Spain’s Latido Films has boarded international sales on Carlos Marques-Marcet’s musical They Will Be Dust (Polvo serán). Elástica Films will handle distribution in Spain.
It tells the story of a woman, Claudia (Angela Molina) diagnosed with an incurable brain tumour who takes a last trip to Switzerland to decide how and when to end her life with the help of an assisted dying association. Her partner (Alfredo Castro), and daughter (Mònica Almirall) must work out where they fit in.
The screenplay is by long-time co-writer Clara Roquet, director of 2021 Cannes Critics Week title Libertad, who wrote Marques-Marcet’s previous film Long Distance.
It tells the story of a woman, Claudia (Angela Molina) diagnosed with an incurable brain tumour who takes a last trip to Switzerland to decide how and when to end her life with the help of an assisted dying association. Her partner (Alfredo Castro), and daughter (Mònica Almirall) must work out where they fit in.
The screenplay is by long-time co-writer Clara Roquet, director of 2021 Cannes Critics Week title Libertad, who wrote Marques-Marcet’s previous film Long Distance.
- 5/3/2024
- ScreenDaily
Argentine master Lisandro Alonso teased his next feature at Space Not Time, a Los Angeles retrospective of his work. Speaking after a 35mm screening of the 2001 debut feature La Libertad, Alonso told James Benning his plans to revisit that film’s lead subject, Misael, this November, almost 25 years after the original shoot.
The formal constraints of both films will be identical: he plans to return to an eight-person crew and shoot only 54 cans of 35mm film. Alonso’s most recent project, the Cannes-premiering Eureka, was his first experience shooting digitally, and he admitted during the Q&a that he prefers how celluloid makes him organize projects.
It’s equally essential news that Alonso likes the idea of this being his last film: just as La Libertad is bookended by images of Misael’s face around a fire, Alonso’s film career looks to be bookended with these two day-in-the-life studies.
In...
The formal constraints of both films will be identical: he plans to return to an eight-person crew and shoot only 54 cans of 35mm film. Alonso’s most recent project, the Cannes-premiering Eureka, was his first experience shooting digitally, and he admitted during the Q&a that he prefers how celluloid makes him organize projects.
It’s equally essential news that Alonso likes the idea of this being his last film: just as La Libertad is bookended by images of Misael’s face around a fire, Alonso’s film career looks to be bookended with these two day-in-the-life studies.
In...
- 4/30/2024
- by Caleb Hammond
- The Film Stage
Descubre cómo Lola y Bruno enfrentan un giro inesperado en sus vidas en esta película que ha cautivado al público en el SXSW. © Filmax
Se ha publicado el tráiler oficial de “Mamífera”, la tercera película dirigida por Liliana Torres. En su estreno mundial en la Sección Oficial del prestigioso Festival de Cine South By Southwest (SXSW) de Austin, la película recibió una aclamada acogida por parte del público y la crítica.
En la película, Lola (Maria Rodríguez Soto) disfruta de una vida feliz con su pareja, Bruno (Enric Auquer), hasta que un embarazo inesperado revoluciona todos sus planes. Aunque Lola siempre ha tenido claro que lo de ser madre no va con ella, ahora se siente cuestionada por las expectativas sociales y se enfrenta a sus temores internos. Durante los tres días que tienen que esperar hasta que llegue su cita en la clínica, Lola se acerca a sus amigas...
Se ha publicado el tráiler oficial de “Mamífera”, la tercera película dirigida por Liliana Torres. En su estreno mundial en la Sección Oficial del prestigioso Festival de Cine South By Southwest (SXSW) de Austin, la película recibió una aclamada acogida por parte del público y la crítica.
En la película, Lola (Maria Rodríguez Soto) disfruta de una vida feliz con su pareja, Bruno (Enric Auquer), hasta que un embarazo inesperado revoluciona todos sus planes. Aunque Lola siempre ha tenido claro que lo de ser madre no va con ella, ahora se siente cuestionada por las expectativas sociales y se enfrenta a sus temores internos. Durante los tres días que tienen que esperar hasta que llegue su cita en la clínica, Lola se acerca a sus amigas...
- 4/8/2024
- by Marta Medina
- mundoCine
Filmax has taken global distribution rights for “My Friend Eva,” the latest from Spanish director Cesc Gay whose ‘Truman’ proved a notable hit overseas, scoring substantial theatrical returns in several territories.
Set against the backdrops of Barcelona and Rome, this romantic comedy boasts Nora Navas (“Libertad”) Juan Diego Botto (“The Suicide Squad”) and Rodrigo de la Serna (“Money Heist”).
The film marks the ninth collaboration between Gay and producer Marta Esteban of Imposible Films, dating back to Gay’s breakout “Nico and Dani” and taking in “Truman.”
The new film turns on Eva, 50, a married woman on the quest for passion whose life takes a dramatic turn after a serendipitous encounter in Rome. She remembers what it feels like to fall in love again. This rekindling of passion propels her to rediscover love, challenging and changing her existing life.
Gay characterized the film as a comedy of serious intent. It is “filled with misunderstandings,...
Set against the backdrops of Barcelona and Rome, this romantic comedy boasts Nora Navas (“Libertad”) Juan Diego Botto (“The Suicide Squad”) and Rodrigo de la Serna (“Money Heist”).
The film marks the ninth collaboration between Gay and producer Marta Esteban of Imposible Films, dating back to Gay’s breakout “Nico and Dani” and taking in “Truman.”
The new film turns on Eva, 50, a married woman on the quest for passion whose life takes a dramatic turn after a serendipitous encounter in Rome. She remembers what it feels like to fall in love again. This rekindling of passion propels her to rediscover love, challenging and changing her existing life.
Gay characterized the film as a comedy of serious intent. It is “filled with misunderstandings,...
