Exclusive: Alpha Violet has acquired world sales rights for Uruguayan filmmaking duo Ana Guevara and Leticia Jorge’s new drama Don’t You Let Me Go, exploring themes of friendship and death.
The Paris-based company previously worked with the filmmakers on their debut film So Much Water (Tanta Agua), which world premiered in the Berlinale’s Panorama section in 2013 and was acquired by Arte for Europe and HBO for the U.S.
The new movie, which is in post-production, sees follows a woman’s journey through time to see her best friend after one of them dies.
They reconnect in a past that may not be perfect but seems more real than the unintelligible present in which death has come to soon.
The cast features Eva Dans, Chiara Hourcade and Victoria Jorge.
“Don’t You Let Me Go is totally a movie for us,” said Virginie Devesa, Alpha Violet co-founding head with Keiko Funato.
The Paris-based company previously worked with the filmmakers on their debut film So Much Water (Tanta Agua), which world premiered in the Berlinale’s Panorama section in 2013 and was acquired by Arte for Europe and HBO for the U.S.
The new movie, which is in post-production, sees follows a woman’s journey through time to see her best friend after one of them dies.
They reconnect in a past that may not be perfect but seems more real than the unintelligible present in which death has come to soon.
The cast features Eva Dans, Chiara Hourcade and Victoria Jorge.
“Don’t You Let Me Go is totally a movie for us,” said Virginie Devesa, Alpha Violet co-founding head with Keiko Funato.
- 2/16/2024
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- Deadline Film + TV
Natacha Kaganski has joined Luxbox as festivals and acquisitions manager and Solène Colomer has been named sales & marketing coordinator.
Previously, Kaganski spent four years as acquisitions manager at Wild Bunch, where she handled deals for the French and international market as well as coordination for multi-territories deals with the Wild Bunch group, such as Germany, Spain and Italy.
She was involved in films likeVenice winner “Happening” by Audrey Diwan, Gaspar Noé’s “Vortex” or “Leila’s Brothers,” also taking part in first Wild Bunch productions.
Solène Colomer has one year of experience assisting the sales and production teams at Urban Group under her belt. She was involved in “Plan 75” by Chie Hayakawa and “If Only I Could Hibernate” by Zoljargal Purevdash which, as reported by Variety, has already made history in Cannes.
They complete the already existing team with president Fiorella Moretti and Jennyfer Gautier, head of international sales.
“Personally,...
Previously, Kaganski spent four years as acquisitions manager at Wild Bunch, where she handled deals for the French and international market as well as coordination for multi-territories deals with the Wild Bunch group, such as Germany, Spain and Italy.
She was involved in films likeVenice winner “Happening” by Audrey Diwan, Gaspar Noé’s “Vortex” or “Leila’s Brothers,” also taking part in first Wild Bunch productions.
Solène Colomer has one year of experience assisting the sales and production teams at Urban Group under her belt. She was involved in “Plan 75” by Chie Hayakawa and “If Only I Could Hibernate” by Zoljargal Purevdash which, as reported by Variety, has already made history in Cannes.
They complete the already existing team with president Fiorella Moretti and Jennyfer Gautier, head of international sales.
“Personally,...
- 5/24/2023
- by Marta Balaga
- Variety Film + TV
Buzz titles include animation ’Dragonkeeper’ and ‘Co-Husbands’.
Mafiz, the industry sector of the Málaga Film Festival, which closed on Sunday March 19, attracted its highest numbers of attendees to date, up 54% on last year.
In total. 1,897 industry players came from 64 countries, with a gender parity of 963 men and 934 women.
International promotion platform Spanish Screenings registered the highest number of participants at 206 buyers and producers. Overall by sector Mafiz attracted 1,095 producers, 206 buyers, 70 festivals delegates, 26 sales agents and 36 exhibitors and local distributors.
The Málaga Festival Fund & Co-Production Event project (Maff) scored 152 attendants and 568 one-to-one meetings around 39 Ibero-American projects.
The response from buyers has...
Mafiz, the industry sector of the Málaga Film Festival, which closed on Sunday March 19, attracted its highest numbers of attendees to date, up 54% on last year.
In total. 1,897 industry players came from 64 countries, with a gender parity of 963 men and 934 women.
International promotion platform Spanish Screenings registered the highest number of participants at 206 buyers and producers. Overall by sector Mafiz attracted 1,095 producers, 206 buyers, 70 festivals delegates, 26 sales agents and 36 exhibitors and local distributors.
The Málaga Festival Fund & Co-Production Event project (Maff) scored 152 attendants and 568 one-to-one meetings around 39 Ibero-American projects.
The response from buyers has...
- 3/20/2023
- by Emilio Mayorga
- ScreenDaily
Uruguay-based Agustina Chiarino, one of the drivers of the new Latin American cinema industry and at the forefront of pan-regional co-production, is kicking-off early projects at her recently launched production-distribution company Bocacha Films.
Chiarino attended last week’s Malaga Film Festival edition to present Pablo Solarz’s official section contender comedy “Desperté con un sueño” (“I Woke Up With a Dream”), which she produced at Mutante Cine, the Montevideo-based outfit Chiarino and editor-producer Fernando Epstein co-founded in 2011.
After “I Woke Up With a Dream,” two feature debuts are finishing production stage under the Mutante Cine brand: Vanina Spataro’s “Naufragios,” teaming with Kino Films in Argentina, and Sebastián Peña Escobar’s documentary “The Last” in partnership with Paraguay’s La Babosa Cine.
They will be “the last three movies Mutante Cine will be launching before disbanding,” Chiarino said.
Having produced more than 15 Latin American films, Chiarino is now embarking on a solo project,...
Chiarino attended last week’s Malaga Film Festival edition to present Pablo Solarz’s official section contender comedy “Desperté con un sueño” (“I Woke Up With a Dream”), which she produced at Mutante Cine, the Montevideo-based outfit Chiarino and editor-producer Fernando Epstein co-founded in 2011.
After “I Woke Up With a Dream,” two feature debuts are finishing production stage under the Mutante Cine brand: Vanina Spataro’s “Naufragios,” teaming with Kino Films in Argentina, and Sebastián Peña Escobar’s documentary “The Last” in partnership with Paraguay’s La Babosa Cine.
They will be “the last three movies Mutante Cine will be launching before disbanding,” Chiarino said.
Having produced more than 15 Latin American films, Chiarino is now embarking on a solo project,...
- 3/20/2023
- by Emiliano De Pablos
- Variety Film + TV
Martinessi’s debut The Heiresses won the Silver Bear at the Berlinale in 2018.
Narciso, the second feature from Paraguay’s Marcelo Martinessi, has attracted a crop of new co-producers: Spain’s Bteam Prods, Portugal’s Oublaum, Brazil’s Esquina Films and Uruguay’s Mutante Cine.
Martinessi’s debut The Heiresses won the Silver Bear at the Berlinale in 2018.
The four companies will team with the same production team that backed The Heiresses on Narciso; Paraguay’s La Babosa Films, Germany’s Pandora Filmproduktions and France’s La Fábrica Nocturna Prods.
France’s Luxbox handles international sales.
Based on the novel...
Narciso, the second feature from Paraguay’s Marcelo Martinessi, has attracted a crop of new co-producers: Spain’s Bteam Prods, Portugal’s Oublaum, Brazil’s Esquina Films and Uruguay’s Mutante Cine.
Martinessi’s debut The Heiresses won the Silver Bear at the Berlinale in 2018.
The four companies will team with the same production team that backed The Heiresses on Narciso; Paraguay’s La Babosa Films, Germany’s Pandora Filmproduktions and France’s La Fábrica Nocturna Prods.
France’s Luxbox handles international sales.
Based on the novel...
- 3/17/2023
- by Emilio Mayorga
- ScreenDaily
Paris-based Luxbox has pounced on international rights to “20,000 Species of Bees,” one of Spain’s most anticipated feature debuts in 2023.
Distributor of “Holy Spider” and San Sebastian winner “The Kings of the World,” BTeam Pictures will handle the film’s release in Spain.
The latest movie in a growing canon of titles from young Spanish directors that have a grounded sense of place while dealing in large universal issues – think Carla Simon’s “Summer 1993” and Berlin Golden Bear winner “Alcarràs,” Alauda Ruiz de Azúa’s “Lullaby” and Elena López Riera “The Water” – “20,000 Species of Bees” marks the first feature by Basque Country-based Estibaliz Urresola Solaguren whose short, “Cuerdas,” won a Cannes Critics’ Week Rails d’Or plaudit in May and was a Forqué Award best short winner this December in Spain.
It turns on an eight-year-old girl who battles with the fact that people keep addressing her in confusing ways.
