023
- by Peter Bradshaw
- The Guardian - Film News
Paris-based Luxbox has shared in exclusivity with Variety a first trailer for Manuela Martelli’s “1976,” one of Chile –and indeed Latin America’s – most anticipated feature debuts of the year which world premieres at Cannes’ Directors’ Fortnight.
“1976” is produced by two of Chile’s most go-ahead outfits – Cinestación headed by director-producer Domingo Sotomayor (“Too Late to Die Young”) and Wood Productions, founded by Andrés Wood whose “Machuca” starred both Martelli and Aline Kuppenheim, the absolute protagonist of “1976.”
The film is set, as its title implies, in 1976, one of the bloodiest years of Augusto Pinochet’s hugely bloody dictatorship. It tells, as can be seen in the trailer. Kuppenheim plays Carmen, the wife of a Santiago de Chile doctor who heads off to her beach house to supervise its renovation during the holidays.
Carmen has all the accoutrements of a well-heeled middle-class wife and mother, sporting in the trailer a pearl necklace,...
“1976” is produced by two of Chile’s most go-ahead outfits – Cinestación headed by director-producer Domingo Sotomayor (“Too Late to Die Young”) and Wood Productions, founded by Andrés Wood whose “Machuca” starred both Martelli and Aline Kuppenheim, the absolute protagonist of “1976.”
The film is set, as its title implies, in 1976, one of the bloodiest years of Augusto Pinochet’s hugely bloody dictatorship. It tells, as can be seen in the trailer. Kuppenheim plays Carmen, the wife of a Santiago de Chile doctor who heads off to her beach house to supervise its renovation during the holidays.
Carmen has all the accoutrements of a well-heeled middle-class wife and mother, sporting in the trailer a pearl necklace,...
- 5/16/2022
- by John Hopewell
- Variety Film + TV
Prestige French distribution house Dulac Distribution has closed rights to France on “1976,” one of the most awaited of films to come out of Chile this year, which will world premiere next month at Cannes Directors’ Fortnight.
The buzzed up title represents the first feature from young Chilean actor-turned-director Manuela Martelli, star of Andrés Wood’s “Machuca” and Alicia Scherson’s “Il Futuro.”
Worldwide sales rights on “1976” are represented by Paris-based Luxbox, adding to its lengthening list of high profile pick-ups from Latin America which include Nathalie Alvarez Mesén’s “Clara Sola,” Alejandra Márquez’s “The Good Girls,” Marcelo Martinessi’s “The Heiresses” and Benjamín Naishtat’s “Rojo.”
The acquisition in a key territory for non English-language art films comes just weeks after “1976” walked off with three of the biggest awards at the Toulouse Latin American Festival’s Films in Progress, including the pix-in-post competition’s Grand Prix and Cine Plus...
The buzzed up title represents the first feature from young Chilean actor-turned-director Manuela Martelli, star of Andrés Wood’s “Machuca” and Alicia Scherson’s “Il Futuro.”
Worldwide sales rights on “1976” are represented by Paris-based Luxbox, adding to its lengthening list of high profile pick-ups from Latin America which include Nathalie Alvarez Mesén’s “Clara Sola,” Alejandra Márquez’s “The Good Girls,” Marcelo Martinessi’s “The Heiresses” and Benjamín Naishtat’s “Rojo.”
The acquisition in a key territory for non English-language art films comes just weeks after “1976” walked off with three of the biggest awards at the Toulouse Latin American Festival’s Films in Progress, including the pix-in-post competition’s Grand Prix and Cine Plus...
- 4/25/2022
- by Holly Jones
- Variety Film + TV
Chilean director Domingo Sotomayor is re-teaming with Sao Paulo-based Rt Features to make her third feature, “Niebla.”
CAA Media Finance arranged the financing and will represent sales rights. The cruise ship-set drama is currently in development and set to shoot in 2022.
Rt Features previously co-produced Sotomayor’s second feature, “Too Late to Die Young,” which saw her become the first woman to win a best director Leopard at Switzerland’s Locarno Festival.
Written by Sotomayor, “Niebla” reprises a scenario sketched in hugely different contexts in “Thursday Till Sunday” and “Too Late to Die Young” of characters on the brink of self-awareness at critical junctures in their lives.
Here, however, the protagonist is an adult, not the children of “Too Late to Die Young” nor the lovelorn adolescent of “Too Late,” and most seem in denial.