- 2/17/2024
- by Callum McLennan
- Variety Film + TV
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
In perhaps one of her meatiest roles since Alfonso Cuaron’s “Roma,” Oscar-nominated thesp Yalitza Aparicio stars in Prime Video’s upcoming series “Cometierra,” created by its showrunner Daniel Burman, The Mediapro Studio’s head of content for the U.S., Mexico and Central America.
Principal photography is underway, predominantly in Mexico, with some scenes shot in Uruguay.
Inspired by the bestselling debut novel of Argentine writer-activist Dolores Reyes, “Cometierra,” meaning Eartheater in English, is a supernatural drama steeped in magical realism that follows Aylín, a young girl from the rough outskirts of Mexico City.
She unexpectedly gains the extraordinary ability to commune with the earth beneath her feet, a gift that propels her into a world of crime-solving and clashes with malevolent forces lurking in her past. With the help of her fellow misfits, Aylín finds her true identity while navigating a community plagued by violence and grappling with...
Principal photography is underway, predominantly in Mexico, with some scenes shot in Uruguay.
Inspired by the bestselling debut novel of Argentine writer-activist Dolores Reyes, “Cometierra,” meaning Eartheater in English, is a supernatural drama steeped in magical realism that follows Aylín, a young girl from the rough outskirts of Mexico City.
She unexpectedly gains the extraordinary ability to commune with the earth beneath her feet, a gift that propels her into a world of crime-solving and clashes with malevolent forces lurking in her past. With the help of her fellow misfits, Aylín finds her true identity while navigating a community plagued by violence and grappling with...
- 10/23/2023
- by Anna Marie de la Fuente
- 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
The selections for the first edition of MyMetaStories – The Innovative European Film Festival were announced and among the seven feature films selected we find Cedric Ido’s Gravity, Teona Strugar Mitevska’s The Happiest Man in the World and Clara Roquet’s Libertad. Along with those selections we find a baker’s dozen of thirteen shorts all presented at prestigious international festivals and from filmmakers who we’ve recently seen at this year’s Cannes Critics’ Week with Raphaël Balboni & Ann Sirot or Marie Amachoukeli. MyMetaStories will take place from October 6 to 29th on online, on digital platforms and from the 13th-16th on the Minecraft platform.…...
- 9/27/2023
- by Eric Lavallée
- IONCINEMA.com
Driving into Spanish-language movies and series, Amazon Studios is hoping to repeat the success of “Argentina, 1985” with big Spanish period production “Hildegart,” starring Najwa Nimri and Alba Planas (“Skam España”), which wrapped production Aug. 19 in Madrid.
“Hildegart” has shot in the Spanish capital filming seven weeks and some days at historical heritage sites such as Spain’s Congress, Madrid’s Puerta del Sol central square, and its Atheneum.
Directed by Paula Ortiz, “Hildegart” is a fact-based tale of the extraordinary and tragic life of Spain’s Hildegart Rodríguez, born in 1914, a child prodigy raised by her mother to be a model for future women, who gave conferences on feminism and sexuality from the age of 11, writing on prostitution, contraception and eugenics – her monograph “Profilaxis anticoncepcional” sold 8,000 copies in one week just in Madrid – and accompanied H.G. Wells when he made a visit to Spain.
Sensing that she was losing control of her daughter – who,...
“Hildegart” has shot in the Spanish capital filming seven weeks and some days at historical heritage sites such as Spain’s Congress, Madrid’s Puerta del Sol central square, and its Atheneum.
Directed by Paula Ortiz, “Hildegart” is a fact-based tale of the extraordinary and tragic life of Spain’s Hildegart Rodríguez, born in 1914, a child prodigy raised by her mother to be a model for future women, who gave conferences on feminism and sexuality from the age of 11, writing on prostitution, contraception and eugenics – her monograph “Profilaxis anticoncepcional” sold 8,000 copies in one week just in Madrid – and accompanied H.G. Wells when he made a visit to Spain.
Sensing that she was losing control of her daughter – who,...
- 8/23/2023
- by Pablo Sandoval
- Variety Film + TV
Toledo, Spain — Warner Bros. Discovery has announced the greenlight and start of production of its first new Spanish series for Max, crime thriller “When Nobody Sees Us,” whose eight episodes will be directed by Spain’s Enrique Urbizu (“No Rest for the Wicked”). The produced by “Elite” producer Zeta Studios.
Based on the same title novel by Sergio Sarria, “When Nobody Sees Us” has been written by lead writer Daniel Corpas heading a writing team with the collaboration of Arturo Ruiz and Isa Sánchez.
Set against Spain’s 2023 Holy Week celebrations, “When Nobody Sees Us,” is set in Morón de la Frontera, south east of Seville in Andalusia’s deep Spain, next to a U.S. Army Air Force base. There, Lucía Gutiérrez, a Spanish Civil Guard sergeant, investigates the bizarre suicide of a neighbour and strange events at the first Holy Week float processions.
Meanwhile, Magaly Castillo, a U.S. army...
Based on the same title novel by Sergio Sarria, “When Nobody Sees Us” has been written by lead writer Daniel Corpas heading a writing team with the collaboration of Arturo Ruiz and Isa Sánchez.
Set against Spain’s 2023 Holy Week celebrations, “When Nobody Sees Us,” is set in Morón de la Frontera, south east of Seville in Andalusia’s deep Spain, next to a U.S. Army Air Force base. There, Lucía Gutiérrez, a Spanish Civil Guard sergeant, investigates the bizarre suicide of a neighbour and strange events at the first Holy Week float processions.
Meanwhile, Magaly Castillo, a U.S. army...
- 6/27/2023
- by John Hopewell
- Variety Film + TV
Christian Chávez has always been one of the most colorful members of Rbd. Throughout his original tenure in the Mexican pop group in the early 2000s, he sported practically all the colors of the rainbow in his hair, and he later came out as gay shortly before the group split in 2009. Now, Chávez is excited to be reuniting with his bandmates for an Rbd world tour, which kicks off in the US this summer.