Distributor of “Holy Spider” and San Sebastian winner “The Kings of the World,” BTeam Pictures will handle the film’s release in Spain.
The latest movie in a growing canon of titles from young Spanish directors that have a grounded sense of place while dealing in large universal issues – think Carla Simon’s “Summer 1993” and Berlin Golden Bear winner “Alcarràs,” Alauda Ruiz de Azúa’s “Lullaby” and Elena López Riera “The Water” – “20,000 Species of Bees” marks the first feature by Basque Country-based Estibaliz Urresola Solaguren whose short, “Cuerdas,” won a Cannes Critics’ Week Rails d’Or plaudit in May and was a Forqué Award best short winner this December in Spain.
It turns on an eight-year-old girl who battles with the fact that people keep addressing her in confusing ways.
- 1/12/2023
- by John Hopewell
- Variety Film + TV
Seven titles to play as part of Tfl Film Parade on Festival Scope platform.
TorinoFilmLab is to mark its 15th edition by showcasing a selection of titles that have successfully been developed at the training, networking and development event.
The Tfl Film Parade will share a selection of seven titles chosen among over 150 films developed within the Tfl’s development programmes.
The films – which all went on to premiere at A-list festivals - will be released online and accessible for free to anyone who registers on Tfl’s long-term partner-platform Festival Scope, in the original language with English subtitles.
Each...
TorinoFilmLab is to mark its 15th edition by showcasing a selection of titles that have successfully been developed at the training, networking and development event.
The Tfl Film Parade will share a selection of seven titles chosen among over 150 films developed within the Tfl’s development programmes.
The films – which all went on to premiere at A-list festivals - will be released online and accessible for free to anyone who registers on Tfl’s long-term partner-platform Festival Scope, in the original language with English subtitles.
Each...
- 10/17/2022
- by Tim Dams
- ScreenDaily
Seven titles to play as part of Tfl Film Parade on Festival Scope platform.
TorinoFilmLab is to mark its 15th edition by showcasing a selection of titles that have successfully been developed at the training, networking and development event.
The Tfl Film Parade will share a selection of seven titles chosen among over 150 films developed within the Tfl’s development programmes.
The films – which all went on to premiere at A-list festivals - will be released online and accessible for free to anyone who registers on Tfl’s long-term partner-platform Festival Scope, in the original language with English subtitles.
Each...
TorinoFilmLab is to mark its 15th edition by showcasing a selection of titles that have successfully been developed at the training, networking and development event.
The Tfl Film Parade will share a selection of seven titles chosen among over 150 films developed within the Tfl’s development programmes.
The films – which all went on to premiere at A-list festivals - will be released online and accessible for free to anyone who registers on Tfl’s long-term partner-platform Festival Scope, in the original language with English subtitles.
Each...
- 10/17/2022
- by Tim Dams
- ScreenDaily
Exclusive: The Europe-based Pop Up Film Residency mentorship program has unveiled the filmmakers and mentors who will participate in its summer 2022 edition.
The program, which is among a number of feature development initiatives spearheaded by former TorinoFilmLab artistic director Matthieu Darras, consists of three-week residences focused on one project only in different locations across Europe.
Mentors for the upcoming edition include French director Lucile Hadžihalilović, who won San Sebastian’s Special Jury Prize last year for gothic psychological horror Earwig; Paraguayan filmmaker Marcelo Martinessi, whose debut film The Heiresses broke out with a Berlinale Silver Bear victory in 2018, and Marie Amachoukeli, a Caméra d’Or winner in 2014 for first film Party Girl, who is currently completing her first solo feature.
Confirmed feature directors joining the programme include Brazil’s Caru Alves de Souza, whose joint work with Raffaella Costa, My Name Is Baghdad won best film in the Berlinale...
The program, which is among a number of feature development initiatives spearheaded by former TorinoFilmLab artistic director Matthieu Darras, consists of three-week residences focused on one project only in different locations across Europe.
Mentors for the upcoming edition include French director Lucile Hadžihalilović, who won San Sebastian’s Special Jury Prize last year for gothic psychological horror Earwig; Paraguayan filmmaker Marcelo Martinessi, whose debut film The Heiresses broke out with a Berlinale Silver Bear victory in 2018, and Marie Amachoukeli, a Caméra d’Or winner in 2014 for first film Party Girl, who is currently completing her first solo feature.
Confirmed feature directors joining the programme include Brazil’s Caru Alves de Souza, whose joint work with Raffaella Costa, My Name Is Baghdad won best film in the Berlinale...
- 7/11/2022
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- Deadline Film + TV
Cameroon’s Cyrielle Raingou has won the Kirch Foundation Award, which comes with a €5,000 cash prize, for her film project “I’m Coming for You.”
The award comes at the conclusion of the first edition of Munich Film Up!, an eight-month mentoring and residency program for film school graduates that started in November.
The program was created by the Pop Up Film Residency, in partnership with the University of Television and Film Munich (Hff München) and the Munich Film Festival.
The six filmmakers who took part in the program were:
Lana Bregar, Slovenia (Film school: Agfrt Ljubljana) with “Dark Head”
Erec Brehmer, Germany (Film school: Hff München) with “Lightness and Weight”
Anastasiya Gruba, Ukraine (Film school: Kyiv University) with “Women Suicide Season”
Loïc Hobi, Switzerland/France (Film school: Ecole de la Cité) with “Crypto Lover”
Cyrielle Raingou, Cameroon (Film school: Doc Nomads Master) with “I’m Coming for You”
Pratik Thakare,...
The award comes at the conclusion of the first edition of Munich Film Up!, an eight-month mentoring and residency program for film school graduates that started in November.
The program was created by the Pop Up Film Residency, in partnership with the University of Television and Film Munich (Hff München) and the Munich Film Festival.
The six filmmakers who took part in the program were:
Lana Bregar, Slovenia (Film school: Agfrt Ljubljana) with “Dark Head”
Erec Brehmer, Germany (Film school: Hff München) with “Lightness and Weight”
Anastasiya Gruba, Ukraine (Film school: Kyiv University) with “Women Suicide Season”
Loïc Hobi, Switzerland/France (Film school: Ecole de la Cité) with “Crypto Lover”
Cyrielle Raingou, Cameroon (Film school: Doc Nomads Master) with “I’m Coming for You”
Pratik Thakare,...
- 6/24/2022
- by Leo Barraclough
- Variety Film + TV
Projeto Paradiso, operated by the Olga Rabinovich Institute, has renewed its partnership with Buenos Aires’ Ventana Sur, backed by Cannes Festival and Film Market and Argentina’s Incaa film-tv agency.
The move is one of several unveiled at Cannes Marché du Film, as go-ahead orgs in Brazil continue to attempt to stem the ravages of three years of President Jair Bolsonaro’s state incentive slow down as well as map out institutional backing for an industry in what is hoped to be a post-Bolsonaro age after October’s general elections. Some of the new initiatives:
Projeto Paradiso Broadens Its Alliance With Ventana Sur
The Projeto Paradiso-Ventana Sur alliance cuts two ways. For the second year running, the Brazilian philanthropic org will hand out a Paradiso Wip Award, worth 10,000 in last-money-in to the best Brazilian fiction project in post-production at Ventana Sur, Latin America’s biggest film-tv event.
Launched in 2021, the...
The move is one of several unveiled at Cannes Marché du Film, as go-ahead orgs in Brazil continue to attempt to stem the ravages of three years of President Jair Bolsonaro’s state incentive slow down as well as map out institutional backing for an industry in what is hoped to be a post-Bolsonaro age after October’s general elections. Some of the new initiatives:
Projeto Paradiso Broadens Its Alliance With Ventana Sur
The Projeto Paradiso-Ventana Sur alliance cuts two ways. For the second year running, the Brazilian philanthropic org will hand out a Paradiso Wip Award, worth 10,000 in last-money-in to the best Brazilian fiction project in post-production at Ventana Sur, Latin America’s biggest film-tv event.
Launched in 2021, the...
- 5/30/2022
- by John Hopewell
- Variety Film + TV
Spain’s Cannes presence this year offers testimony to its developing co-production scene, as well as economic concerns driving the search for international partners and the ambitions of a highly cosmopolitan generation of cineastes that is driving art cinema production in Spain.
Four Spanish features have made this year’s Cannes cut: Albert Serra’s competition entry “Pacifiction”; Rodrigo Sorogoyen’s “The Beasts,” in Premiere; José Luis López Linares’ Cannes Classics title “Goya, Carriere and the Ghost of Buñuel”; and Directors’ Fortnight contender “El Agua,” by Elena López Riera.
All four are international co-productions. Also at Cannes, a Spanish Producers Network showcase, backed by Icex Trade and Investment and Icaa Film Institute, will highlight eight potential overseas co-production projects.
