The Macondos, Colombia’s Academy Awards, were held over the weekend, and Laura Mora’s “Killing Jesus” was the big winner, scooping five awards, including best picture for a Colombian feature.
The win caps off a whirlwind 14 months since the film’s 2017 Toronto world premiere and San Sebastian European premiere, where it won the Eroski Youth Award, Fedeora Award and two special mentions.
A semi-autobiographical film, “Killing Jesus” unspools in Medellin, the base of operations for Pablo Escobar’s cartel, which still suffers reverberations of the violence from his time as the world’s most notorious drug kingpin. Mora used non-professional actors to tell the revenge story of a young girl whose father is gunned down right before her eyes, and who, after a chance encounter with the killer at a nightclub, decides to embark on a mission of revenge.
Diego Ramirez’s Bogota and Cali-based 64A Films, the Colombian...
The win caps off a whirlwind 14 months since the film’s 2017 Toronto world premiere and San Sebastian European premiere, where it won the Eroski Youth Award, Fedeora Award and two special mentions.
A semi-autobiographical film, “Killing Jesus” unspools in Medellin, the base of operations for Pablo Escobar’s cartel, which still suffers reverberations of the violence from his time as the world’s most notorious drug kingpin. Mora used non-professional actors to tell the revenge story of a young girl whose father is gunned down right before her eyes, and who, after a chance encounter with the killer at a nightclub, decides to embark on a mission of revenge.
Diego Ramirez’s Bogota and Cali-based 64A Films, the Colombian...
- 11/19/2018
- by Jamie Lang
- Variety Film + TV
Massoud Bakhshi’s Yalda wins two prizes at the event.
Production awards worth more than €470,000 were handed out at the 2016 TorinoFilmLab Meeting Event (Nov 23-25), held within the Torino Film Festival.
Three films were awarded Tfl co-production awards worth €50,000 each; Danielle Lessovitz’s Port Authority; Maya Da-Rin’s The Fever and Massoud Bakhshi’s Yalda.
Yalda also took home the audience award, voted for by attendees at event, worth €30,000.
Tehran-born Bakhshi’s feature debut, A Respectable Family, premiered at Cannes in 2012.
The international jury, which was chaired by the Venice Film Festival’s Artistic Director Alberto Barbera, also awarded production awards worth €40,000 each to three films; The Guest by Duccio Chiarini; The Orphanage by Shahrbanoo Sadat and The Staffroom by Sonja Tarokić.
New award
A new prize this year was the Lago development award, worth €5000, which went to Jan-Ole Gerster’s Imperium.
Apprentice by Boo Junfeng, Felicity by Alain Gomis, Jesús by [link...
Production awards worth more than €470,000 were handed out at the 2016 TorinoFilmLab Meeting Event (Nov 23-25), held within the Torino Film Festival.
Three films were awarded Tfl co-production awards worth €50,000 each; Danielle Lessovitz’s Port Authority; Maya Da-Rin’s The Fever and Massoud Bakhshi’s Yalda.
Yalda also took home the audience award, voted for by attendees at event, worth €30,000.
Tehran-born Bakhshi’s feature debut, A Respectable Family, premiered at Cannes in 2012.
The international jury, which was chaired by the Venice Film Festival’s Artistic Director Alberto Barbera, also awarded production awards worth €40,000 each to three films; The Guest by Duccio Chiarini; The Orphanage by Shahrbanoo Sadat and The Staffroom by Sonja Tarokić.
New award
A new prize this year was the Lago development award, worth €5000, which went to Jan-Ole Gerster’s Imperium.
Apprentice by Boo Junfeng, Felicity by Alain Gomis, Jesús by [link...
- 11/25/2016
- ScreenDaily
Elba McAllister’s Cineplex of Colombia seems to be everywhere. We met up at the Iff Panama this April and had some time to talk, a rarity at such events as Cannes or Berlin.
It seemed to me she had been in the business forever, though I only met her when Ficg (Guadalajara Film Festival) began its market maybe 10 years ago. Cineplex itself is 23 years old, having begun in 1993 in a partnership with the well-known buyers rep and producer Andre Boissier.