“‘Niebla’ takes place on a cruise ship heading towards a distant nondescript coastline. In the middle of the ocean,...
CAA Media Finance arranged the financing and will represent sales rights. The cruise ship-set drama is currently in development and set to shoot in 2022.
Rt Features previously co-produced Sotomayor’s second feature, “Too Late to Die Young,” which saw her become the first woman to win a best director Leopard at Switzerland’s Locarno Festival.
Written by Sotomayor, “Niebla” reprises a scenario sketched in hugely different contexts in “Thursday Till Sunday” and “Too Late to Die Young” of characters on the brink of self-awareness at critical junctures in their lives.
Here, however, the protagonist is an adult, not the children of “Too Late to Die Young” nor the lovelorn adolescent of “Too Late,” and most seem in denial.
“‘Niebla’ takes place on a cruise ship heading towards a distant nondescript coastline. In the middle of the ocean,...
- 7/10/2021
- by John Hopewell
- Variety Film + TV
Chile is starting its own big restart. Few national industries will have a larger online presence at this year’s Cannes Film Market. Big name news has broken in early market plays as well.
After features with Rachel Weisz and Rachel McAdams (“Disobedience”) and Julianne Moore (“Gloria Bell”), Academy Award winner Sebastián Lelio, (“A Fantastic Woman”) will associate produce “El Porvenir de la Mirada,” a doc feature that captures the trauma of some of the 460 protesters shot in the eyes by Chilean police during massive demonstrations that erupted in October 2019.
Set up at Storyboard Media, “Porvenir” is directed by distinguished Chilean doc filmmaker Cristián Leighton.
Even while gearing up to direct Joaquin Phoenix in A24’s “Disappointment Blvd.,” Ari Aster has signed on to executive produce Chilean stop-motion short “The Bones,” directed by Cristóbal León and Joaquín Cociña (“The Wolf House”) with a soundtrack composed by acclaimed U.S. violinist Tim Fain,...
After features with Rachel Weisz and Rachel McAdams (“Disobedience”) and Julianne Moore (“Gloria Bell”), Academy Award winner Sebastián Lelio, (“A Fantastic Woman”) will associate produce “El Porvenir de la Mirada,” a doc feature that captures the trauma of some of the 460 protesters shot in the eyes by Chilean police during massive demonstrations that erupted in October 2019.
Set up at Storyboard Media, “Porvenir” is directed by distinguished Chilean doc filmmaker Cristián Leighton.
Even while gearing up to direct Joaquin Phoenix in A24’s “Disappointment Blvd.,” Ari Aster has signed on to executive produce Chilean stop-motion short “The Bones,” directed by Cristóbal León and Joaquín Cociña (“The Wolf House”) with a soundtrack composed by acclaimed U.S. violinist Tim Fain,...
- 7/8/2021
- by John Hopewell
- Variety Film + TV
María Elena Wood, producer of Turner’s “Mary & Mike,” Joyn’s “Dignity” and now “News of a Kidnapping” for Amazon Studios, is re-launching her own production house, María Wood Producciones.
Shaping up already as a key Latin American production partner for top high-end fiction producers in Europe and the U.S., Maria Wood Producciones will focus, as in past series produced by Wood, on premium scripted drama of substance, with a social or political underbelly and frequent recourse to creative film talent.
“It’s what we’ve always done and know how to do,” Wood told Variety in the run-up to Mipcom. In contrast to the past, however, she said that “rather than talk about villains, despicable people,” Maria Wood Producciones will “cherry pick more luminous, happier content which talks about how we are today.”
First up on Maria Wood Producciones’ slate is “Mujeres Grandes” (Big Women), an original half-hour...
Shaping up already as a key Latin American production partner for top high-end fiction producers in Europe and the U.S., Maria Wood Producciones will focus, as in past series produced by Wood, on premium scripted drama of substance, with a social or political underbelly and frequent recourse to creative film talent.
“It’s what we’ve always done and know how to do,” Wood told Variety in the run-up to Mipcom. In contrast to the past, however, she said that “rather than talk about villains, despicable people,” Maria Wood Producciones will “cherry pick more luminous, happier content which talks about how we are today.”
First up on Maria Wood Producciones’ slate is “Mujeres Grandes” (Big Women), an original half-hour...