"It's super special for me to have the opportunity to be with Rbd again with this freedom now," he tells Popsugar. "Now I have the opportunity to be myself. Now I have the opportunity to be on stage and I can be my queer self."
"It's super special for me to have the opportunity to be with Rbd again with this freedom now."
Chávez is one of the six members of Rbd, a group that was...
"It's super special for me to have the opportunity to be with Rbd again with this freedom now," he tells Popsugar. "Now I have the opportunity to be myself. Now I have the opportunity to be on stage and I can be my queer self."
"It's super special for me to have the opportunity to be with Rbd again with this freedom now."
Chávez is one of the six members of Rbd, a group that was...
- 6/21/2023
- by Lucas Villa
- Popsugar.com
Spanish drama follows a woman who goes on a journey of self-exploration to unveil her loss of desire.
Elena Martín Gimeno’s Creatura has won the Europa Cinemas’ award for best European film in Directors’ Fortnight at the Cannes Film Festival.
Europa Cinemas Network will now support the film with promotion and incentivise exhibitors to extend the film’s run in theatres.
Martín Gimeno also stars in the Spanish drama as a woman who goes on a journey of self-exploration to unravel her loss of desire.
It is produced by Spain’s Vilaüt Films, Avalon, Elastica Films and Lastor Media.
Elena Martín Gimeno’s Creatura has won the Europa Cinemas’ award for best European film in Directors’ Fortnight at the Cannes Film Festival.
Europa Cinemas Network will now support the film with promotion and incentivise exhibitors to extend the film’s run in theatres.
Martín Gimeno also stars in the Spanish drama as a woman who goes on a journey of self-exploration to unravel her loss of desire.
It is produced by Spain’s Vilaüt Films, Avalon, Elastica Films and Lastor Media.
- 5/25/2023
- by Michael Rosser
- ScreenDaily
Bolstered by robust public-sector funds, a savvy new generation of filmmakers — many of them women — and world-class film schools, Catalonia has become one of Europe’s most vibrant regional audiovisual forces.
The proof can be found at this year’s Cannes Film Festival. More than 50 Catalan companies — some 100 executives and creatives — are expected to attend. Five films, four by new directors, have made the official cut at Cannes; six projects play in Marché du Film showcases.
The three biggest Catalan movies at the festival, Elena Martin’s “Creature,” Pham Thiên An’s “Inside the Yellow Cocoon Shell,” both in Directors’ Fortnight, and Pablo Berger’s “Robot Dreams,” playing out of competition, also underscore strong trends coursing through current Catalan cinema, including international co-production and an exploding animation scene.
“Co-producing is at the core of the European cinema industry and has always had more pros than cons,” says Vilaüt Films’ Ariadna Dot,...
The proof can be found at this year’s Cannes Film Festival. More than 50 Catalan companies — some 100 executives and creatives — are expected to attend. Five films, four by new directors, have made the official cut at Cannes; six projects play in Marché du Film showcases.
The three biggest Catalan movies at the festival, Elena Martin’s “Creature,” Pham Thiên An’s “Inside the Yellow Cocoon Shell,” both in Directors’ Fortnight, and Pablo Berger’s “Robot Dreams,” playing out of competition, also underscore strong trends coursing through current Catalan cinema, including international co-production and an exploding animation scene.
“Co-producing is at the core of the European cinema industry and has always had more pros than cons,” says Vilaüt Films’ Ariadna Dot,...
- 5/17/2023
- by Anna Marie de la Fuente and John Hopewell
- Variety Film + TV
Five Catalan movies made Cannes Festival’s cut, six were selected for Marché du Film sections. Details and other top Catalan movies on the Croisette:
“20,000 Species of Bees,” (Estibaliz Urresola)
One of the big winners at Berlin, taking Leading Performance, and two other key prizes, and now healthy racking up healthy sales, including a Film Movement U.S. pickup, “Bees” builds from a naturalistic base – a family off for a village summer holiday – to become a moving an ode to women’s freedom. Produced out of Barcelona by Valérie Delpierre’s Inicia Films. Sales: Luxbox
“Blondi,” (Dolores Fonzi)
From La Unión de los Ríos, behind “Argentina, 1985”), the awaited directorial debut of Fonzi, star of Santiago Mitre’s Cannes winner “Paulina,” a double mother-son coming of age dramedy. Sales: Film Factory
“A Bright Sun,” (Monica Cambra, Ariadna Fortuny)
Facing the end of the world, Mila, 11, tries to keep her family together by celebrating a party.
“20,000 Species of Bees,” (Estibaliz Urresola)
One of the big winners at Berlin, taking Leading Performance, and two other key prizes, and now healthy racking up healthy sales, including a Film Movement U.S. pickup, “Bees” builds from a naturalistic base – a family off for a village summer holiday – to become a moving an ode to women’s freedom. Produced out of Barcelona by Valérie Delpierre’s Inicia Films. Sales: Luxbox
“Blondi,” (Dolores Fonzi)
From La Unión de los Ríos, behind “Argentina, 1985”), the awaited directorial debut of Fonzi, star of Santiago Mitre’s Cannes winner “Paulina,” a double mother-son coming of age dramedy. Sales: Film Factory
“A Bright Sun,” (Monica Cambra, Ariadna Fortuny)
Facing the end of the world, Mila, 11, tries to keep her family together by celebrating a party.
- 5/17/2023
- by John Hopewell
- Variety Film + TV
International co-production is led by Tono Folguera at Spain’s Lastor Media.
Carlos Marques-Marcet, who took the top prize at the Málaga Film Festival in 2014 with 10,000Km, is readying his new project, the musical drama They Will Be Dust.
The film will be a co-production beteen Spain’s Lastor Media, Switzerland’s Alina Film and Italy’s Kino Produzioni. Backing is in place from Eurimages, Icaa and the Catalonia film institute Icec.