Twenty-three years ago, Colombia screened very few arthouse movies. Cineplex and other indie distributors introduced smaller films from Europe, Asia, Latin America, the Middle East and North America. Now Colombia’s international coproductions are extending viewer’s perspectives even further. Indies captured 5.9% of the market in 2007, compared with a relatively paltry 3.6% in 2003. Local and foreign independent films now share 20% of the market.
About a decade ago, the country had 250 screens and now it has 935. In 2005 there were 15M people going to the cinema per year. Now it’s 58M. In local currency, there was a 71% increase in box office from 2011 to 2015.
Colombia has seen notable growth thanks in part to the construction of more shopping malls. Mexican exhibition giant Cinépolis opened its first megaplex in Colombia in 2008.
Cineplex is one of the leading distributors of independent films in Colombia. In 23 years in the market, it has presented and average of 20 to 25 films a year, over 300 high quality films, selected from major festivals and film markets around the world.
Elba actually began her career in the pharmaceutical industry but later joined her husband and her brother-in-law in a new venture -- film distribution, something she knew nothing about. In Colombia, the films acquired by Cineplex go first into cinemas and progress to all windows including DVD, VOD and TV in all its forms (Pan TV, VOD, Svod, Cable, Free TV).
In 2000 Cineplex expanded its distribution to include Central America & Ecuador. Elba McAllister and her husband, Juan David McAllister, have brought in such directors as Wong Kar Wai, Susanne Bier, Mike Leigh, Lars von trier, Katherine Bigelow, Claude Chabrol, Agnieszka Holland and Ken Loach and others to Colombia and its neighbors.
Cineplex began forming alliances with other Latin American indies and prebuying pan-Latin rights to name some, “Satin Rouge,” “Evil”, ¨Reconstruction¨, “Broken Flowers”, “Brokeback Mountain”, ¨My Blueberry Nights¨ and most recently ¨Mustang¨.
Two recent stand-out films include “Mustang” and “Land and Shade” the Cannes 2015 Camera d’Or and Critics’ Week Winner sold by France’s Pyramide. Lead produced by Diana Bustamante’s Burning Blue, (Diana Bustamente, currently the Director of Cartagena Film Festival as well) “Land and Shade” also won two prizes at Cannes Critics’ Week: the France 4 Visionary Award and Society of Dramatic Authors and Composers Sacd Prize. Other new releases include Academy Award winners and contenders “Carol”, “Theeb” and “Brooklyn”.
Anne Marie De La Fuente in Variety quotes Elba as saying,
“Bringing art house films to Colombia and shifting moviegoers’ attention from Hollywood blockbusters requires close work with universities, embassies and cultural institutions and creating original grassroots campaigns. Whenever possible, Cineplex gets the directors and/ or actors to fly in to help promote their pictures.”
With Ang Lee’s “Brokeback Mountain,” which Cineplex pre-bought for Latam, it organized marketing tie-ins with Levis, Universal Music (for the soundtrack) and a gay rights foundation. Marlboro sponsored the premiere in Bogota.
Additionally Cineplex helps Colombian filmmakers representing their films for Latin America and advising the world sales agent, depending their films to name a few, Ciro Guerra, William Vega, Oscar Ruiz, Dago Garcia among others.
Last year, Diana Salcedo (Elba´s daughter) joined the family business to strengthen the distribution in different platforms (theatrical, TV, VOD, Ott) for Colombian and Latin American films in different markets. Diana is bringing wide experience after working for a major Latin American Pay TV and Ott broadcaster.
“We believe in the potential of independent cinema with the participation of strategic partners that make marketing a global business. We want to make each of our friends, colleagues, competitors and customers a community that allows a film to reach its greatest potential. We believe humanity has a chance to think and act without borders and that its only limit is in its own desire to achieve the best result using innovation and partnership with strategic partners that will be part of each project.”
“We’ve brought in what we wanted: films that don’t need pretty faces, multimillion-dollar budgets, special effects or predictable endings. Marketing Independent cinema is our passion¨.
It seemed to me she had been in the business forever, though I only met her when Ficg (Guadalajara Film Festival) began its market maybe 10 years ago. Cineplex itself is 23 years old, having begun in 1993 in a partnership with the well-known buyers rep and producer Andre Boissier.