- 10/12/2020
- by John Hopewell
- Variety Film + TV
“The only absolute in history is change,” said the Victorian historian Lord Acton. He might have been talking about the streaming platforms’ current international strategies. Since they launched internationally, Netflix and Amazon’s focus and priorities have been in constant evolution. Current pressures – evolving demographies, new regulation, new competition, still untapped growth – mean that re-engineering won’t stop any time soon.
On Jan. 23, as the Natpe Miami conference wound down, Amazon Prime Video announced out of Miami four new Latin American Amazon Original series: Lucía Puenzo’s “La Jauría” (“The Pack”), “Colonia Dignidad,” produced by Diego Guebel; Daniel Burman and Sebastián Borensztein’s “Iosi, The Repentant Spy”; and Andrés Wood’s “News of a Kidnapping.”
The announcement says much about Amazon Prime Video’s priorities, and the state of the streamer business in Latin America. Five takeaways:
1.Amazon Expands Production Reach
Also on Jan. 23, Amazon announced its first two forays...
On Jan. 23, as the Natpe Miami conference wound down, Amazon Prime Video announced out of Miami four new Latin American Amazon Original series: Lucía Puenzo’s “La Jauría” (“The Pack”), “Colonia Dignidad,” produced by Diego Guebel; Daniel Burman and Sebastián Borensztein’s “Iosi, The Repentant Spy”; and Andrés Wood’s “News of a Kidnapping.”
The announcement says much about Amazon Prime Video’s priorities, and the state of the streamer business in Latin America. Five takeaways:
1.Amazon Expands Production Reach
Also on Jan. 23, Amazon announced its first two forays...
- 1/28/2020
- by John Hopewell
- Variety Film + TV
With his new political thriller “Arana” (“Spider”), Chile’s Andres Wood traces the roots of the ultra-nationalist movement that led to Salvador Allende’s downfall and the rise of military dictator General Augusto Pinochet.
He represents Chile at the Best International Feature Oscar race for the third time with “Araña.”
The drama turns on Inés, Justo and Gerardo who belong to an extreme nationalist group that aims to overthrow Allende’s Marxist government in the early 70s. Amid the fervor of this conflict, they get entangled in a love triangle and commit a political crime that separates Gerardo from the other two until he reappears 40 years later, bent on reviving the nationalist cause.
Wood made his stamp on the international festival circuit with a string of hits, including “Machuca,” which premiered at Cannes’ Directors’ Fortnight in 2004; “La Fiebre del Loco (2001), Official Selection at the a Venice and Toronto Film Festivals...
He represents Chile at the Best International Feature Oscar race for the third time with “Araña.”
The drama turns on Inés, Justo and Gerardo who belong to an extreme nationalist group that aims to overthrow Allende’s Marxist government in the early 70s. Amid the fervor of this conflict, they get entangled in a love triangle and commit a political crime that separates Gerardo from the other two until he reappears 40 years later, bent on reviving the nationalist cause.
Wood made his stamp on the international festival circuit with a string of hits, including “Machuca,” which premiered at Cannes’ Directors’ Fortnight in 2004; “La Fiebre del Loco (2001), Official Selection at the a Venice and Toronto Film Festivals...
- 12/2/2019
- by Anna Marie de la Fuente
- Variety Film + TV
Buenos Aires — Vicente Canales’ Film Factory Entertainment has boarded “Araña,” directed by one of Chile’s foremost filmmakers, Andrés Wood, and distributed in North and Latin America by 20th Century Fox.
Produced by Alejandra García at Santiago de Chile’s Wood Producciones, “Araña” is co-produced by Brazil’s BossaNovaFilms and Argentina’s Magma Cine, two of Southern America’s most ambitious co-production players.
BossaNovaFilms already teamed on Wood’s Sundance winner, “Violeta Went to Heaven.”
Written by Wood and Guillermo Calderón, co-writer of Pablo Larrain’s “The Club” and writer of his “Neruda,” regarded by some as his finest film to date, “Araña,” a political thriller, also joins a lineage of Latin American movies which in their multi-lateral co-production structure, stars – such as Mercedes Morán, who plays Inés, more mainstream tropes, and above norm budget, set out to score audiences outside their country of origin.
Wood’s credits include “Sundance winner “Violeta Went to Heaven,...
Produced by Alejandra García at Santiago de Chile’s Wood Producciones, “Araña” is co-produced by Brazil’s BossaNovaFilms and Argentina’s Magma Cine, two of Southern America’s most ambitious co-production players.
BossaNovaFilms already teamed on Wood’s Sundance winner, “Violeta Went to Heaven.”