Spain’s burgeoning co-pro scene is one reaction to the challenges of its domestic market. Bowing April 29, Carla Simón’s Berlin Golden Bear winner “Alcarràs” has become an event movie, scoring...
Four Spanish features have made this year’s Cannes cut: Albert Serra’s competition entry “Pacifiction”; Rodrigo Sorogoyen’s “The Beasts,” in Premiere; José Luis López Linares’ Cannes Classics title “Goya, Carriere and the Ghost of Buñuel”; and Directors’ Fortnight contender “El Agua,” by Elena López Riera.
All four are international co-productions. Also at Cannes, a Spanish Producers Network showcase, backed by Icex Trade and Investment and Icaa Film Institute, will highlight eight potential overseas co-production projects.
Spain’s burgeoning co-pro scene is one reaction to the challenges of its domestic market. Bowing April 29, Carla Simón’s Berlin Golden Bear winner “Alcarràs” has become an event movie, scoring...
- 5/19/2022
- by Emiliano De Pablos
- 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
Los Angeles-based 1844 Entertainment has acquired international sales rights and U.S. distribution for Jorge Cuchí’s 2020 Venice Critics’ Week player, “50 o Dos Ballenas se Encuentran En la Playa” (“50 (or Two Whales Meet on the Beach)”).
“50” stars young actors José Antonio Toledano as Félix and Karla Coronado as Elisa, two 17-year-olds who together embark on the 2016 social media phenomena Blue Whale Challenge together. In the “game,” players are assigned tasks over a 50-day period which start as trivial or innocuous activities, but eventually mutate into self-harm and, at its conclusion, suicide.
“When people decide to commit suicide it is not because they want to put an end to their lives, but because they want to put an end to their sadness,” explained Chuchí of the spark that ingnited his feature debut.
Describing his protagonists, he remembered that Felix and Elisa started as “two kids who came to life inside my...
“50” stars young actors José Antonio Toledano as Félix and Karla Coronado as Elisa, two 17-year-olds who together embark on the 2016 social media phenomena Blue Whale Challenge together. In the “game,” players are assigned tasks over a 50-day period which start as trivial or innocuous activities, but eventually mutate into self-harm and, at its conclusion, suicide.
“When people decide to commit suicide it is not because they want to put an end to their lives, but because they want to put an end to their sadness,” explained Chuchí of the spark that ingnited his feature debut.
Describing his protagonists, he remembered that Felix and Elisa started as “two kids who came to life inside my...
- 7/5/2021
- by Jamie Lang
- Variety Film + TV
1844 Ent. Nabs U.S. Distribution, International to Argentina’s ‘A School in Cerro Hueso’ (Exclusive)
Los Angeles-based company 1844 Entertainment has acquired U.S. distribution and international sales rights to Argentine Betania Cappato’s feature debut “Una escuela en Cerro Hueso” (“A School in Cerro Hueso”).
The autism-themed film, inspired in Cappato’s direct family events, earned a special mention at March’s Berlinale Generation Kplus sidebar.
1844 Entertainment plans to release the movie in U.S. theaters in fourth quarter 2021, supported by a virtual cinema in the case of theaters not yet running by then at a full capacity.
“A School in Cerro Hueso” narrates the inner journey of Ema, a six-year-old girl diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder.
When Ema reaches school age, her parents move with her from Argentina’s Santa Fe to a humble coastal town at the shore of the Paraná River, where the only school that accepted her application is located.
There, the family will begin a new life as Ema...
The autism-themed film, inspired in Cappato’s direct family events, earned a special mention at March’s Berlinale Generation Kplus sidebar.
1844 Entertainment plans to release the movie in U.S. theaters in fourth quarter 2021, supported by a virtual cinema in the case of theaters not yet running by then at a full capacity.
“A School in Cerro Hueso” narrates the inner journey of Ema, a six-year-old girl diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder.
When Ema reaches school age, her parents move with her from Argentina’s Santa Fe to a humble coastal town at the shore of the Paraná River, where the only school that accepted her application is located.
There, the family will begin a new life as Ema...
- 5/18/2021
- by Emiliano De Pablos
- Variety Film + TV
Introducing a musical performance at the Academy Awards isn’t normally the biggest of deals, but for Chilean newcomer Daniela Vega, it was a landmark opportunity: At the 2018 ceremony, she became the first transgender person ever to present at the Oscars. The film that got her there, meanwhile, had already made history that same night. Sebastián Lelio’s uplifting drama “A Fantastic Woman,” in which Vega gave a luminous performance as a trans woman battling heartbreak and discrimination, won that year’s international feature award — becoming the first film with a transgender lead to win an Oscar in any category.
“Thank you so much for this moment,” Vega said from the stage, before segueing into a tribute to gay Italian filmmaker Luca Guadagnino’s much-nominated queer romance “Call Me by Your Name”: It was a minute of airtime that contained more global LGBTQ visibility than many a previous broadcast.
“Thank you so much for this moment,” Vega said from the stage, before segueing into a tribute to gay Italian filmmaker Luca Guadagnino’s much-nominated queer romance “Call Me by Your Name”: It was a minute of airtime that contained more global LGBTQ visibility than many a previous broadcast.
- 4/1/2021
- by Guy Lodge
- Variety Film + TV
The Berlin Film Festival’s European Film Market had a successful 2021 online edition with the participation of 12,000 attendees from 131 countries.
The industry event, which took place March 1-5, gathered 504 exhibitors — 215 of which were newcomers at EFM — from 60 countries. The majority of participants was from Europe, followed by the U.S., Canada, Russia, Japan, Brazil, China and South Korea. As many as 1,452 online market screenings were hosted, including 578 market premieres, on par with last year.
“The strong interest in the online platform, the bustling activity of sales businesses, the high demand for the Online Market Screenings, and the extensive use of the conference programme and active networking formats show that the industry actively immersed itself in the market during the EFM week,” said Dennis Ruh, the director of the EFM which ranks as the second biggest film market worldwide.
“It’s especially encouraging to see the number of completed films and...
The industry event, which took place March 1-5, gathered 504 exhibitors — 215 of which were newcomers at EFM — from 60 countries. The majority of participants was from Europe, followed by the U.S., Canada, Russia, Japan, Brazil, China and South Korea. As many as 1,452 online market screenings were hosted, including 578 market premieres, on par with last year.
“The strong interest in the online platform, the bustling activity of sales businesses, the high demand for the Online Market Screenings, and the extensive use of the conference programme and active networking formats show that the industry actively immersed itself in the market during the EFM week,” said Dennis Ruh, the director of the EFM which ranks as the second biggest film market worldwide.
“It’s especially encouraging to see the number of completed films and...
- 3/9/2021
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
Further prizes awarded to Isabel Sandoval and Marcelo Martinessi projects.
Palestinian filmmaker Annemarie Jacir has won the top prize at the Berlinale Co-Production Market to develop her upcoming feature The Oblivion Theory.
The Eurimages co-production development award of €20,000 went to the project, which was presented at the market by France’s Incognito Films and Germany’s One Two Films.
Adapted from José Eduardo Agualusa’ novel A General Theory Of Oblivion, the film relocates the drama to Gaza City in 1987, during the first Palestinian Intifada. Jacir is known for directing When I Saw You, which won the Netpac award when it...
Palestinian filmmaker Annemarie Jacir has won the top prize at the Berlinale Co-Production Market to develop her upcoming feature The Oblivion Theory.
The Eurimages co-production development award of €20,000 went to the project, which was presented at the market by France’s Incognito Films and Germany’s One Two Films.
Adapted from José Eduardo Agualusa’ novel A General Theory Of Oblivion, the film relocates the drama to Gaza City in 1987, during the first Palestinian Intifada. Jacir is known for directing When I Saw You, which won the Netpac award when it...
- 3/3/2021
- by Michael Rosser
- ScreenDaily
Further prizes awarded to Isabel Sandoval and Marcelo Martinessi projects.
Palestinian filmmaker Annemarie Jacir has won the top prize at the Berlinale Co-Production Market to develop her upcoming feature The Oblivion Theory.
The Eurimages co-production development award of €20,000 went to the project, which was presented at the market by France’s Incognito Films and Germany’s One Two Films.
Adapted from José Eduardo Agualusa’ novel A General Theory Of Oblivion, the film relocates the drama to Gaza City in 1987, during the first Palestinian Intifada. Jacir is known for directing When I Saw You, which won the Netpac award when it...
Palestinian filmmaker Annemarie Jacir has won the top prize at the Berlinale Co-Production Market to develop her upcoming feature The Oblivion Theory.
The Eurimages co-production development award of €20,000 went to the project, which was presented at the market by France’s Incognito Films and Germany’s One Two Films.