Twenty-three years ago, Colombia screened very few arthouse movies. Cineplex and other indie distributors introduced smaller films from Europe, Asia, Latin America, the Middle East and North America. Now Colombia’s international coproductions are extending viewer’s perspectives even further. Indies captured 5.9% of the market in 2007, compared with a relatively paltry 3.6% in 2003. Local and foreign independent films now share 20% of the market.
About a decade ago, the country had 250 screens and now it has 935. In 2005 there were 15M people going to the cinema per year. Now it’s 58M. In local currency, there was a 71% increase in box office from 2011 to 2015.
Colombia has seen notable growth thanks in part to the construction of more shopping malls. Mexican exhibition giant Cinépolis opened its first megaplex in Colombia in 2008.
Cineplex is one of the leading distributors of independent films in Colombia. In 23 years in the market, it has presented and average of 20 to 25 films a year, over 300 high quality films, selected from major festivals and film markets around the world.
Elba actually began her career in the pharmaceutical industry but later joined her husband and her brother-in-law in a new venture -- film distribution, something she knew nothing about. In Colombia, the films acquired by Cineplex go first into cinemas and progress to all windows including DVD, VOD and TV in all its forms (Pan TV, VOD, Svod, Cable, Free TV).
In 2000 Cineplex expanded its distribution to include Central America & Ecuador. Elba McAllister and her husband, Juan David McAllister, have brought in such directors as Wong Kar Wai, Susanne Bier, Mike Leigh, Lars von trier, Katherine Bigelow, Claude Chabrol, Agnieszka Holland and Ken Loach and others to Colombia and its neighbors.
Cineplex began forming alliances with other Latin American indies and prebuying pan-Latin rights to name some, “Satin Rouge,” “Evil”, ¨Reconstruction¨, “Broken Flowers”, “Brokeback Mountain”, ¨My Blueberry Nights¨ and most recently ¨Mustang¨.
Two recent stand-out films include “Mustang” and “Land and Shade” the Cannes 2015 Camera d’Or and Critics’ Week Winner sold by France’s Pyramide. Lead produced by Diana Bustamante’s Burning Blue, (Diana Bustamente, currently the Director of Cartagena Film Festival as well) “Land and Shade” also won two prizes at Cannes Critics’ Week: the France 4 Visionary Award and Society of Dramatic Authors and Composers Sacd Prize. Other new releases include Academy Award winners and contenders “Carol”, “Theeb” and “Brooklyn”.
Anne Marie De La Fuente in Variety quotes Elba as saying,
“Bringing art house films to Colombia and shifting moviegoers’ attention from Hollywood blockbusters requires close work with universities, embassies and cultural institutions and creating original grassroots campaigns. Whenever possible, Cineplex gets the directors and/ or actors to fly in to help promote their pictures.”
With Ang Lee’s “Brokeback Mountain,” which Cineplex pre-bought for Latam, it organized marketing tie-ins with Levis, Universal Music (for the soundtrack) and a gay rights foundation. Marlboro sponsored the premiere in Bogota.
Additionally Cineplex helps Colombian filmmakers representing their films for Latin America and advising the world sales agent, depending their films to name a few, Ciro Guerra, William Vega, Oscar Ruiz, Dago Garcia among others.
Last year, Diana Salcedo (Elba´s daughter) joined the family business to strengthen the distribution in different platforms (theatrical, TV, VOD, Ott) for Colombian and Latin American films in different markets. Diana is bringing wide experience after working for a major Latin American Pay TV and Ott broadcaster.
“We believe in the potential of independent cinema with the participation of strategic partners that make marketing a global business. We want to make each of our friends, colleagues, competitors and customers a community that allows a film to reach its greatest potential. We believe humanity has a chance to think and act without borders and that its only limit is in its own desire to achieve the best result using innovation and partnership with strategic partners that will be part of each project.”
“We’ve brought in what we wanted: films that don’t need pretty faces, multimillion-dollar budgets, special effects or predictable endings. Marketing Independent cinema is our passion¨.
- 4/22/2016
- by Sydney Levine
- Sydney's Buzz
Films in Progress, a joint initiative between Cinélatino, Rencontres de Toulouse and the San Sebastian Festival, serves to facilitate the completion of rigorously selected independent Latin American films that might be facing difficulties in funding their way into the post-production stage.