Written by Wood and Guillermo Calderón, co-writer of Pablo Larrain’s “The Club” and writer of his “Neruda,” regarded by some as his finest film to date, “Araña,” a political thriller, also joins a lineage of Latin American movies which in their multi-lateral co-production structure, stars – such as Mercedes Morán, who plays Inés, more mainstream tropes, and above norm budget, set out to score audiences outside their country of origin.
Wood’s credits include “Sundance winner “Violeta Went to Heaven,...
- 12/10/2018
- by John Hopewell
- Variety Film + TV
We return with another edition of the Indie Spotlight, highlighting recent independent horror news sent our way. Today’s feature includes release details and the trailer for Chemical Peel, premiere details for Refuge, Day for Night, and Perfidy, a new Summer of Blood trailer and much more:
Chemical Peel Release Details and Exclusive Comments from Actress Natalie Victoria: Actress Natalie Victoria stars in “Chemical Peel,” a Lionsgate Home Entertainment Release that will be available on October 14th. Here are some comments from Natalie on us why she enjoyed working on this movie:
“I think the best thing about this film is it’s a unique, fun, realistic concept that will scare people, you know? I love films that are set in a real and really raw reality that frighten you to the core. Chemical Peel is a real ‘what would You do?’ kind of film that gets you thinking,...
Chemical Peel Release Details and Exclusive Comments from Actress Natalie Victoria: Actress Natalie Victoria stars in “Chemical Peel,” a Lionsgate Home Entertainment Release that will be available on October 14th. Here are some comments from Natalie on us why she enjoyed working on this movie:
“I think the best thing about this film is it’s a unique, fun, realistic concept that will scare people, you know? I love films that are set in a real and really raw reality that frighten you to the core. Chemical Peel is a real ‘what would You do?’ kind of film that gets you thinking,...
- 10/12/2014
- by Tamika Jones
- DailyDead
Attention people in Chile, Chileans or tourists visiting, there's a new movie opening today (June 6) and it's one of the most long-awaited Chilean productions of all year (besides the two films starring Michael Cera and directed by Sebastiàn Silva). Directed by Alicia Scherson and starring the international star Rutger Hauer (Hobo with a Shotgun, Blade Runner) and the most beloved young actress of Chile, Manuela Martelli (Machuca, B-Happy), The Future opens on more than 12 screens all over Chile, including the always classic "Cine Normandie," as well as in major chains.The film, based on the novel "Una novelita lumpen" by Chilean author Roberto Bolaño, follows Bianca (Martelli) and her brother after the death of their parents and how they reflect their life in a lonely apartment...
[Read the whole post on twitchfilm.com...]...
[Read the whole post on twitchfilm.com...]...
- 6/6/2013
- Screen Anarchy
If May was a good month for Latin America cinema, June has also its highlights.Last week Chilean cinemas saw the premiere of Carne De Perro (Dog Flesh) from Fernando Guzzoni, winner of the Kutxa-New Directors Award of the San Sebastian International Film Festival 2013. We have yet to see its impact after its first weekend. Don't miss this gruesome and disturbing film about a former torturer facing his past during the Pinochet dictatorship. Disclaimer: no dogs were harmed in the making of this film. Alicia Scherson's third film will be hitting the screens on 6 June. Scherson first read Roberto Bolaño's book in 2005, the same year her sophomore film Play was being premiered around the globe. Il Futuro, with Manuela Martelli (Machuca) and Rutger Hauer in the...
[Read the whole post on twitchfilm.com...]...
[Read the whole post on twitchfilm.com...]...
- 6/3/2013
- Screen Anarchy
Actress Francisca Gavilán grew up listening to the music of folksinger Violeta Parra in her home, quietly. Parra’s music wasn’t exactly forbidden during Augusto Pinochet’s military dictatorship, but the authorities frowned upon it.
“We sang it silently,” Gavilán says.
Now, as the star of the biopic “Violeta Went to Heaven,” Gavilán sings Parra’s music professionally. The film opened Friday in New York, bringing the story of one of Latin America’s most famous musicians and iconic figures to the big screen in the United States. The movie will also play in Chicago, Los Angeles, and other U.S. cities.
One of the early exponents of Latin America’s “nueva canción,” or “new song” movement, a style of folk music that flourished in the 1950s and 1960s and continues today, Parra dedicated her life to both songwriting and documenting Chile’s traditional music. Parra penned some of the genre’s classics,...