Adapted from José Eduardo Agualusa’ novel A General Theory Of Oblivion, the film relocates the drama to Gaza City in 1987, during the first Palestinian Intifada. Jacir is known for directing When I Saw You, which won the Netpac award when it...
- 3/3/2021
- by Michael Rosser
- ScreenDaily
Berlinale 2021: The Palestinian director will be supported for The Oblivion Theory while the other two prizes were handed to upcoming projects from Marcelo Martinessi and Isabel Sandoval. The 18th edition of the Berlinale Co-Production Market has handed out its awards during a quick ceremony which was hosted by Martina Bleis, the head of the market (read our interview), who mentioned that 1,300 individual meetings were held for the 35 new feature-film projects (read the news), offering them international visibility. Palestinian writer-director Annemarie Jacir (Wajib) received the prestigious Eurimages Co-production Development Award, valued at €20,000, for her project The Oblivion Theory as the jury comprising Portuguese producer Luís Urbano (O Som e a Fúria); Tine Klint, founder and managing director of Danish sales company LevelK; and Els Hendrix, who represents Germany on the Eurimages board of management. The jury “was really very impressed by the adaptation and relocation of José...
Rites of passage, teenage girls in small towns, strict and uncomprehending parents: We know the drill, yet few films riffing on the subject get the mood and ambiguities as right as “Looking for Venera.” , ensuring the story is grounded in a particular place while making her protagonist a readily identifiable, highly sympathetic young woman. Impressively shot by fast-rising Dp Luis Armando Arteaga and anchored by richly multi-layered performances, the film deservedly won a special jury award in Rotterdam and should get significant attention throughout the coming year.
The town where Venera (Kosovare Krasniqi) lives is nothing special to look at, set among hills made bare by harsh winters, ugly substandard constructions and the recent war that decimated the adult male population. With no parks, internet or after-school activities, there’s not much to do, and tradition-bound customs continue to exert a stranglehold on adult social networks. Unlike many of her friends,...
The town where Venera (Kosovare Krasniqi) lives is nothing special to look at, set among hills made bare by harsh winters, ugly substandard constructions and the recent war that decimated the adult male population. With no parks, internet or after-school activities, there’s not much to do, and tradition-bound customs continue to exert a stranglehold on adult social networks. Unlike many of her friends,...
- 2/12/2021
- by Jay Weissberg
- Variety Film + TV
The Berlin International Film Festival’s European Film Market (EFM) has confirmed details for how its online incarnation will work March 1-5.
As Deadline revealed, Dennis Ruh took the reins at the EFM in September 2020 and faces an unconventional first edition.
“International sales agents have filled their lineups for the start of the year and have an attractive variety of films on offer. Many films are also currently in production and ready for pre-sales. We want the digital EFM in 2021 to be an impulse for a new beginning in the international film industry,” said Ruh today. “Since the EFM is an integral part of an international convention calendar, and therefore part of an economic system that includes events such as the Marché du Film in Cannes and the American Film Market in Los Angeles, a later date is not an option.”
The Efm will condense the industry sessions from its...
As Deadline revealed, Dennis Ruh took the reins at the EFM in September 2020 and faces an unconventional first edition.
“International sales agents have filled their lineups for the start of the year and have an attractive variety of films on offer. Many films are also currently in production and ready for pre-sales. We want the digital EFM in 2021 to be an impulse for a new beginning in the international film industry,” said Ruh today. “Since the EFM is an integral part of an international convention calendar, and therefore part of an economic system that includes events such as the Marché du Film in Cannes and the American Film Market in Los Angeles, a later date is not an option.”
The Efm will condense the industry sessions from its...
- 1/15/2021
- by Tom Grater
- Deadline Film + TV
Efm market screenings will be available in 120-minute windows.
The Berlinale’s European Film Market (Efm) has given details of its upcoming edition that is running online from March 1-5, including how its market screenings platform will work.
The Efm will also include a presentation of the Berlinale’s film selection.
Films will be available to watch by delegates within a 120-minute time window from a designated start time. These will be determined by local time zone. For example, a film available from 10.00-12.00 in Berlin would be available from 10.00-12.00 in any other global location.
Additionally, the online Efm...
The Berlinale’s European Film Market (Efm) has given details of its upcoming edition that is running online from March 1-5, including how its market screenings platform will work.
The Efm will also include a presentation of the Berlinale’s film selection.
Films will be available to watch by delegates within a 120-minute time window from a designated start time. These will be determined by local time zone. For example, a film available from 10.00-12.00 in Berlin would be available from 10.00-12.00 in any other global location.
Additionally, the online Efm...
- 1/15/2021
- by Ben Dalton
- ScreenDaily
Announced on Tuesday as one of 10 films playing the 2021 Sundance World Cinema Dramatic Competition, “El Perro Que No Calla” (“The Dog Who Wouldn’t Be Quiet”), from distinguished Argentine auteur Ana Katz, has been acquired by Paris-based Luxbox.
A doyen of French sales agents of Latin American films, handling high-profile, multi-prized art titles such as Benjamín Naishtat’s “Rojo” and Marcelo Martinessi’s “The Heiresses,” Luxbox will handle international sales rights to “The Dog Who Wouldn’t Be Quiet.”
A midlife coming of age comedy-drama come political parable, “The Dog Who Wouldn’t Be Quiet” turns on Sebastian, in his 30s, devoted to his loyal dog, who haltingly initiates adulthood, navigating love, loss and fatherhood.
In a narrative that captures the current Zeitgeist, Sebastian’s turbulent life is suddenly turned upside-down by catastrophe. He spends his life battling to adjust and transform in a vertiginous world that might be coming to an end.
A doyen of French sales agents of Latin American films, handling high-profile, multi-prized art titles such as Benjamín Naishtat’s “Rojo” and Marcelo Martinessi’s “The Heiresses,” Luxbox will handle international sales rights to “The Dog Who Wouldn’t Be Quiet.”
A midlife coming of age comedy-drama come political parable, “The Dog Who Wouldn’t Be Quiet” turns on Sebastian, in his 30s, devoted to his loyal dog, who haltingly initiates adulthood, navigating love, loss and fatherhood.
In a narrative that captures the current Zeitgeist, Sebastian’s turbulent life is suddenly turned upside-down by catastrophe. He spends his life battling to adjust and transform in a vertiginous world that might be coming to an end.
- 12/16/2020
- by John Hopewell
- Variety Film + TV
Ivan Dusk’s Dusk Stone won the Wip Latam award.
Argentinian director Iván Fund’s Dusk Stone has won the prestigious Wip Latam Industry Award in San Sebastián, guaranteeing a Spanish distribution deal and post production support via sponsors Ad Hoc Studios, Deluxe Spain, Dolby Iberia, Laserfilm, Nephilim producciones, No Problem Sonido and Sherlock Films.
Dusk Stone, is an Argentina-Chile co-production between Rita Cine, Insomnia Films and Globo Rojo FIlms. It is a drama that deals with grief and loss and is about a woman who travels to a coastal town to help her friend sell her house. The friend...
Argentinian director Iván Fund’s Dusk Stone has won the prestigious Wip Latam Industry Award in San Sebastián, guaranteeing a Spanish distribution deal and post production support via sponsors Ad Hoc Studios, Deluxe Spain, Dolby Iberia, Laserfilm, Nephilim producciones, No Problem Sonido and Sherlock Films.
Dusk Stone, is an Argentina-Chile co-production between Rita Cine, Insomnia Films and Globo Rojo FIlms. It is a drama that deals with grief and loss and is about a woman who travels to a coastal town to help her friend sell her house. The friend...
- 9/25/2020
- by Elisabet Cabeza
- ScreenDaily
Early September’s Venice Festival celebrated the restart of cinema theater attendance. Opening six days after Venice ended, as second-wave Covid-19 forced parts of Madrid back into semi-lockdown, 2020’s on-site San Sebastian Festival, normally a convivial, festive event, was a more sober affair as Europe’s industry calibrated the cost of the pandemic.
More bullishly, industry leaders talked up the fundamentals of Spanish-language production, TV and film, which remain strong. Following, six takeaways from San Sebastian, which wraps with a prize gala tomorrow, Saturday night.
San Sebastian: A ‘Miracle’ It Happened At All
By Sept. 10, Covid-19 cases in Spain ran at 260 infections per 100,000 of population, twice the level in France, the next worst ravaged territory in Europe. It was a “miracle” that San Sebastian happened at all, screening all its festival sections in cinema theaters, Maialen Beloki, San Sebastian Festival deputy director, told Variety. Sanitary protocols were enforced with firm politeness,...
More bullishly, industry leaders talked up the fundamentals of Spanish-language production, TV and film, which remain strong. Following, six takeaways from San Sebastian, which wraps with a prize gala tomorrow, Saturday night.