Since 2002, this double event presents an annual selection of 12 works-in-progress in two sessions: 6 films in Toulouse in march and 6 films in September in San Sebastián.
Films in Progress allows for these films to be finished, it gives them an international visibility among professionals and promotes their circulation and exhibition.
Films in Progress encourages the meeting and cooperation between the producers of the selected works-in-progress and European partners to help the films reach more screens and audiences. <ore than 300 professionals, among the most influential on the European and international industries take part each year in these two sessions. Films in Progress is the unmissable and strategic meeting point for Latin American films and the rest of the world.
In the last few years, Films in Progress has contributed efficiently to the completion, exposition and commercialization of the most remarkable Latin American films: "Tony Manero" by Pablo Larraín, "Gloria" by Sebastián Lelio, "Sangre" by Amat Escalante, "Infancia Clandestina" by Benjamín Ávila, "La Sirga" by William Vega, "La Playa" by Juan Andrés Arango, "Bad Hair" by Mariana Rondón, "Historia del Miedo" by Benjamin Naishtat, "To Kill a Man" by Alejandro Fernández Almendras, "Ixcanul" by Jayro Bustamente, "From Afar" by Lorenzo Vigas among others.
By involving film professionals capable of contributing to the film's post-production, and by encouraging distributors and promoters to diversify their offer, San Sebastian and Toulouse hope to develop and strengthen, with as much pragmatism and efficiency as possible, respect for and the promotion of cultural diversity based on a spirit of solidarity and cooperation.
Three Awards
-Toulouse's Films in Progress Award consists of 58.850 € in post-production services in France offered by prestigious organizations: a grant from the Cnc, a residence in Paris by the Ccas, audio post-production from Mactari, technical help from Titra Tvs, color correction program by Firelfly, an auditorium and other materials for the film's calibration from Commune Image and the coordination of the post-production from Eaux vives.
-Ciné + Award consists in the guaranteed purchase of the film by a French distributor for the amount of 15.000 euros by Ciné +
-European Distributors and Exhibitors Award consists in the promotion of the winning film in the network of 130 distributors part of Europa Distribution and in the 2.000 exhibitors part of Cicae.
Submission
The feature films presented must be a minority or major Latin American productionThe length of the feature film in its final version must be over 60 minutesThe film must be at the post-production stage (first cut at minimum)The cut submitted for evaluation must be subtitled in English or in Spanish if it is not in Spanish.
There is no charge of fees for the registrationDeadline : January 20th, 2016
In case the film is selected:The director and the producer have to be in Toulouse on March 16th, 17th and 18th, 2016The film must be subtitled in EnglishThe screening format is Blu Ray (" copies for back up)Selection will be announced in early March 2016
Online Submission Form...
Since 2002, this double event presents an annual selection of 12 works-in-progress in two sessions: 6 films in Toulouse in march and 6 films in September in San Sebastián.
Films in Progress allows for these films to be finished, it gives them an international visibility among professionals and promotes their circulation and exhibition.
Films in Progress encourages the meeting and cooperation between the producers of the selected works-in-progress and European partners to help the films reach more screens and audiences. <ore than 300 professionals, among the most influential on the European and international industries take part each year in these two sessions. Films in Progress is the unmissable and strategic meeting point for Latin American films and the rest of the world.
In the last few years, Films in Progress has contributed efficiently to the completion, exposition and commercialization of the most remarkable Latin American films: "Tony Manero" by Pablo Larraín, "Gloria" by Sebastián Lelio, "Sangre" by Amat Escalante, "Infancia Clandestina" by Benjamín Ávila, "La Sirga" by William Vega, "La Playa" by Juan Andrés Arango, "Bad Hair" by Mariana Rondón, "Historia del Miedo" by Benjamin Naishtat, "To Kill a Man" by Alejandro Fernández Almendras, "Ixcanul" by Jayro Bustamente, "From Afar" by Lorenzo Vigas among others.
By involving film professionals capable of contributing to the film's post-production, and by encouraging distributors and promoters to diversify their offer, San Sebastian and Toulouse hope to develop and strengthen, with as much pragmatism and efficiency as possible, respect for and the promotion of cultural diversity based on a spirit of solidarity and cooperation.