They Will Be Dust is about a woman diagnosed with an incurable brain tumor who decides to undertake a last trip to Switzerland to decide how and when...
Carlos Marques-Marcet, who took the top prize at the Málaga Film Festival in 2014 with 10,000Km, is readying his new project, the musical drama They Will Be Dust.
The film will be a co-production beteen Spain’s Lastor Media, Switzerland’s Alina Film and Italy’s Kino Produzioni. Backing is in place from Eurimages, Icaa and the Catalonia film institute Icec.
They Will Be Dust is about a woman diagnosed with an incurable brain tumor who decides to undertake a last trip to Switzerland to decide how and when...
- 3/15/2023
- by Emilio Mayorga
- ScreenDaily
Few feature debuts at Malaga are more awaited than “Unicorns,” which world premieres on March 15, sold by Filmax. It is directed by multi award winning Àlex Lora best known for his work in documentary having won Gaudis, Emmys, and a nomination for a Goya with 2017’s “The Fourth Kingdom,”.
His feature debut gives us Isa played by Greta Fernandez. She is a hedonist, full of touch and feeling, lust and cool. She brings up Simone De Beavoir’s Second Sex in argument, but seems afflicted more by Sartre’s assertion of us being ‘condemned to be free.’ Skimming the surface of freedom from experience to experience fosters an inability to decide for herself what to focus on. Meanwhile, her mother is focussed on her novel writing, her boyfriend his wine shop, and her boss his marketing agency’s success.
Playing the mother is Nora Navas, whose latest accolade came with...
His feature debut gives us Isa played by Greta Fernandez. She is a hedonist, full of touch and feeling, lust and cool. She brings up Simone De Beavoir’s Second Sex in argument, but seems afflicted more by Sartre’s assertion of us being ‘condemned to be free.’ Skimming the surface of freedom from experience to experience fosters an inability to decide for herself what to focus on. Meanwhile, her mother is focussed on her novel writing, her boyfriend his wine shop, and her boss his marketing agency’s success.
Playing the mother is Nora Navas, whose latest accolade came with...
- 3/15/2023
- by Callum McLennan
- Variety Film + TV
Final part of Spanish director’s trilogy to start shooting at the end of the month.
Spanish director Liliana Torres is preparing to shoot Mamífera, the final film in a trilogy of features about relationships and family life that began with her San Sebastian premiere Family Tour and includes Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival competition film What Went Wrong
Mamífera, which is the Spanish word for a female mammal, is scheduled to start shooting at the end of February, and centres on an unwanted pregnancy.
It focuses on Lola, who accidentally gets pregnant at a time when Spanish law required...
Spanish director Liliana Torres is preparing to shoot Mamífera, the final film in a trilogy of features about relationships and family life that began with her San Sebastian premiere Family Tour and includes Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival competition film What Went Wrong
Mamífera, which is the Spanish word for a female mammal, is scheduled to start shooting at the end of February, and centres on an unwanted pregnancy.
It focuses on Lola, who accidentally gets pregnant at a time when Spanish law required...
- 2/13/2023
- by Emilio Mayorga
- ScreenDaily
“El agua,” (Elena López Riera)
A Directors’ Fortnight title, the feature debut of Locarno winning López Riera (“Los Que Desean”), a fantasy-laced village-set critique of gender violence. S.A. Elle Driver
“Alcarràs,” (Carla Simón)
The 2022 Berlin Golden Bear winner, Simón’s follow-up to “Summer 1993” and the flagship title for Catalonia and Spain’s newest filmmaking generation. S.A. MK2 Films
“Amazing Elisa,” (Sádrac González-Perellón)
The next from 2017 BiFan Grand Jury Prize winner González-Perellón (“Black Hollow Cage”), once more mixing fantasy and family dynamics as Elisa, 12, plans revenge after her mother’s tragic death. S.A. Filmax
“The Beasts,” (Rodrigo Sorogoyen)
One of 2022’s most awaited Spanish titles, playing Cannes Premiere, a Galicia-set thriller from Oscar-nominee Sorogoyen (“Mother”), produced by Arcadia, Caballo Films and Le Pacte. S.A. Latido Films
“The Communion Girl,” (Víctor García)
A revenge thriller involving an urban legend about a girl in a communion dress. S.
A Directors’ Fortnight title, the feature debut of Locarno winning López Riera (“Los Que Desean”), a fantasy-laced village-set critique of gender violence. S.A. Elle Driver
“Alcarràs,” (Carla Simón)
The 2022 Berlin Golden Bear winner, Simón’s follow-up to “Summer 1993” and the flagship title for Catalonia and Spain’s newest filmmaking generation. S.A. MK2 Films
“Amazing Elisa,” (Sádrac González-Perellón)
The next from 2017 BiFan Grand Jury Prize winner González-Perellón (“Black Hollow Cage”), once more mixing fantasy and family dynamics as Elisa, 12, plans revenge after her mother’s tragic death. S.A. Filmax
“The Beasts,” (Rodrigo Sorogoyen)
One of 2022’s most awaited Spanish titles, playing Cannes Premiere, a Galicia-set thriller from Oscar-nominee Sorogoyen (“Mother”), produced by Arcadia, Caballo Films and Le Pacte. S.A. Latido Films
“The Communion Girl,” (Víctor García)
A revenge thriller involving an urban legend about a girl in a communion dress. S.
- 5/19/2022
- by Emilio Mayorga and John Hopewell
- Variety Film + TV
Welcome to International Disruptors, a feature where we shine a spotlight on key executives and companies outside of the U.S. shaking up the offshore marketplace. This week, as the 75th edition of the Cannes Film Festival has just kicked off, we’re talking to Enrique Costa and María Zamora, co-founders of Spanish distribution and production banner Elastica Films. At just a year old, the company is already making waves in the independent sector. They tell us about the company’s first year, their love of cinema and how they build films that connect with audiences.