San Sebastian: A ‘Miracle’ It Happened At All
By Sept. 10, Covid-19 cases in Spain ran at 260 infections per 100,000 of population, twice the level in France, the next worst ravaged territory in Europe. It was a “miracle” that San Sebastian happened at all, screening all its festival sections in cinema theaters, Maialen Beloki, San Sebastian Festival deputy director, told Variety. Sanitary protocols were enforced with firm politeness,...
- 9/25/2020
- by John Hopewell, Elsa Keslassy and Emiliano De Pablos
- Variety Film + TV
Manuel Nieto’s trans-Atlantic co-production “The Employer and the Employee” scooped San Sebastian’s biggest industry prize this week, the Egeda Platino Industria Award for the best Latin American work in progress. Its producers will receive $34,850 cash in kind to go towards finishing the film. Seven companies from Uruguay, Argentina, Brazil and France make up the ambitious co-production.
San Sebastian’s 2020 Industry section, like so many other events this year, was forced to adapt to a streaming model. However, the timing of the festival, coinciding with relaxed travel restrictions both from within and outside of Europe, allowed for part of the section to be held in person, creating a hybrid event that could prove a model for other festivals to emulate.
From this year’s Europe-Latin America Co-Production Forum, several significant cash prizes were handed out, with two $23,230 cash prizes going to both the Dale! Award winner, Marcelo Martinessi’s Luxbox-sold “Who Killed Narciso?...
San Sebastian’s 2020 Industry section, like so many other events this year, was forced to adapt to a streaming model. However, the timing of the festival, coinciding with relaxed travel restrictions both from within and outside of Europe, allowed for part of the section to be held in person, creating a hybrid event that could prove a model for other festivals to emulate.
From this year’s Europe-Latin America Co-Production Forum, several significant cash prizes were handed out, with two $23,230 cash prizes going to both the Dale! Award winner, Marcelo Martinessi’s Luxbox-sold “Who Killed Narciso?...
- 9/25/2020
- by Jamie Lang
- Variety Film + TV
Paraguay’s Marcelo Martinessi, director of “The Heiresses,” a 2018 double Berlin Silver Bear winner, is re-teaming with the film’s sales agent, Paris-based Luxbox Films, as well as two of its key producers — Germany’s Pandora Filmproduktions and France’s La Fábrica Nocturna Prods. — for Martinessi’s second feature, film noir “Who Killed Narciso?”
As was the case with “The Heiresses” (“Las Herederas”), “Who Killed Narciso?” will be lead produced by producer-director Sebastian Peña Escobar at Asunción-based La Babosa Cine, the company he and Martinessi set up in 2009, initially called Mira, to produce Martinessi’s shorts.
Written by Martinessi, “Who Killed Narciso?” weighs in as one of the most anticipated Latin American art-film titles to be presented at the San Sebastian Festival’s Europe-Latin America Co-production Forum, which runs online Sept. 19-21.
A slice of Paraguayan period noir, “Who Killed Narciso?” is based on the novel and historical research of Paraguayan writer Guido Rodríguez Alcalá,...
As was the case with “The Heiresses” (“Las Herederas”), “Who Killed Narciso?” will be lead produced by producer-director Sebastian Peña Escobar at Asunción-based La Babosa Cine, the company he and Martinessi set up in 2009, initially called Mira, to produce Martinessi’s shorts.
Written by Martinessi, “Who Killed Narciso?” weighs in as one of the most anticipated Latin American art-film titles to be presented at the San Sebastian Festival’s Europe-Latin America Co-production Forum, which runs online Sept. 19-21.
A slice of Paraguayan period noir, “Who Killed Narciso?” is based on the novel and historical research of Paraguayan writer Guido Rodríguez Alcalá,...
- 9/10/2020
- by John Hopewell
- Variety Film + TV
Uruguay’s already expanding industry still has plenty of room to grow and looks primed to do so with its new financing pilot program about to be extended until 2025 and a host of companies who cut their teeth in international co-production.
Below, Variety highlights twelve Uruguayan companies with outstanding resumes in both domestic and international production likely to usher in a new era of film and TV prominence.
Cimarrón –
Cimarrón is a pan Latin-American alliance between established producers Hernán Musaluppi, Diego Robino and Santiago López. From their offices in Montevideo, Buenos Aires and São Paulo, the company has backed six films since 2017, including Argentine Academy Award and San Sebastian Horizons-winner “The Snatch Thief” and Miguel Cohan’s Netflix Original feature “Blood Will Tell.” Currently Cimarrón has two films in post-production, Martín Boulocq’s “El visitante” and Rafa Russo’s “El año de la furia.”
Coral Cine –
Coral Cine focuses on...
Below, Variety highlights twelve Uruguayan companies with outstanding resumes in both domestic and international production likely to usher in a new era of film and TV prominence.
Cimarrón –
Cimarrón is a pan Latin-American alliance between established producers Hernán Musaluppi, Diego Robino and Santiago López. From their offices in Montevideo, Buenos Aires and São Paulo, the company has backed six films since 2017, including Argentine Academy Award and San Sebastian Horizons-winner “The Snatch Thief” and Miguel Cohan’s Netflix Original feature “Blood Will Tell.” Currently Cimarrón has two films in post-production, Martín Boulocq’s “El visitante” and Rafa Russo’s “El año de la furia.”
Coral Cine –
Coral Cine focuses on...
- 9/4/2020
- by Jamie Lang
- Variety Film + TV
Three of Argentina’s foremost auteurs – “Rojo’s” Benjamin Naishtat, “The Third Side of the River’s” Celina Murga, and “Two Shots Fired’s” Martin Rejtman – will present new movie projects at a 9th Europe-Latin America Co-Production Forum, the industry centerpiece at this year’s San Sebastian Film Festival.
They will be joined by up-and-coming directors such as “The Heiresses’” Marcelo Martinessi, “The Sharks’” Lucia Garibaldi and “The Future Perfect’s” Nele Wohlatz in a lineup that is long on strong and fairly established Argentine talent, has a clutch of new Colombian directors, and presses the urgent social-issue concerns that have come to characterize Latin American cinema.
Catapulted to fame when Martin Scorsese executive produced “The Third Side of the River,” Murga will present “The Smell of Freshly Cut Grass,” a high-concept gender drama starring “Paulina’s” Dolores Fonzi and co-written with partner and fellow film director Juan Villegas (“Las...
They will be joined by up-and-coming directors such as “The Heiresses’” Marcelo Martinessi, “The Sharks’” Lucia Garibaldi and “The Future Perfect’s” Nele Wohlatz in a lineup that is long on strong and fairly established Argentine talent, has a clutch of new Colombian directors, and presses the urgent social-issue concerns that have come to characterize Latin American cinema.
Catapulted to fame when Martin Scorsese executive produced “The Third Side of the River,” Murga will present “The Smell of Freshly Cut Grass,” a high-concept gender drama starring “Paulina’s” Dolores Fonzi and co-written with partner and fellow film director Juan Villegas (“Las...
- 8/13/2020
- by John Hopewell and Emiliano De Pablos
- Variety Film + TV
Maura Delpero’s drama premiered in competition at Locarno.
Paris-based Charades has sold northern American rights to Argentinian filmmaker Maura Delpero’s drama Maternal to Los Angeles-based distribution and production company 1844 Entertainment
The drama, about a young nun working in a religious shelter for unmarried teenage mothers in Buenos Aires, premiered in competition at Locarno last year and has since played at a number of festivals.
1844, which specialised in arthouse features, especially hailing from Latin America and Italy, has previously released Marcelo Martinessi’s The Heiresses and Benjamin Naishat’s Rojo.
In other deals, Charades has also sold German and Austrian rights to Berlin-based missingFILMS.
Paris-based Charades has sold northern American rights to Argentinian filmmaker Maura Delpero’s drama Maternal to Los Angeles-based distribution and production company 1844 Entertainment
The drama, about a young nun working in a religious shelter for unmarried teenage mothers in Buenos Aires, premiered in competition at Locarno last year and has since played at a number of festivals.
1844, which specialised in arthouse features, especially hailing from Latin America and Italy, has previously released Marcelo Martinessi’s The Heiresses and Benjamin Naishat’s Rojo.
In other deals, Charades has also sold German and Austrian rights to Berlin-based missingFILMS.
- 2/22/2020
- by 1100388¦Melanie Goodfellow¦0¦
- ScreenDaily
Barcelona – Paris-based production house La Fabrica Nocturna, a co-producer on Marcelo Martinessi’s Berlin prize winner “The Heiresses,” has boarded Spaniard Chema García Ibarra’s awaited feature debut “Sacred Spirit,” Variety learnt during the closing events at top Spanish development program The Incubator, run by the Madrid Ecam Madrid Film School.