Three Awards
-Toulouse's Films in Progress Award consists of 58.850 € in post-production services in France offered by prestigious organizations: a grant from the Cnc, a residence in Paris by the Ccas, audio post-production from Mactari, technical help from Titra Tvs, color correction program by Firelfly, an auditorium and other materials for the film's calibration from Commune Image and the coordination of the post-production from Eaux vives.
-Ciné + Award consists in the guaranteed purchase of the film by a French distributor for the amount of 15.000 euros by Ciné +
-European Distributors and Exhibitors Award consists in the promotion of the winning film in the network of 130 distributors part of Europa Distribution and in the 2.000 exhibitors part of Cicae.
Submission
The feature films presented must be a minority or major Latin American productionThe length of the feature film in its final version must be over 60 minutesThe film must be at the post-production stage (first cut at minimum)The cut submitted for evaluation must be subtitled in English or in Spanish if it is not in Spanish.
There is no charge of fees for the registrationDeadline : January 20th, 2016
In case the film is selected:The director and the producer have to be in Toulouse on March 16th, 17th and 18th, 2016The film must be subtitled in EnglishThe screening format is Blu Ray (" copies for back up)Selection will be announced in early March 2016
Online Submission Form...
- 1/17/2016
- by Sydney Levine
- Sydney's Buzz
Following the unveling of the Official Selection, news from the Cannes Film Festival (May 13-24) continues to arrive. The prestigious Critics' Week –aimed at discovering the world's most interesting directors– announced the list of films to be included in the 54th edition of this event, one of the Festival's most important, along with the Directors' Fortnight.
The big news for Colombia is the selection of director/screenwriter César Augusto Acevedo's first film, "La Tierra y la Sombra" (Land and Shade), one of the seven feature films chosen to compete from among 1,100 submissions from around the world. The film was produced by Jorge Forero, Paola Pérez Nieto and Diana Bustamante, partners and founding members of Burning Blue, the production company responsible for some of the most internationally recognized films to come out of Colombia in recent years ("El vuelco del Cangrejo," "La Playa D.C," "La Sirga," "Solecito," "Los Hongos," "Climas," "Refugiado," and many others).
In "La Tierra y la Sombra," a woman refuses to give up the land she has fought to defend all her life; a son is incapable of leaving his mother, to the point of risking his own life; a father must confront past mistakes in order to recover the loved ones he abandoned; a brave wife fights to save her family; and a child grows up in the midst of devastation. Staged in a family microcosm –a tiny house and a tree surrounded by a formidable sugar cane filed–, the film presents the final days of these characters intent on repairing the fragile ties that bind them as they face their own imminent demise in the overwhelming wake of progress. Out of this situation comes a cruel story, densely populated with metaphors and allegories for culture, the fatality of alienation and oblivion, the fragility of memory, the inevitability of family breakdown, and the solitude it provokes.
The film was produced by Burning Blue (Colombia) in co-production with Ciné-Sud Promotion (France), Tokapi Films (Holland), Rampante Films (Chile), and Preta Portê Filmes (Brazil). In addition to director/screenwriter Cesar Acevedo, the film's crew included cinematographer Mateo Guzmán; editor Miguel Schverdfinger; art director Marcela Gómez; actor trainer Fátima Toledo; and soundman Felipe Rayo. The film stars Haimer Leal as Alfonso; Hilda Ruiz as Alicia; Edison Raigosa as Alfonso's and Alicia's son Gerardo; Marleyda Soto as Gerardo's wife Esperanza; and Felipe Cárdenas as Gerardo's and Esperanza's son Manuel.
According to César Acevedo: "The idea for this film was born of personal pain. At the time I began writing the screenplay my mother was dead, my father was a ghost, and given my inability to generate memories, they seemed completely lost to me. Thus arose my need to make a film that would allow me to recover the two most important people in my life, using the language of film. What I intended at the time was a reflection on our lives together, and what they might have been, based on the most private, the most important elements of this relationship. I believed that only by returning to my roots would I be able to face what I'd forgotten. This led to my decision to create a microcosm consisting of a small house and a tree, where I could somehow be reunited with those I loved most."