At last year’s pared-down Cannes Film Festival, Enrique Costa and María Zamora touched down on the Croisette having just launched their new Spanish distribution-production banner Elastica Films. The pandemic continued to wreak havoc on the theatrical business and that usual buzzy market feeling felt notably muted compared to previous years.
But that didn...
At last year’s pared-down Cannes Film Festival, Enrique Costa and María Zamora touched down on the Croisette having just launched their new Spanish distribution-production banner Elastica Films. The pandemic continued to wreak havoc on the theatrical business and that usual buzzy market feeling felt notably muted compared to previous years.
But that didn...
- 5/18/2022
- by Diana Lodderhose
- Deadline Film + TV
Telefonica’s Movistar Plus, Spain’s biggest pay-tv/SVOD operator, has launched an in-house overseas sales division, Movistar Plus Internacional, headed up by former Sony and Buendía Estudios exec Maria Valenzuela.
Lorena Molloy, an ex-exec at The Mediapro Studio, has joined Movistar Plus Internacional beginning in March as its head of communication and marketing.
Valenzuela, who began working with the platform last summer, heading international strategy and business development, reports directly to Domingo Corral, Movistar Plus’ director of original production.
Movistar Plus Internacional is making further appointments, raising staff to around 10 employees, Valenzuela said. It will attend all major markets, beginning with Series Mania and MipTV/Canneseries, focusing at least in the short term on sales to Europe, Eastern Europe, U.S. and Latin America, she added.
Presented officially on March 4 in Madrid, the new distribution arm comes after Movistar Plus, Spain’s biggest content investor, has until recently used...
Lorena Molloy, an ex-exec at The Mediapro Studio, has joined Movistar Plus Internacional beginning in March as its head of communication and marketing.
Valenzuela, who began working with the platform last summer, heading international strategy and business development, reports directly to Domingo Corral, Movistar Plus’ director of original production.
Movistar Plus Internacional is making further appointments, raising staff to around 10 employees, Valenzuela said. It will attend all major markets, beginning with Series Mania and MipTV/Canneseries, focusing at least in the short term on sales to Europe, Eastern Europe, U.S. and Latin America, she added.
Presented officially on March 4 in Madrid, the new distribution arm comes after Movistar Plus, Spain’s biggest content investor, has until recently used...
- 3/7/2022
- by John Hopewell
- Variety Film + TV
Karla Souza and Dani Rovira, two of the foremost Hispanic actors with comedic chops, have joined the upcoming musical comedy, “Voy a pasarmelo bien” (“I’m Going to Have a Good Time”), produced by Sony Pictures International Productions (Spip), El Estudio and Spanish pop-rock band, Hombres G.
Mexico City-born Souza has starred in three of Mexico’s top-grossing pics: “Nosotros Los Nobles,” “Instructions Not Included” and “Que Culpa Tiene el Niño.” Her TV credits include ABC comedy series “Home Economics” and “How to Get Away with Murder.”
Spanish actor-comic Rovira made his big screen debut with Spanish blockbuster comedy “Spanish Affair” and has starred in the 2018 Spip romcom “Miamor Perdido,” among others.
The film is inspired by the music of the iconic band Hombres G, which rose to prominence in the ‘80s with their Beatles and British new wave-influenced music. Based in Madrid, Hombres G have published 12 studio albums to...
Mexico City-born Souza has starred in three of Mexico’s top-grossing pics: “Nosotros Los Nobles,” “Instructions Not Included” and “Que Culpa Tiene el Niño.” Her TV credits include ABC comedy series “Home Economics” and “How to Get Away with Murder.”
Spanish actor-comic Rovira made his big screen debut with Spanish blockbuster comedy “Spanish Affair” and has starred in the 2018 Spip romcom “Miamor Perdido,” among others.
The film is inspired by the music of the iconic band Hombres G, which rose to prominence in the ‘80s with their Beatles and British new wave-influenced music. Based in Madrid, Hombres G have published 12 studio albums to...
- 2/28/2022
- by Anna Marie de la Fuente
- Variety Film + TV
Pedro Almodovar’s ‘Parallel Mothers’ went home empty-handed.
The Good Boss, directed by Fernando León de Aranoa and starring Javier Bardem, scored big at the 36th edition of the Goyas, the Spanish Academy Awards held on Saturday in Valencia. With a record 20 nominations, it won six wards including best film, best director and screenplay for León de Aranoa and best actor for Javier Bardem.
Pedro Almodóvar’s Parallel Mothers, nominated for eight awards, left empty handed.
Produced by The Mediapro Studio and Reposado PC, The Good Boss premiered in competition at the San Sebastián Film Festival and went on to...
The Good Boss, directed by Fernando León de Aranoa and starring Javier Bardem, scored big at the 36th edition of the Goyas, the Spanish Academy Awards held on Saturday in Valencia. With a record 20 nominations, it won six wards including best film, best director and screenplay for León de Aranoa and best actor for Javier Bardem.
Pedro Almodóvar’s Parallel Mothers, nominated for eight awards, left empty handed.
Produced by The Mediapro Studio and Reposado PC, The Good Boss premiered in competition at the San Sebastián Film Festival and went on to...
- 2/13/2022
- by Elisabet Cabeza
- ScreenDaily
Shortlisted for the Academy Awards in the international feature film category, Fernando León de Aranoa’s “The Good Boss” capped a record 20 Spanish Academy Goya nominations by scoring best picture and actor for Javier Bardem at Saturday’s Goya prize ceremony.
The prizes marked both Leon and Bardem’s seventh Goya wins. Produced by El Reposado and The Mediapro Studio, and a workplace dramedy skewering the abuse of power practised by a seemingly benign factory owner, “The Good Boss” also won best director and original screenplay for León, as well as best score and editing.