“We sang it silently,” Gavilán says.
Now, as the star of the biopic “Violeta Went to Heaven,” Gavilán sings Parra’s music professionally. The film opened Friday in New York, bringing the story of one of Latin America’s most famous musicians and iconic figures to the big screen in the United States. The movie will also play in Chicago, Los Angeles, and other U.S. cities.
One of the early exponents of Latin America’s “nueva canción,” or “new song” movement, a style of folk music that flourished in the 1950s and 1960s and continues today, Parra dedicated her life to both songwriting and documenting Chile’s traditional music. Parra penned some of the genre’s classics,...
- 3/30/2013
- by The Huffington Post
- Huffington Post
Violeta Went to Heaven's creators do a disservice to Chilean singer and multi-hyphenate artist Violeta Parra's legacy by making her suicide the logical climax to her working life. Because Parra (Francisca Gavilán) killed herself at age 49, and her work was a reflection of her struggles as an impoverished bohemian, director Andrés Wood (Machuca) and screenwriter Eliseo Altunaga's miserablist adaptation of Parra's memoirs is death-obsessed, and it characterizes Parra as a mercurial talent with no sense of propriety. Speaking of her lover and artistic collaborator Gilbert Favre (Thomas Durand), Parra matter-of-factly tells her daughter, "I just want to get him into bed, and suck all of his juices." Parra's also characterized as a stubborn autodidact who demanded...
- 3/29/2013
- Village Voice
A look back at 2012 reveals an undeniable fact, it has been a great year for Latino film. Sundance started the year off strong with films like Aurora Guerrero’s sweet and tender Mosquita y Mari and Marialy Rivas’ rambunctious Joven y Alocada (Young & Wild). Gina Rodriguez broke out in Filly Brown, as a rapper who needs to make it big so she can raise money to get her mom out of jail. In the film, Jenni Rivera played the part of Filly’s mom in her first, and sadly last, movie role.
There was also a strong Latin American presence at Cannes this past summer, boasting films from Mexico, Brazil, Uruguay, and Argentina. It might as well have been called Mexi-Cannes, with Mexican films winning awards across all main sections of the festival. Carlos Reygadas was honored as the Best Director for his controversial film Post Tenebras Lux, despite having received boos at its premiere screening. The prize for the Critics’ Week section went to Aquí y Allá (Here and There) and Después de Lucía (After Lucia) won the top prize for Un Certain Regard.
It’s been an especially favorable year for Chilean cinema. The New York Film Festival, in its 50th edition this past Fall, included three highly anticipated films by Pablo Larraín, Valeria Sarmiento, and the late Raúl Ruiz. And Chile continued to outshine the rest of the region by winning two top spots at the Festival Internacional de Nuevo Cine Latino de La Habana (the Havana Film Festival) just a few days ago. Pablo Larraín’s No, starring Gael Garcia Bernal, won the First Coral Prize. It’s a brilliant take on the real life story of an advertising campaign that ousted General Pinochet from power during a shining moment in Chilean politics. Violeta se fue a los cielos (Violeta Went To Heaven), a biopic about internationally famous Violeta de la Parra, a Chilean singer, songwriter, and poet won the Second Prize.
Whether it was at Cannes, Sundance, or countless other festivals, Latino films were winning award after award this year and even getting distribution (albeit usually in limited release). With the flurry of activity surrounding the region’s filmmaking, it can be hard to keep up with it all. Thankfully, there are professionals who get paid to keep track of what movies are receiving accolades, have the most buzz, and got picked up for distribution. LatinoBuzz went straight to the experts, film programmers, to ask, “What’s your top 5 Latino films of 2012?”
Carlos Gutierrez, Co-Founder and Director of Cinema Tropical
In no particular order, a list of five Latin American films that made it to Us screens in the past year (some of them are a couple of years old), which I highly recommend.
De Jueves a Domingo (Thursday Till Sunday), Director: Dominga Sotomayor, Chile
O Som ao Redor (Neighboring Sounds), Director: Kleber Mendonça Filho, Brazil
El Estudiante, Director: Santiago Mitre, Argentina
El Velador, Director: Natalia Almada, Mexico
El Lugar Más Pequeño (The Tiniest Place), Director: Tatiana Huezo, Mexico/El Salvador
Juan Caceres, Director of Programming at the New York International Latino Film Festival
Mosquita y Mari is a gorgeous film full of heart. Marialy Rivas (Director of Joven y Alocada) is an incredibly exciting new voice in Latin American cinema. She's fearless and full of love. I'm a huge fan of Lucy Mulloy (Director of Una Noche). She draws these wonderful performances from non-professional actors. A natural at using the lens to tell a story. In Las Malas Intenciones Fatima Buntinx plays the lead perfectly. Andres Wood made a beautiful film called 'Machuca', that captured the soul of Chile in the 70's and he does the same with a bio-pic of Violeta Parra, a folk singer who was a part of 'La Nueva Canción Chilena'.