That was just the beginning, however, and the film couldn't remain tied to this initial concept with time tugging it in another direction. Acevedo continues: "As I began writing the screenplay I realized that the house was inhabited by ghosts, who drifted through the rooms, incapable of speech, unrecognizable to each other. It took a long time to accept that what I was trying to accomplish was impossible, simply because everything I was looking for had disappeared with them. So I distanced myself from the original intention with the sole purpose of better developing my characters and the film's conflict and the idea arose of telling the story of a dysfunctional family's attempt to repair the ties that bind them, just before being separated for good. Not only are they forced to confront the feelings of others, but, more challenging still, they discover feelings they never knew existed, or never suspected they harbored. "
Burning Blue: Spearheading the Internationalization of Colombian Cinema
After participating in the 65th Berlin Film Festival's Forum less than two months ago with Jorge Forero's film "Violence," Burning Blue is proud to announces the inclusion of "La Tierra y la Sombra" in the Cannes Festival's Critics' Week. This selection confirms Burning Blue's role as key Colombian representative in major film events around the world.
Burning Blue's efforts to produce daring films focusing on the value and power of stories, and construction of self-sustaining formats to achieve significant results internationally, allowing Colombian films to be seen worldwide, are examples of the creativity and innovation in Latin America productions and prove that Burning Blue has succeeded in asserting itself in a depressed market with a new vision that provides transcendent stories.
The successful start-up of a co-production model allowing films to work with partners in France, Germany, Poland and Holland –not to mention Latin America, where they have co-produced with Argentina, Mexico, Chile, Peru and Brazil; the presence of the company's films in more than 200 festivals, with commercial releases in countries like the Us, Greece, Canada, Spain, Portugal, Eastern Europe, and several African nations (as well as co-producing countries); an the company's presence at the Cannes Film Festival in four consecutive years (co-producers of Argentine director Diego Lerman's "Refugiado" in 2014; co-producers of Oscar Ruíz Navia's short film "Solecito" at the 2013 Director's Fortnight; and producers of William Vega's "La Sirga" and Juan Andrés Arango's "La Playa D.C." included in the 2012 Director's Fortnight and Certain Regard sections, respectively) make Burning Blue Colombia's most visible presence on the global film market.
Although Burning Blue has achieved major recognition for its films on the international market, the company aspires, above all, to participate in the creation of films by and for Colombians and, in even more romantically ambitious terms, the creation of Latin American cinema for the Latin American subcontinent. The stories told, therefore, speak profoundly of the continent's many different peoples and uncover the traditions, imagery, dreams, desires, fears and problems facing these richly diverse, passionate, and complex cultures. To this end, Burning Blue hopes to harness the favorable international attention garnered to date to continually ignite local interest, using international platforms as a springboard to its natural audience: Colombia.
Burning Blue, led by Diana Bustamante, Jorge Forero and Paola Pérez Nieto, is currently developing the feature films "Asilo" (Jaime Osorio Márquez), in co-production with Rhayuela Cine, "Desobsesión" (Jorge Navas), and the co-production "Niño Nadie" (Fernando Guzzoni), produced for Chile's Rampante Films.
Diana Bustamante produced Ciro Guerra's "Los Viajes del Viento" (included in the 2009 Cannes Festival's Certain Regard section) and Oscar Ruiz Navia's "El vuelco del cangrejo" (2009 Toronto Film Festival premiere and Fripresci Award at the 2010 Berlinale Festival and Forum). She also designed and managed Caracol Television's film department from 2008 to 2012, taking more than 20 Colombian feature films from the financing to final promotion stages. She recently became the artistic director of the Cartagena International Film Festival (Ficci), contributing to the success of the festival's 55th edition last March, and is currently working on the 2016 festival.
"La Tierra y la Sombra" - Nothing But Success
The process of creating and financing "La Tierra y la Sombra" allowed the film to mature with assistance from specialists, tutors, and evaluation committees at a number of national and international institutions and festivals, each of them helping to move the film towards its world premiere at the upcoming Cannes Festival.