Blanca Portillo beat out “Parallel Mothers’” Oscar-nominated Penélope Cruz, thanks to Portillo’s powerful performance as Maixabel Lasa, the real life widow of former Basque Country governor Juan Mari Jauregui who agreed in 2011 to meet one of his Eta killers. Her forgiveness, and Portillo’s portrait, has touched a large nerve in Spain.
One highlight...
The prizes marked both Leon and Bardem’s seventh Goya wins. Produced by El Reposado and The Mediapro Studio, and a workplace dramedy skewering the abuse of power practised by a seemingly benign factory owner, “The Good Boss” also won best director and original screenplay for León, as well as best score and editing.
Blanca Portillo beat out “Parallel Mothers’” Oscar-nominated Penélope Cruz, thanks to Portillo’s powerful performance as Maixabel Lasa, the real life widow of former Basque Country governor Juan Mari Jauregui who agreed in 2011 to meet one of his Eta killers. Her forgiveness, and Portillo’s portrait, has touched a large nerve in Spain.
One highlight...
- 2/13/2022
- by John Hopewell and Emilio Mayorga
- Variety Film + TV
Rapidly emerging as one of Spain’s foremost hothouses for new producer and creative talent, the Ecam Madrid Film School’s Incubator program has chosen five titles for its 2022 program:
“Last Night I Conquered the City of Thebes,” “Disposable,” “Macrame,” “Festina Lente” and “Ripli.”
Launched to connect early career talent in Spain with Europe’s film industry, the 5th Incubator runs from Feb. 23 through July.
The program will be overseen by writer-director Rafa Alberola, who serves as the new manager of The Screen, Ecam’s industry initiative umbrella.
This year’s lineup announcements comes as one Incubator project, Alauda Ruiz de Azúa’s “Lullaby,” is set to world premiere in Berlin’s Panorama section later this week.
Chema García Ibarra’s “Sacred Spirit” proved a standout at August’s Locarno Festival, another Incubator debut, Javier Marco’s Javier Marco’s “Josefina” was for many the most notable Spanish feature debut...
“Last Night I Conquered the City of Thebes,” “Disposable,” “Macrame,” “Festina Lente” and “Ripli.”
Launched to connect early career talent in Spain with Europe’s film industry, the 5th Incubator runs from Feb. 23 through July.
The program will be overseen by writer-director Rafa Alberola, who serves as the new manager of The Screen, Ecam’s industry initiative umbrella.
This year’s lineup announcements comes as one Incubator project, Alauda Ruiz de Azúa’s “Lullaby,” is set to world premiere in Berlin’s Panorama section later this week.
Chema García Ibarra’s “Sacred Spirit” proved a standout at August’s Locarno Festival, another Incubator debut, Javier Marco’s Javier Marco’s “Josefina” was for many the most notable Spanish feature debut...
- 2/8/2022
- by Emilio Mayorga
- Variety Film + TV
Sony Pictures International Prods, El Estudio Set Hombres G Film, ‘Voy a Pasarmelo Bien’ (Exclusive)
Tapping a widely successful genre, Sony Pictures Int’l Productions (Spip) is producing the musical romantic comedy “Voy a pasarmelo bien” (“I’m Going to Have A Good Time”) in association with transatlantic production powerhouse, El Estudio and Spanish pop rock band Hombres G.
The film is inspired by the music of the iconic band which rose to prominence in the ‘80s with their Beatles and British new wave-influenced music.
Based in Madrid, Hombres G is formed by David Summers, Dani Mezquita, Rafa Gutiérrez and Javi Molina who have published 12 studio albums to date and sold more than 20 million records internationally. Among their multiple achievements are an Honorary Grammy Award from the Latin Recording Academy and Spain’s Gold Medal to the Fine Arts.
Spip has also acquired the worldwide distribution rights, with Sony Pictures Entertainment Iberia to release the film theatrically in Spain in 2022.
In addition, Spip licensed the film’s U.
The film is inspired by the music of the iconic band which rose to prominence in the ‘80s with their Beatles and British new wave-influenced music.
Based in Madrid, Hombres G is formed by David Summers, Dani Mezquita, Rafa Gutiérrez and Javi Molina who have published 12 studio albums to date and sold more than 20 million records internationally. Among their multiple achievements are an Honorary Grammy Award from the Latin Recording Academy and Spain’s Gold Medal to the Fine Arts.
Spip has also acquired the worldwide distribution rights, with Sony Pictures Entertainment Iberia to release the film theatrically in Spain in 2022.
In addition, Spip licensed the film’s U.
- 11/30/2021
- by Anna Marie de la Fuente
- Variety Film + TV
Nominations have been unveiled for Spain’s primary film awards, the Goyas, with the Javier Bardem-starring comedy-drama The Good Boss racking up an all-time record of 20 nominations across 17 categories.
The film is up for Best Picture, Best Director for Fernando León de Aranoa, and Best Original Screenplay. In the acting categories, it also set another record by clocking up seven nominations: Bardem is up for Best Actor, Celso Bugallo, Fernando Albizu and Manolo Solo are up for Best Supporting Actor, Sonia Almarcha will contend for the Best Supporting Actress award, Oscar de la Fuente and Tarik Rmili are up for Best Emerging Actor, and Almudena Amor is up for Best Emerging Actress.
Finally, the pic is also nominated in the following categories: Best Original Score (Zeltia Montes), Best Production Design (Luis Gutiérrez), Best Cinematography (Pau Esteve Birba), Best Editing (Vanessa L. Marimbert), Best Art Direction (Cesar Macarrón), Best Costume...
The film is up for Best Picture, Best Director for Fernando León de Aranoa, and Best Original Screenplay. In the acting categories, it also set another record by clocking up seven nominations: Bardem is up for Best Actor, Celso Bugallo, Fernando Albizu and Manolo Solo are up for Best Supporting Actor, Sonia Almarcha will contend for the Best Supporting Actress award, Oscar de la Fuente and Tarik Rmili are up for Best Emerging Actor, and Almudena Amor is up for Best Emerging Actress.