Mosquita y Mari, Director: Aurora Guerrero, USA
Joven y Alocada (Young and Wild), Director: Marialy Rivas, Chile
Una Noche, Director: Lucy Mulloy, Cuba
Violeta Se Fue A Los Cielos (Violeta Went to Heaven), Director: Andrés Wood, Chile
Las Malas Intenciones (The Bad Intentions), Director: Rosario García-Montero, Perú
Christine Davila, Programming Associate at Sundance Film Festival
There are way too many Latino films and not enough coverage on American Latino films so with that -- mine are going to be strictly American Latino films.
Los Chidos, Director: Omar Rodriguez-Lopez, USA/Mexico
Mosquita y Mari, Director: Aurora Guerrero, USA
Elliot Loves, Director: Terracino, USA
Aquí y Allá (Here and There), Director: Antonio Méndez Esparza, USA/Spain/Mexico
Love, Concord, Director: Gustavo Guardado, USA
Lisa Franek, Artistic Director at the San Diego Latino Film Festival
Just 5?? That's tough! In Filly Brown, Gina Rodriguez turns in a great performance, and I expect to see more great things from her very soon. No, I saw at Cannes, and it was fascinating, especially in contrast to Larraín's previous (amazing) films. La Hora Cero has unforgettable scenes and characters! La Mujer de Ivan has amazing acting, and I believe Maria de Los Angeles Garcia is definitely a talent to watch. Reportero is also fantastic.
La Mujer de Iván, Director: Francisca Silva, Chile
No, Director: Pablo Larraín, Chile/France/USA
La Hora Cero, Director: Diego Velasco, Venezuela
Reportero, Director: Bernardo Ruiz, USA/Mexico
Filly Brown, Directors: Youssef Delara, Michael D. Olmos, USA
Marcela Goglio, Programmer for Latinbeat at The Film Society of Lincoln Center
Las Acacias, Director: Pablo Giorgelli, Argentina
As Cançoes (Songs), Director: Eduardo Coutinho, Brazil
Unfinished Spaces, Directors: Alyssa Nahmias & Benjamin Murray, USA
O Som ao Redor (Neighboring Sounds), Director: Kleber Mendonça Filho, Brazil
Aquí y Allá (Here and There), Director: Antonio Méndez Esparza, USA/Spain/Mexico
Pepe Vargas, Executive Director of the International Latino Cultural Center and Chicago Latino Film Festival
Not an easy task to come up with 5 titles - there are so many good movies.
La Piel que Habito (The Skin I Live In)
Director: Pedro Almodóvar, Spain
Salvando al Soldado Pérez, (Saving Private Perez)
Director: Beto Gómez, Mexico
Un Cuento Chino (Chinese Take-Out)
Director: Sebastián Borensztein, Argentina/Spain
Lobos de Arga (Game of Werewolves)
Director: Juan Martínez Moreno, Spain
Mariachi Gringo
Director: Tom Gustafson, USA/Mexico
Amalia Cordova, Coordinator of the Latin American Program at the Film and Video Center of the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian
Granito, Director: Pamela Yates, USA/Guatemala/Spain
Desterro Guarani, Directors: Patricia Ferreira y Ariel Duarte Ortega, Brazil
Violeta Se Fue A Los Cielos (Violeta Went to Heaven), Director: Andrés Wood, Chile
5 x Favela – Agora por nós Mesmos (5 x Favela, Now by Ourselves), Directors: Manaíra Carneiro, Wagner Novais, Cacau Amaral, Rodrigo Felha, Luciano Vidigal, Cadu Barcelos, and Luciana Bezerra, Brazil
Un Cuento Chino (Chinese Take-Out), Director: Sebastián Borensztein, Argentina/Spain
Written by Juan Caceres and Vanessa Erazo, LatinoBuzz is a weekly feature on SydneysBuzz that highlights Latino indie talent and upcoming trends in Latino film with the specific objective of presenting a broad range of Latino voices. Follow @LatinoBuzz on twitter.