During the project's development stage it won a development grant from Colombia's Film Development Fund in 2009 and was selected the following year to participate in the Pitch Workshop at Colombia's Cali Film Festival. The project also took part in the Ibero-American Films Crossing Borders event at the 2010 Havana Film Festival and the 2012 Ibero-American Co-Production Meeting at the Huelva Film Festival in Spain.
It was, however, in 2013 that the project became a reality, winning at the Cartagena International Film Festival's Co-Production Meeting, which made it possible to attend the Cannes Marché Du Film. The film went on to win a Casa de las Américas Film Project Development grant from the Carolina Foundation and a production grant from Colombia's Film Development Fund. Also in 2013, the Hubert Bals Fund awarded the project a development grant and the San Sebastian Film Festival selected it for the Co-Production Forum.
The final push came in 2014 when the project was invited to participate in Boost! at the Rotterdam Film Festival in Holland and received production grants from both the Ibermedia and Hubert Bals Funds. Shooting took place in late 2014 with post-production following in early 2015 and, finally, the film's submission, in the company of another 1,100 feature films, to the Cannes Festival.
The big news for Colombia is the selection of director/screenwriter César Augusto Acevedo's first film, "La Tierra y la Sombra" (Land and Shade), one of the seven feature films chosen to compete from among 1,100 submissions from around the world. The film was produced by Jorge Forero, Paola Pérez Nieto and Diana Bustamante, partners and founding members of Burning Blue, the production company responsible for some of the most internationally recognized films to come out of Colombia in recent years ("El vuelco del Cangrejo," "La Playa D.C," "La Sirga," "Solecito," "Los Hongos," "Climas," "Refugiado," and many others).
In "La Tierra y la Sombra," a woman refuses to give up the land she has fought to defend all her life; a son is incapable of leaving his mother, to the point of risking his own life; a father must confront past mistakes in order to recover the loved ones he abandoned; a brave wife fights to save her family; and a child grows up in the midst of devastation. Staged in a family microcosm –a tiny house and a tree surrounded by a formidable sugar cane filed–, the film presents the final days of these characters intent on repairing the fragile ties that bind them as they face their own imminent demise in the overwhelming wake of progress. Out of this situation comes a cruel story, densely populated with metaphors and allegories for culture, the fatality of alienation and oblivion, the fragility of memory, the inevitability of family breakdown, and the solitude it provokes.
The film was produced by Burning Blue (Colombia) in co-production with Ciné-Sud Promotion (France), Tokapi Films (Holland), Rampante Films (Chile), and Preta Portê Filmes (Brazil). In addition to director/screenwriter Cesar Acevedo, the film's crew included cinematographer Mateo Guzmán; editor Miguel Schverdfinger; art director Marcela Gómez; actor trainer Fátima Toledo; and soundman Felipe Rayo. The film stars Haimer Leal as Alfonso; Hilda Ruiz as Alicia; Edison Raigosa as Alfonso's and Alicia's son Gerardo; Marleyda Soto as Gerardo's wife Esperanza; and Felipe Cárdenas as Gerardo's and Esperanza's son Manuel.
According to César Acevedo: "The idea for this film was born of personal pain. At the time I began writing the screenplay my mother was dead, my father was a ghost, and given my inability to generate memories, they seemed completely lost to me. Thus arose my need to make a film that would allow me to recover the two most important people in my life, using the language of film. What I intended at the time was a reflection on our lives together, and what they might have been, based on the most private, the most important elements of this relationship. I believed that only by returning to my roots would I be able to face what I'd forgotten. This led to my decision to create a microcosm consisting of a small house and a tree, where I could somehow be reunited with those I loved most."
That was just the beginning, however, and the film couldn't remain tied to this initial concept with time tugging it in another direction. Acevedo continues: "As I began writing the screenplay I realized that the house was inhabited by ghosts, who drifted through the rooms, incapable of speech, unrecognizable to each other. It took a long time to accept that what I was trying to accomplish was impossible, simply because everything I was looking for had disappeared with them. So I distanced myself from the original intention with the sole purpose of better developing my characters and the film's conflict and the idea arose of telling the story of a dysfunctional family's attempt to repair the ties that bind them, just before being separated for good. Not only are they forced to confront the feelings of others, but, more challenging still, they discover feelings they never knew existed, or never suspected they harbored. "
Burning Blue: Spearheading the Internationalization of Colombian Cinema
After participating in the 65th Berlin Film Festival's Forum less than two months ago with Jorge Forero's film "Violence," Burning Blue is proud to announces the inclusion of "La Tierra y la Sombra" in the Cannes Festival's Critics' Week. This selection confirms Burning Blue's role as key Colombian representative in major film events around the world.