Produced by San Sebastian’s Apellániz y de Sosa and Alicante’s Jaibo Films, “Sacred Spirit” moves between local detail and dystopic surrealism, in which half of Spain sets out in search of a missing girl while a Spanish Ufology association— UFO-Levante— prepares for a night of sightings. The fate of humanity depends on one of its members: the morbidly obese José Manuel, who hides a secret.
Chosen by Variety as a Spanish talent to track, Chema García Ibarra’s shorts – “The Attack of the Robots from Nebula-5,” “Protoparticles,” “Mystery” – have been screened and awarded at festivals such as Cannes,...
Produced by San Sebastian’s Apellániz y de Sosa and Alicante’s Jaibo Films, “Sacred Spirit” moves between local detail and dystopic surrealism, in which half of Spain sets out in search of a missing girl while a Spanish Ufology association— UFO-Levante— prepares for a night of sightings. The fate of humanity depends on one of its members: the morbidly obese José Manuel, who hides a secret.
Chosen by Variety as a Spanish talent to track, Chema García Ibarra’s shorts – “The Attack of the Robots from Nebula-5,” “Protoparticles,” “Mystery” – have been screened and awarded at festivals such as Cannes,...
- 7/3/2019
- by Emilio Mayorga
- Variety Film + TV
Damon Gameau.
Disney’s live action update of 1992 animated blockbuster Aladdin cast its spell over cinemas in Australia and worldwide last weekend while Damon Gameau’s feature documentary 2040 attracted appreciative audiences and is positioned for a long run.
Gameau’s journey, which explores what the world could look like by 2040 if the best solutions already available to improve the planet are adopted, raked in $198,000 on 92 screens, which brings the total including extensive previews and festival screenings to $321,000.
Takings on Sunday were up 5 per cent on Saturday, reversing the usual trend. The Palace circuit, which offered free tickets to students aged up to 18 on Saturday and Sunday, accounted for more than 30 per cent of total admissions.
The distributor, Madman Entertainment MD Paul Wiegard expects a first-week take of $400,000, telling If: “The Sunday uptick is super encouraging, indicating the film is playing well with family audiences.
“We are very pleased with where the film has landed.
Disney’s live action update of 1992 animated blockbuster Aladdin cast its spell over cinemas in Australia and worldwide last weekend while Damon Gameau’s feature documentary 2040 attracted appreciative audiences and is positioned for a long run.
Gameau’s journey, which explores what the world could look like by 2040 if the best solutions already available to improve the planet are adopted, raked in $198,000 on 92 screens, which brings the total including extensive previews and festival screenings to $321,000.
Takings on Sunday were up 5 per cent on Saturday, reversing the usual trend. The Palace circuit, which offered free tickets to students aged up to 18 on Saturday and Sunday, accounted for more than 30 per cent of total admissions.
The distributor, Madman Entertainment MD Paul Wiegard expects a first-week take of $400,000, telling If: “The Sunday uptick is super encouraging, indicating the film is playing well with family audiences.
“We are very pleased with where the film has landed.
- 5/27/2019
- by The IF Team
- IF.com.au
Alfonso Cuaron’s “Roma” made a sweep of the 6th Premios Platino on Sunday, May 12, trouncing its fellow nominees in direction, cinematography, screenplay, sound, and best Iberoamerican film.
The annual Iberoamerican awards ceremony, held once again at the Teatro Gran Tlachco within the sprawling Ecotourist Xcaret Park in Mexico’s Riviera Maya coast, was beamed live on TNT Latin America and by 19 free-to-air television networks from Latin America and Spain.
“Roma” was a shoo-in given its nine noms and all the prominent awards it has collected since its Golden Lion win at the 75th Venice Film Fest and culminating in its capture of Mexico’s first-ever best international film Oscar (formerly known as the best foreign language film award), as well as best director and best cinematography Academy Awards for Cuaron.
In a glittering ceremony opened by iconic Spanish crooner Raphael, who received a lifetime achievement award a day prior,...
The annual Iberoamerican awards ceremony, held once again at the Teatro Gran Tlachco within the sprawling Ecotourist Xcaret Park in Mexico’s Riviera Maya coast, was beamed live on TNT Latin America and by 19 free-to-air television networks from Latin America and Spain.
“Roma” was a shoo-in given its nine noms and all the prominent awards it has collected since its Golden Lion win at the 75th Venice Film Fest and culminating in its capture of Mexico’s first-ever best international film Oscar (formerly known as the best foreign language film award), as well as best director and best cinematography Academy Awards for Cuaron.
In a glittering ceremony opened by iconic Spanish crooner Raphael, who received a lifetime achievement award a day prior,...
- 5/13/2019
- by Anna Marie de la Fuente
- Variety Film + TV
As was widely anticipated, Alfonso Cuaron’s triple Oscar-winning “Roma” dominated the 6th Premios Platino nominations, unveiled Thursday at Hollywood’s legendary Roosevelt Hotel, the site of the very first Oscars. It snagged a total of nine nominations, including best film, director, art direction, cinematography, and acting for its two Oscar-nominated actresses, Yalitza Aparicio and Marina de Tavira.
“Roma,” which won Mexico’s first best foreign-language film Oscar, is up against pics that were also submitted for their respective countries in the Academy Awards’ foreign-language category: Colombia’s “Pajaros de Verano,” Uruguay’s “La Noche de 12 Años,” and Spain’s “Campeones.” The first two titles nabbed six Premios Platino noms each while “Campeones” took five. Paraguay’s Oscar submission “Las Herederas” took five nominations.
The ceremony streamed live on Facebook with Premios Platino ambassador and CNN Español journalist Juan Carlos Arciniegas hosting the event alongside actors Joaquin Cosio, Angie Cepeda,...
“Roma,” which won Mexico’s first best foreign-language film Oscar, is up against pics that were also submitted for their respective countries in the Academy Awards’ foreign-language category: Colombia’s “Pajaros de Verano,” Uruguay’s “La Noche de 12 Años,” and Spain’s “Campeones.” The first two titles nabbed six Premios Platino noms each while “Campeones” took five. Paraguay’s Oscar submission “Las Herederas” took five nominations.
The ceremony streamed live on Facebook with Premios Platino ambassador and CNN Español journalist Juan Carlos Arciniegas hosting the event alongside actors Joaquin Cosio, Angie Cepeda,...
- 3/21/2019
- by Anna Marie de la Fuente
- Variety Film + TV
Inherit the Wind: Martinessi Explores Class and Desire in Impressive Character Study
While they seem to have outlived their best of times, the two privileged women at the center of Paraguayan director Marcelo Martinessi’s compelling debut The Heiresses have definitely reached a worst of times moment. Previously having won Best Short Film “The Lost Voice” out of the 2016 Venice Film Festival, Martinessi has fashioned a narrative debut through several film labs, predicated on the performances of a mature cast, many of whom are making their screen debuts here.
Exploring intersections of class, sexuality, and that obscure object of desire, Martinessi drills down into a lead character who has fallen into estrangement and stagnancy, forced to reckon with the absence of her partner, a woman whose considerable debts have results in significant legal recourse.…...
While they seem to have outlived their best of times, the two privileged women at the center of Paraguayan director Marcelo Martinessi’s compelling debut The Heiresses have definitely reached a worst of times moment. Previously having won Best Short Film “The Lost Voice” out of the 2016 Venice Film Festival, Martinessi has fashioned a narrative debut through several film labs, predicated on the performances of a mature cast, many of whom are making their screen debuts here.
Exploring intersections of class, sexuality, and that obscure object of desire, Martinessi drills down into a lead character who has fallen into estrangement and stagnancy, forced to reckon with the absence of her partner, a woman whose considerable debts have results in significant legal recourse.…...
- 1/18/2019
- by Nicholas Bell
- IONCINEMA.com
Paraguayan filmmaker Marcelo Martinessi‘s feature debut is one of the more unique queer cinema film examples of recent memory in terms of offering a glimpse into homosexuality via a demographic that is not often cinematically put on display. Commencing with the happy partnership between Chela (Ana Brun) and Chiquita (Margarita Irun), The Heiresses delves into the notion of love, interdependence, ageism and what occurs when the affluent…are forcibly placed into a different demographic circle. This seismic shift asks the character of Chiquita to reevaluate her status and her future, and what is remarkable is how her own desire becomes an obstacle of sorts.…...
- 1/18/2019
- by Amir Ganjavie
- IONCINEMA.com
January continues its slow roll on the Specialty side this weekend with very few anticipated limited releases. IFC Films has the headliner of the weekend with political thriller An Acceptable Loss starring Tika Sumpter and Jamie Lee Curtis. Chicago Fire director Joe Chappelle wrote and directed the title after finding inspiration from two documentaries by Errol Morris. Brooklyn-based Distrib Films believes it found an under-the-radar gem in last year’s Berlin Film Festival with The Heiresses, which took two Silver Bears at the event in the German capital.