Finally, the pic is also nominated in the following categories: Best Original Score (Zeltia Montes), Best Production Design (Luis Gutiérrez), Best Cinematography (Pau Esteve Birba), Best Editing (Vanessa L. Marimbert), Best Art Direction (Cesar Macarrón), Best Costume...
- 11/29/2021
- by Tom Grater
- Deadline Film + TV
Already selected as this year’s Spanish Best International Feature Film submission for the Oscars, Fernando León de Aranoa’s dark workplace comedy “The Good Boss,” starring Javier Bardem, has set a new record for most Spanish Academy Goya Award nominations with 20, ahead of Icíar Bollaín’s standout Basque drama “Maixabel” with 14 and Pedro Almodóvar’s “Parallel Mothers,” which secured eight.
The 20 nominations include: Best picture, director, original screenplay, original music, lead actor, three nominations for supporting actor, supporting actress, two nominations for best new male actor and one for best new female actor, production design, cinematography, editing, art direction, costume design, makeup, sound design and special effects. It’s a total which breaks an almost 30-year-old record held by Imanol Uribe’s “Numbered Days,” which received 19 nominations in 1994.
León’s latest, produced by The Mediapro Studio and Reposado PC, is a return to a fruitful partnership between the director and his leading man.
The 20 nominations include: Best picture, director, original screenplay, original music, lead actor, three nominations for supporting actor, supporting actress, two nominations for best new male actor and one for best new female actor, production design, cinematography, editing, art direction, costume design, makeup, sound design and special effects. It’s a total which breaks an almost 30-year-old record held by Imanol Uribe’s “Numbered Days,” which received 19 nominations in 1994.
León’s latest, produced by The Mediapro Studio and Reposado PC, is a return to a fruitful partnership between the director and his leading man.
- 11/29/2021
- by Jamie Lang
- Variety Film + TV
Spain’s top independent sales agents are prepped and ready for this year’s online American Film Market; however, most are eagerly awaiting the return of in-person events, seen as a more productive platform for selling independent cinema abroad. The optimism is cautious, though, with theatrical prospects for international independent films in a post-covid world still hard to predict.
Traditionally, AFM has been a popular launchpad for Spanish films to find distribution in the non-Spanish-speaking world but, while most of the regular faces will be attending digitally, many are holding back their bigger titles for Berlin, where they can be pitched in-person and meetings can be held face-to-face.
“Online markets have been really important for us over the past year, but now we need in-person events. The success of Mia in Rome is proof of that,” said Latido Films general director Antonio Saura, who hosted three market premieres at the...
Traditionally, AFM has been a popular launchpad for Spanish films to find distribution in the non-Spanish-speaking world but, while most of the regular faces will be attending digitally, many are holding back their bigger titles for Berlin, where they can be pitched in-person and meetings can be held face-to-face.
“Online markets have been really important for us over the past year, but now we need in-person events. The success of Mia in Rome is proof of that,” said Latido Films general director Antonio Saura, who hosted three market premieres at the...
- 11/1/2021
- by Jamie Lang
- Variety Film + TV
Netflix’s Spanish adaptation of its hit original movie “Bird Box” is coming together.
Cast and a handful of early details were announced for the previously announced project from Àlex and David Pastor. Leading the international cast are Mario Casas, one of Spain’s most bankable leading men who this year won a best actor Spanish Academy Goya Award for his performance in “Cross the Line,” and Georgina Campbell, a best leading actress BAFTA winner for her work in “Murdered by My Boyfriend.”
Casas was also the star of horror thriller “The Paramedic,” one of Netflix’s best performing Spanish original films to date.
Other cast includes Diego Calva (“I Promise You Anarchy”), Alejandra Howard (“Ana. all in”), Naila Schuberth (“Unbroken”), Patrick Criado (“Riot Police”) and Celia Freijeiro (“Perfect Life”), with Lola Dueñas (“The Sea Inside”), Gonzalo de Castro (“La torre de Suso”), Michelle Jenner (“Isabel”) and Leonardo Sbaraglia (“Pain and Glory...
Cast and a handful of early details were announced for the previously announced project from Àlex and David Pastor. Leading the international cast are Mario Casas, one of Spain’s most bankable leading men who this year won a best actor Spanish Academy Goya Award for his performance in “Cross the Line,” and Georgina Campbell, a best leading actress BAFTA winner for her work in “Murdered by My Boyfriend.”
Casas was also the star of horror thriller “The Paramedic,” one of Netflix’s best performing Spanish original films to date.
Other cast includes Diego Calva (“I Promise You Anarchy”), Alejandra Howard (“Ana. all in”), Naila Schuberth (“Unbroken”), Patrick Criado (“Riot Police”) and Celia Freijeiro (“Perfect Life”), with Lola Dueñas (“The Sea Inside”), Gonzalo de Castro (“La torre de Suso”), Michelle Jenner (“Isabel”) and Leonardo Sbaraglia (“Pain and Glory...
- 10/28/2021
- by Jamie Lang and John Hopewell
- Variety Film + TV
Catalan director Clara Roquet’s teenage female friendship drama “Libertad” and Ferit Karahan’s social drama “Brother’s Keeper,” about Kurdish kids living in fear at a Turkish boarding school, won the best film awards respectively in the international and national competitions at Turkey’s 58th Antalya Golden Orange Film Festival which wrapped Saturday.
“Libertad,” a first feature that centers on a bond that forms during a summer in Spain’s Costa Brava between two young women from opposite sides of the tracks, was a recent Cannes Critics’ Week standout that has been making the festival rounds. Pic will soon segue from Antalya to the Rome Film Festival.
“Brother’s Keeper” is based on helmer Karahan’s own experience and follows two friends, Yusef and Memo, at a secluded boarding school for Kurdish boys in the mountains of Eastern Anatolia. When Memo falls mysteriously ill, Yusuf to try to help...