There was also a strong Latin American presence at Cannes this past summer, boasting films from Mexico, Brazil, Uruguay, and Argentina. It might as well have been called Mexi-Cannes, with Mexican films winning awards across all main sections of the festival. Carlos Reygadas was honored as the Best Director for his controversial film Post Tenebras Lux, despite having received boos at its premiere screening. The prize for the Critics’ Week section went to Aquí y Allá (Here and There) and Después de Lucía (After Lucia) won the top prize for Un Certain Regard.
It’s been an especially favorable year for Chilean cinema. The New York Film Festival, in its 50th edition this past Fall, included three highly anticipated films by Pablo Larraín, Valeria Sarmiento, and the late Raúl Ruiz. And Chile continued to outshine the rest of the region by winning two top spots at the Festival Internacional de Nuevo Cine Latino de La Habana (the Havana Film Festival) just a few days ago. Pablo Larraín’s No, starring Gael Garcia Bernal, won the First Coral Prize. It’s a brilliant take on the real life story of an advertising campaign that ousted General Pinochet from power during a shining moment in Chilean politics. Violeta se fue a los cielos (Violeta Went To Heaven), a biopic about internationally famous Violeta de la Parra, a Chilean singer, songwriter, and poet won the Second Prize.
Whether it was at Cannes, Sundance, or countless other festivals, Latino films were winning award after award this year and even getting distribution (albeit usually in limited release). With the flurry of activity surrounding the region’s filmmaking, it can be hard to keep up with it all. Thankfully, there are professionals who get paid to keep track of what movies are receiving accolades, have the most buzz, and got picked up for distribution. LatinoBuzz went straight to the experts, film programmers, to ask, “What’s your top 5 Latino films of 2012?”
Carlos Gutierrez, Co-Founder and Director of Cinema Tropical
In no particular order, a list of five Latin American films that made it to Us screens in the past year (some of them are a couple of years old), which I highly recommend.
De Jueves a Domingo (Thursday Till Sunday), Director: Dominga Sotomayor, Chile
O Som ao Redor (Neighboring Sounds), Director: Kleber Mendonça Filho, Brazil
El Estudiante, Director: Santiago Mitre, Argentina
El Velador, Director: Natalia Almada, Mexico
El Lugar Más Pequeño (The Tiniest Place), Director: Tatiana Huezo, Mexico/El Salvador
Juan Caceres, Director of Programming at the New York International Latino Film Festival
Mosquita y Mari is a gorgeous film full of heart. Marialy Rivas (Director of Joven y Alocada) is an incredibly exciting new voice in Latin American cinema. She's fearless and full of love. I'm a huge fan of Lucy Mulloy (Director of Una Noche). She draws these wonderful performances from non-professional actors. A natural at using the lens to tell a story. In Las Malas Intenciones Fatima Buntinx plays the lead perfectly. Andres Wood made a beautiful film called 'Machuca', that captured the soul of Chile in the 70's and he does the same with a bio-pic of Violeta Parra, a folk singer who was a part of 'La Nueva Canción Chilena'.
Mosquita y Mari, Director: Aurora Guerrero, USA
Joven y Alocada (Young and Wild), Director: Marialy Rivas, Chile
Una Noche, Director: Lucy Mulloy, Cuba
Violeta Se Fue A Los Cielos (Violeta Went to Heaven), Director: Andrés Wood, Chile
Las Malas Intenciones (The Bad Intentions), Director: Rosario García-Montero, Perú
Christine Davila, Programming Associate at Sundance Film Festival
There are way too many Latino films and not enough coverage on American Latino films so with that -- mine are going to be strictly American Latino films.
Los Chidos, Director: Omar Rodriguez-Lopez, USA/Mexico
Mosquita y Mari, Director: Aurora Guerrero, USA
Elliot Loves, Director: Terracino, USA
Aquí y Allá (Here and There), Director: Antonio Méndez Esparza, USA/Spain/Mexico
Love, Concord, Director: Gustavo Guardado, USA
Lisa Franek, Artistic Director at the San Diego Latino Film Festival
Just 5?? That's tough! In Filly Brown, Gina Rodriguez turns in a great performance, and I expect to see more great things from her very soon. No, I saw at Cannes, and it was fascinating, especially in contrast to Larraín's previous (amazing) films. La Hora Cero has unforgettable scenes and characters! La Mujer de Ivan has amazing acting, and I believe Maria de Los Angeles Garcia is definitely a talent to watch. Reportero is also fantastic.