Other openers this weekend include Screen Media’s 2016 Tribeca Nora Ephron prize-winner Adult Life Skills, as well as Freestyle Digital Media’s I Hate The Kids and Rlj Entertainment’s The Standoff at Sparrow Creek.
An Acceptable Loss
Director-writer: Joe Chappelle
Cast: Tika Sumpter, Jamie Lee Curtis, Ben Tavassoli, Jeff Hephner
Distributor: IFC Films
Veteran TV director Joe Chappelle had the idea...
Other openers this weekend include Screen Media’s 2016 Tribeca Nora Ephron prize-winner Adult Life Skills, as well as Freestyle Digital Media’s I Hate The Kids and Rlj Entertainment’s The Standoff at Sparrow Creek.
An Acceptable Loss
Director-writer: Joe Chappelle
Cast: Tika Sumpter, Jamie Lee Curtis, Ben Tavassoli, Jeff Hephner
Distributor: IFC Films
Veteran TV director Joe Chappelle had the idea...
- 1/17/2019
- by Brian Brooks
- Deadline Film + TV
While you catch up on the best films of 2018, it’s time to turn to the handful of highlights as we enter the first month of the new year. Along with a handful of festival favorites finally getting U.S. releases, there are a few promising studio features amongst Hollywood’s dumping ground.
Matinees to See: Communion (1/4), Rust Creek (1/4), Buffalo Boys (1/11), The Standoff at Sparrow Creek (1/18), Girl (1/18), Adult Life Skills (1/18)
10. State Like Sleep (Meredith Danluck; Jan. 1)
Starring Katherine Waterston and Michael Shannon, State Like Sleep follows a widow who must dig up a dark past a year after her husband died. A premiere at Tribeca Film Festival earlier this year where it received favorable reviews, it looks like a strong showcase for the Inherent Vice star as she goes down the rabbit hole of a criminal underworld.
9. Touch Me Not (Adina Pintilie; Jan. 11)
After winning Berlinale nearly a year ago,...
Matinees to See: Communion (1/4), Rust Creek (1/4), Buffalo Boys (1/11), The Standoff at Sparrow Creek (1/18), Girl (1/18), Adult Life Skills (1/18)
10. State Like Sleep (Meredith Danluck; Jan. 1)
Starring Katherine Waterston and Michael Shannon, State Like Sleep follows a widow who must dig up a dark past a year after her husband died. A premiere at Tribeca Film Festival earlier this year where it received favorable reviews, it looks like a strong showcase for the Inherent Vice star as she goes down the rabbit hole of a criminal underworld.
9. Touch Me Not (Adina Pintilie; Jan. 11)
After winning Berlinale nearly a year ago,...
- 1/2/2019
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
The 30th annual Palm Springs International Film Festival will open on Jan. 3 with historical drama “All Is True,” starring Kenneth Branagh, Judi Dench, and Ian McKellen.
Branagh, who will be in attendance at the opening night screening, directed from Ben Elton’s script about the little-known period in the final years of William Shakespeare. Branagh portrays the playwright with Dench as his wife Anne, while McKellen plays the Earl of Southampton. Sony Classics bought worldwide rights in October.
The festival will close with “Ladies in Black,” directed by Bruce Beresford, on Jan. 13. The movie, starring Angourie Rice, Rachael Taylor, Julia Ormond, Ryan Corr and Shane Jacobson, centers on a group of department store employees in 1959 Sydney. Beresford will attend.
The festival will screen 223 films from 78 countries, including 48 premieres. It will screen 43 of the 87 official submissions in the Best Foreign Language Film category for the 91st Academy Awards. A jury of...
Branagh, who will be in attendance at the opening night screening, directed from Ben Elton’s script about the little-known period in the final years of William Shakespeare. Branagh portrays the playwright with Dench as his wife Anne, while McKellen plays the Earl of Southampton. Sony Classics bought worldwide rights in October.
The festival will close with “Ladies in Black,” directed by Bruce Beresford, on Jan. 13. The movie, starring Angourie Rice, Rachael Taylor, Julia Ormond, Ryan Corr and Shane Jacobson, centers on a group of department store employees in 1959 Sydney. Beresford will attend.
The festival will screen 223 films from 78 countries, including 48 premieres. It will screen 43 of the 87 official submissions in the Best Foreign Language Film category for the 91st Academy Awards. A jury of...
- 12/14/2018
- by Dave McNary
- Variety Film + TV
There are 87 titles vying for the Best Foreign Language Film Academy Award this year, in what continues to be a robust lineup of talent, with rich tales to tell from faraway lands. With a number of previous winners and nominees returning for another go-round, and some movies with a strong shot at nominations in other races, this has shaped up to be one of the richest rosters of Oscar contenders in recent memory. At this early stage, there appear to be some clear frontrunners, but as always, there are discoveries yet to be made, and the Foreign Language Committee faces the seriously daunting task of carving out a shortlist of nine films before the official nominations.
This year, however, new Committee heads Larry Karaszewski and Diane Weyermann, who replace the long-serving Mark Johnson, have sought to make it easier on members to screen the films. In a bid for greater participation,...
This year, however, new Committee heads Larry Karaszewski and Diane Weyermann, who replace the long-serving Mark Johnson, have sought to make it easier on members to screen the films. In a bid for greater participation,...
- 11/30/2018
- by Nancy Tartaglione
- Deadline Film + TV
"Dare yourself..." Distrib Films has debuted an official Us trailer for an drama from Paraguay titled The Heiresses (or originally Las Herederas in Spanish), which is Paraguay's official submission to the Best Foreign Language Film category for the Academy Awards this year. This originally premiered at the Berlin Film Festival at the beginning of this year, then went on to play at a great number of festivals all over the world throughout 2018. The film is about a woman who decides to start a local taxi service when she runs out of her inherited money, meeting a young new friend along the way. Described as a "character study with shrewd commentary on class, desire, and the lingering privileges of Paraguay's elite." The film stars Ana Brun, Margarita Irún, Ana Ivanova, Nilda Gonzalez, María Martins, & Alicia Guerra. See below. Here's the official Us trailer (+ poster) for Marcelo Martinessi's The Heiresses, from...
- 11/29/2018
- by Alex Billington
- firstshowing.net
Premiering at the Berlin International Film Festival earlier this year, Marcelo Martinessi’s debut film The Heiresses went on to win both the Best Actress prize (for Ana Brun’s lead performance) and the Alfred Bauer Prize. Since its Berlinale debut, the drama has enjoyed a lengthy, acclaimed festival run and is Paraguay’s Oscar submission for Best Foreign Language Film. Courtesy of Distrib Film Us, it will now arrive in the U.S. this January and we’re pleased to premiere the new trailer.
Martinessi’s film follows an upper-class couple in Paraguay who hit financial troubles as they adjust to the hardships of their new situation. Variety said in their review that it’s “a finely-crafted, beautifully realized debut that exquisitely balances character study with shrewd commentary on class, desire, and the lingering privileges of Paraguay’s elite.” Also starring Margarita Irún and Ana Ivanova, see our...
Martinessi’s film follows an upper-class couple in Paraguay who hit financial troubles as they adjust to the hardships of their new situation. Variety said in their review that it’s “a finely-crafted, beautifully realized debut that exquisitely balances character study with shrewd commentary on class, desire, and the lingering privileges of Paraguay’s elite.” Also starring Margarita Irún and Ana Ivanova, see our...
- 11/27/2018
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
Love, the only possible salvation for humanity is explored in a different way in the Paraguayan film The Heiresses directed by Marcelo Martinessi. This is his first feature though he has made shorts and TV series.
This story of Chela and Chiquita, both descended from wealthy families in Asunción who have been together for over 30 years as their financial situation has worsened and they begin selling off their inherited possessions.
When their debts lead to Chiquita being imprisoned on fraud charges, Chela is forced to face a new reality alone. Driving for the first time in years, she begins to provide a local taxi service to a group of elderly wealthy ladies. As Chela settles into her new life, she encounters the much younger Angy, forging a fresh and invigorating new connection. Chela finally begins to break out of her shell and engage with the world, embarking on her own personal,...
This story of Chela and Chiquita, both descended from wealthy families in Asunción who have been together for over 30 years as their financial situation has worsened and they begin selling off their inherited possessions.
When their debts lead to Chiquita being imprisoned on fraud charges, Chela is forced to face a new reality alone. Driving for the first time in years, she begins to provide a local taxi service to a group of elderly wealthy ladies. As Chela settles into her new life, she encounters the much younger Angy, forging a fresh and invigorating new connection. Chela finally begins to break out of her shell and engage with the world, embarking on her own personal,...