“Libertad,” a first feature that centers on a bond that forms during a summer in Spain’s Costa Brava between two young women from opposite sides of the tracks, was a recent Cannes Critics’ Week standout that has been making the festival rounds. Pic will soon segue from Antalya to the Rome Film Festival.
“Brother’s Keeper” is based on helmer Karahan’s own experience and follows two friends, Yusef and Memo, at a secluded boarding school for Kurdish boys in the mountains of Eastern Anatolia. When Memo falls mysteriously ill, Yusuf to try to help...
- 10/10/2021
- by Nick Vivarelli
- Variety Film + TV
After a pandemic-forced cancellation last year, Cannes Film Festival made a triumphant return this year, featuring some premieres pegged for the 2020 edition as well as a new crop of work. While our coverage will continue over the next week or so, and far beyond as we provide updates on the journey of these selections, we’ve asked our contributors on the ground to share their favorites from this year’s festival.
See their picks below and explore all of our coverage here.
Rory O’Connor
1. Drive My Car (Ryusuke Hamaguchi)
2. Vortex (Gaspar Noé)
3. Memoria (Apichatpong Weerasethakul)
4. Titane (Julia Ducournau)
5. Compartment No. 6 (Juho Kuosmanen)
6. Red Rocket (Sean Baker)
7. Annette (Leos Carax)
8. The Tale of King Crab (Alessio Rigo de Righi and Matteo Zoppis)
9. Great Freedom (Sebastian Meise)
10. Ahed’s Knee (Nadav Lapid)
Honorable Mention: The Hill Where The Lionesses Roar (Luàna Bajrami)
David Katz
1. Drive My Car (Ryusuke Hamaguchi)
2. Memoria (Apichatpong Weerasethakul)
3. In Front of Your Face...
See their picks below and explore all of our coverage here.
Rory O’Connor
1. Drive My Car (Ryusuke Hamaguchi)
2. Vortex (Gaspar Noé)
3. Memoria (Apichatpong Weerasethakul)
4. Titane (Julia Ducournau)
5. Compartment No. 6 (Juho Kuosmanen)
6. Red Rocket (Sean Baker)
7. Annette (Leos Carax)
8. The Tale of King Crab (Alessio Rigo de Righi and Matteo Zoppis)
9. Great Freedom (Sebastian Meise)
10. Ahed’s Knee (Nadav Lapid)
Honorable Mention: The Hill Where The Lionesses Roar (Luàna Bajrami)
David Katz
1. Drive My Car (Ryusuke Hamaguchi)
2. Memoria (Apichatpong Weerasethakul)
3. In Front of Your Face...
- 7/20/2021
- by The Film Stage
- The Film Stage
Madrid-based Avalon is transforming from a prestige producer-distributor into an industrial force.
Founded by CEO Stefan Schmitz in 1996, Avalon has carved a reputation most recently for co-producing and releasing in Spain Carla Simon’s “Summer 1993,” a Berlin 2017 First Feature Award winner. It co-produced Clara Roquet’s Cannes Critics’ Week entry “Libertad.”
The shingle, set to distribute “Benedetta” and “Bergman Island” in Spain, now has an 11-title production slate, both features and drama series, taking in new titles from leading lights in a new generation of female Catalan cineastes.
Simón herself has rural family drama “Alcarrás” in shooting and is developing her third feature, “Romería,” “a kind of continuation of ‘Summer 93,’” Schmitz said. “Alcarrás“ – “a highly cinematographic, and bigger budgeted Spanish independent film,” said Schmitz – is being sold by MK2.
“Libertad” director Clara Roquet is co-writing “Creatura,” set up at San Sebastian project lab Ikusmira Berriak, from Malaga best director...
Founded by CEO Stefan Schmitz in 1996, Avalon has carved a reputation most recently for co-producing and releasing in Spain Carla Simon’s “Summer 1993,” a Berlin 2017 First Feature Award winner. It co-produced Clara Roquet’s Cannes Critics’ Week entry “Libertad.”
The shingle, set to distribute “Benedetta” and “Bergman Island” in Spain, now has an 11-title production slate, both features and drama series, taking in new titles from leading lights in a new generation of female Catalan cineastes.
Simón herself has rural family drama “Alcarrás” in shooting and is developing her third feature, “Romería,” “a kind of continuation of ‘Summer 93,’” Schmitz said. “Alcarrás“ – “a highly cinematographic, and bigger budgeted Spanish independent film,” said Schmitz – is being sold by MK2.
“Libertad” director Clara Roquet is co-writing “Creatura,” set up at San Sebastian project lab Ikusmira Berriak, from Malaga best director...
- 7/11/2021
- by John Hopewell
- Variety Film + TV
The leading sales, finance and production outfit Beta Cinema will present first footage from the upcoming Australian comedy drama “How to Please a Woman” at next week’s Pre-Cannes Screenings. Variety has been given the first still from the film, starring Sally Phillips, whose credits include the “Bridget Jones’s Diary” movies, and a recurring guest role as the Finnish Prime Minister in “Veep.” The Munich-based firm will show five completed films during the virtual event.
In “How to Please a Woman” Phillips plays a woman in middle age who feels she has become “invisible to everyone.” The film follows her as she learns how to ask for what she wants and encourages other women to do the same. She sets up a house cleaning service, staffed by good-looking male cleaners, with benefits.
Other cast include Erik Thomson, Alexander England (“Alien: Covenant”), and Caroline Brazier. The director and writer is Renée Webster.
In “How to Please a Woman” Phillips plays a woman in middle age who feels she has become “invisible to everyone.” The film follows her as she learns how to ask for what she wants and encourages other women to do the same. She sets up a house cleaning service, staffed by good-looking male cleaners, with benefits.
Other cast include Erik Thomson, Alexander England (“Alien: Covenant”), and Caroline Brazier. The director and writer is Renée Webster.
- 6/18/2021
- by Leo Barraclough
- Variety Film + TV
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