La Mujer de Iván, Director: Francisca Silva, Chile
No, Director: Pablo Larraín, Chile/France/USA
La Hora Cero, Director: Diego Velasco, Venezuela
Reportero, Director: Bernardo Ruiz, USA/Mexico
Filly Brown, Directors: Youssef Delara, Michael D. Olmos, USA
Marcela Goglio, Programmer for Latinbeat at The Film Society of Lincoln Center
Las Acacias, Director: Pablo Giorgelli, Argentina
As Cançoes (Songs), Director: Eduardo Coutinho, Brazil
Unfinished Spaces, Directors: Alyssa Nahmias & Benjamin Murray, USA
O Som ao Redor (Neighboring Sounds), Director: Kleber Mendonça Filho, Brazil
Aquí y Allá (Here and There), Director: Antonio Méndez Esparza, USA/Spain/Mexico
Pepe Vargas, Executive Director of the International Latino Cultural Center and Chicago Latino Film Festival
Not an easy task to come up with 5 titles - there are so many good movies.
La Piel que Habito (The Skin I Live In)
Director: Pedro Almodóvar, Spain
Salvando al Soldado Pérez, (Saving Private Perez)
Director: Beto Gómez, Mexico
Un Cuento Chino (Chinese Take-Out)
Director: Sebastián Borensztein, Argentina/Spain
Lobos de Arga (Game of Werewolves)
Director: Juan Martínez Moreno, Spain
Mariachi Gringo
Director: Tom Gustafson, USA/Mexico
Amalia Cordova, Coordinator of the Latin American Program at the Film and Video Center of the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian
Granito, Director: Pamela Yates, USA/Guatemala/Spain
Desterro Guarani, Directors: Patricia Ferreira y Ariel Duarte Ortega, Brazil
Violeta Se Fue A Los Cielos (Violeta Went to Heaven), Director: Andrés Wood, Chile
5 x Favela – Agora por nós Mesmos (5 x Favela, Now by Ourselves), Directors: Manaíra Carneiro, Wagner Novais, Cacau Amaral, Rodrigo Felha, Luciano Vidigal, Cadu Barcelos, and Luciana Bezerra, Brazil
Un Cuento Chino (Chinese Take-Out), Director: Sebastián Borensztein, Argentina/Spain
Written by Juan Caceres and Vanessa Erazo, LatinoBuzz is a weekly feature on SydneysBuzz that highlights Latino indie talent and upcoming trends in Latino film with the specific objective of presenting a broad range of Latino voices. Follow @LatinoBuzz on twitter.
- 12/19/2012
- by Vanessa Erazo
- Sydney's Buzz
Kino Lorber has acquired North American rights to Andres Wood's "Violeta Went to Heaven." The film, which this year won the Sundance World Cinema Dramatic Jury Prize, is about musician, folksinger and poet, Violet Parra of the Latin American music world. The biopic premieres in New York City this week at the Latinbeat film series held by The Film Society of Lincoln Center. Kino Lorber is looking to release the movie into theaters nationally in November or December of this year, with a VOD option and theatrical expansion for early 2013. An official synopsis of the film follows: Tracing the evolution of an iconic woman, from an impoverished childhood to international sensation, Violeta Went To Heaven captures the ups and downs of a life that both transformed and propelled Latin American music during the 20th century. Directed by Andrés Wood (Machuca, Football Stories) and scripted by Eliseo Altunaga (Machuca, Matias Lira's.
- 8/17/2012
- by Srimathi Sridhar
- Indiewire
VANCOUVER -- Chilean director Andres Wood's Machuca, a feature about a 1973 coup in Chile as seen through the eyes of two young boys, won the People's Choice Award at the 23rd annual Vancouver International Film Festival, which closed Friday. Wood's semiautobiographical film rode the trend at the festival of filmmakers relying heavily on true-life events for creative inspiration. Other award winners included Francois Prevost and Hugo Latulippe's documentary What Remains of Us and Being Caribou, by Leanne Allison and Diana Wilson, sharing the most popular Canadian film prize. Seventh Art Releasing recently picked up the U.S. distribution rights to What Remains of Us after the film about Tibet and the Dalai Lama scooped the audience award and the best feature prize at the Atlantic Film Festival in Halifax, Nova Scotia.
- 10/12/2004
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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