- 11/13/2018
- by Sydney Levine
- Sydney's Buzz
Cristina Gallego and Ciro Guerra’s “Birds of Passage,” Colombia’s official entry to the Oscars’ Foreign-Language category, took home the best picture Fenix Award in a glittering ceremony held in Mexico City on Nov. 7. Its lead actress, Carmiña Martínez, clinched the best actress Fenix.
However, Argentine period drama “Zama” by Lucrecia Martel snagged the most awards, including cinematography, editing, sound and art design.
In a nod to the boom in premium TV series, the Fenix have included included television nominees since last year. Alex Pina’s Atresmedia-produced Netflix heist thriller series, “La Casa de Papel” (“Money Heist”), nabbed best series while Gael Garcia Bernal and Kyzza Terraza’s “Here on Earth” won best ensemble cast for a family drama-thriller series which toplines some of the most renowned actors in the Spanish-speaking world, such as Mexico’s Daniel Giménez Cacho, Chile’s Luis Gnecco and Spain’s Ariadna Gil.
Marcelo Martinez...
However, Argentine period drama “Zama” by Lucrecia Martel snagged the most awards, including cinematography, editing, sound and art design.
In a nod to the boom in premium TV series, the Fenix have included included television nominees since last year. Alex Pina’s Atresmedia-produced Netflix heist thriller series, “La Casa de Papel” (“Money Heist”), nabbed best series while Gael Garcia Bernal and Kyzza Terraza’s “Here on Earth” won best ensemble cast for a family drama-thriller series which toplines some of the most renowned actors in the Spanish-speaking world, such as Mexico’s Daniel Giménez Cacho, Chile’s Luis Gnecco and Spain’s Ariadna Gil.
Marcelo Martinez...
- 11/8/2018
- by Anna Marie de la Fuente
- Variety Film + TV
Phuttiphong Aroonpheng’s “Manta Ray” won the Mumbai Film Festival’s Golden Gateway award in the international competition on Thursday. It previously won best film at Venice’s Horizon section and has toured the Toronto, Thessaloniki, San Sebastian festivals.
Marcelo Martinessi’s “The Heiresses” won the Silver Gateway award in the competition, after winning accolades worldwide, including three awards at Berlin. Another globally lauded film, Gabrielle Brady’s, “Island of the Hungry Ghosts,” won the international competition’s grand jury prize.
Rima Das’ “Bulbul Can Sing” won the Golden Gateway in the India Gold competition section. Das’ “Village Rockstars” was feted in Mumbai in 2017, and is India’s entry to the Oscars foreign language category. The Silver Gateway in the Indian competition was split between Ridham Janve’s “The Gold-Laden Sheep & the Sacred Mountain” and Rotterdam title “Jonaki”, by Aditya Vikram Sengupta.
“Jonaki” also won a special mention at the...
Marcelo Martinessi’s “The Heiresses” won the Silver Gateway award in the competition, after winning accolades worldwide, including three awards at Berlin. Another globally lauded film, Gabrielle Brady’s, “Island of the Hungry Ghosts,” won the international competition’s grand jury prize.
Rima Das’ “Bulbul Can Sing” won the Golden Gateway in the India Gold competition section. Das’ “Village Rockstars” was feted in Mumbai in 2017, and is India’s entry to the Oscars foreign language category. The Silver Gateway in the Indian competition was split between Ridham Janve’s “The Gold-Laden Sheep & the Sacred Mountain” and Rotterdam title “Jonaki”, by Aditya Vikram Sengupta.
“Jonaki” also won a special mention at the...
- 11/1/2018
- by Naman Ramachandran
- Variety Film + TV
Films presented last year include Golden Bear wiunner Touch Me Not and Critics’ Week winner Diamantino.
This year’s Torino Film Lab (Tfl) will once again showcase 10 films developed within its programmes at the upcoming Meeting Event (23-24 November).
The projects, to be presented at the Coming Soon night, are all works in progress in their final stages of completion, half of which are still looking for a sales agent.
2018 has been an important year for many of the films previewed at last year’s Coming Soon event. Adina Pintilie Touch Me Not went on to win the Golden Bear at the Berlinale,...
This year’s Torino Film Lab (Tfl) will once again showcase 10 films developed within its programmes at the upcoming Meeting Event (23-24 November).
The projects, to be presented at the Coming Soon night, are all works in progress in their final stages of completion, half of which are still looking for a sales agent.
2018 has been an important year for many of the films previewed at last year’s Coming Soon event. Adina Pintilie Touch Me Not went on to win the Golden Bear at the Berlinale,...
- 10/25/2018
- by Gabriele Niola
- ScreenDaily
NewFest kicks off on Wednesday, celebrating the 30th year of New York City’s premier queer film festival. Each year, NewFest presents some of the buzziest titles from all over the world, but it also plays home to brand-new fiction films and documentaries that you can’t see anywhere else.
International titles with strong acclaim are some of the best films in this year’s slate, many making their NYC debuts: the Kenyan lesbian love story Rafiki, which premiered at Cannes, is the festival’s International Centerpiece; Mario from the Locarno Film Festival; and Hard Paint from the Berlin Film Festival. Yen Tan’s critically acclaimed AIDS drama 1985 starring Cory Michael Smith will open the festival, followed by Joel Edgerton’s Boy Erased as the U.S. Centerpiece. NewFest closes out with Making Montgomery Clift, directed by the actor’s nephew Robert Anderson Clift and Hillary Demmon.
We selected 10 titles...
International titles with strong acclaim are some of the best films in this year’s slate, many making their NYC debuts: the Kenyan lesbian love story Rafiki, which premiered at Cannes, is the festival’s International Centerpiece; Mario from the Locarno Film Festival; and Hard Paint from the Berlin Film Festival. Yen Tan’s critically acclaimed AIDS drama 1985 starring Cory Michael Smith will open the festival, followed by Joel Edgerton’s Boy Erased as the U.S. Centerpiece. NewFest closes out with Making Montgomery Clift, directed by the actor’s nephew Robert Anderson Clift and Hillary Demmon.
We selected 10 titles...
- 10/23/2018
- by The Film Stage
- The Film Stage
Honorees to include Asghar Farhadi, Mary Harron and Gunnell Lindblom.
The Stockholm International Film Festival has revealed its 2018 programme, with the festival kicking off Nov 7 with the anticipated world premiere of Anna Odell’s X&Y, in competition.
Odell, the Swedish artist and filmmaker who last directed 2013’s award-winning The Reunion, returns starring as a fictionalized version of herself, collaborating with the celebrated actor Mikael Persbrandt to deconstruct themselves. The cast also features Trine Dyrholm, Sofie Gråbøl, Vera Vitali, Shanti Roney, Jens Albinus and Thure Lindhardt. New Europe handles sales.
Stockholm will close Nov 18 with The Favourite by Yorgos Lanthimos, from the Open Zone section.
The Stockholm International Film Festival has revealed its 2018 programme, with the festival kicking off Nov 7 with the anticipated world premiere of Anna Odell’s X&Y, in competition.
Odell, the Swedish artist and filmmaker who last directed 2013’s award-winning The Reunion, returns starring as a fictionalized version of herself, collaborating with the celebrated actor Mikael Persbrandt to deconstruct themselves. The cast also features Trine Dyrholm, Sofie Gråbøl, Vera Vitali, Shanti Roney, Jens Albinus and Thure Lindhardt. New Europe handles sales.
Stockholm will close Nov 18 with The Favourite by Yorgos Lanthimos, from the Open Zone section.
- 10/16/2018
- by Wendy Mitchell
- ScreenDaily
First-time submissions come from Malawi and Niger as Austrlia and New Zealand join the list.
Eighty-seven countries have submitted films for this year’s foreign language film Oscar, the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences has revealed - a drop from the record 92 that submitted last year.
Countries submitting films in the category for the first time include Malawi - which has entered Shemu Joyah’s The Road to Sunrise - and Niger, whose submission is Rahmatou Keïta’s The Wedding Ring.
Submissions that had not previously been confirmed include Australian entry Jirga, from director Benjamin Gilmour, and New Zealand contender Yellow Is Forbidden,...
Eighty-seven countries have submitted films for this year’s foreign language film Oscar, the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences has revealed - a drop from the record 92 that submitted last year.
Countries submitting films in the category for the first time include Malawi - which has entered Shemu Joyah’s The Road to Sunrise - and Niger, whose submission is Rahmatou Keïta’s The Wedding Ring.
Submissions that had not previously been confirmed include Australian entry Jirga, from director Benjamin Gilmour, and New Zealand contender Yellow Is Forbidden,...
- 10/9/2018
- by John Hazelton
- ScreenDaily
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