Burning Blue's efforts to produce daring films focusing on the value and power of stories, and construction of self-sustaining formats to achieve significant results internationally, allowing Colombian films to be seen worldwide, are examples of the creativity and innovation in Latin America productions and prove that Burning Blue has succeeded in asserting itself in a depressed market with a new vision that provides transcendent stories.
The successful start-up of a co-production model allowing films to work with partners in France, Germany, Poland and Holland –not to mention Latin America, where they have co-produced with Argentina, Mexico, Chile, Peru and Brazil; the presence of the company's films in more than 200 festivals, with commercial releases in countries like the Us, Greece, Canada, Spain, Portugal, Eastern Europe, and several African nations (as well as co-producing countries); an the company's presence at the Cannes Film Festival in four consecutive years (co-producers of Argentine director Diego Lerman's "Refugiado" in 2014; co-producers of Oscar Ruíz Navia's short film "Solecito" at the 2013 Director's Fortnight; and producers of William Vega's "La Sirga" and Juan Andrés Arango's "La Playa D.C." included in the 2012 Director's Fortnight and Certain Regard sections, respectively) make Burning Blue Colombia's most visible presence on the global film market.
Although Burning Blue has achieved major recognition for its films on the international market, the company aspires, above all, to participate in the creation of films by and for Colombians and, in even more romantically ambitious terms, the creation of Latin American cinema for the Latin American subcontinent. The stories told, therefore, speak profoundly of the continent's many different peoples and uncover the traditions, imagery, dreams, desires, fears and problems facing these richly diverse, passionate, and complex cultures. To this end, Burning Blue hopes to harness the favorable international attention garnered to date to continually ignite local interest, using international platforms as a springboard to its natural audience: Colombia.
Burning Blue, led by Diana Bustamante, Jorge Forero and Paola Pérez Nieto, is currently developing the feature films "Asilo" (Jaime Osorio Márquez), in co-production with Rhayuela Cine, "Desobsesión" (Jorge Navas), and the co-production "Niño Nadie" (Fernando Guzzoni), produced for Chile's Rampante Films.
Diana Bustamante produced Ciro Guerra's "Los Viajes del Viento" (included in the 2009 Cannes Festival's Certain Regard section) and Oscar Ruiz Navia's "El vuelco del cangrejo" (2009 Toronto Film Festival premiere and Fripresci Award at the 2010 Berlinale Festival and Forum). She also designed and managed Caracol Television's film department from 2008 to 2012, taking more than 20 Colombian feature films from the financing to final promotion stages. She recently became the artistic director of the Cartagena International Film Festival (Ficci), contributing to the success of the festival's 55th edition last March, and is currently working on the 2016 festival.
"La Tierra y la Sombra" - Nothing But Success
The process of creating and financing "La Tierra y la Sombra" allowed the film to mature with assistance from specialists, tutors, and evaluation committees at a number of national and international institutions and festivals, each of them helping to move the film towards its world premiere at the upcoming Cannes Festival.
During the project's development stage it won a development grant from Colombia's Film Development Fund in 2009 and was selected the following year to participate in the Pitch Workshop at Colombia's Cali Film Festival. The project also took part in the Ibero-American Films Crossing Borders event at the 2010 Havana Film Festival and the 2012 Ibero-American Co-Production Meeting at the Huelva Film Festival in Spain.
It was, however, in 2013 that the project became a reality, winning at the Cartagena International Film Festival's Co-Production Meeting, which made it possible to attend the Cannes Marché Du Film. The film went on to win a Casa de las Américas Film Project Development grant from the Carolina Foundation and a production grant from Colombia's Film Development Fund. Also in 2013, the Hubert Bals Fund awarded the project a development grant and the San Sebastian Film Festival selected it for the Co-Production Forum.
The final push came in 2014 when the project was invited to participate in Boost! at the Rotterdam Film Festival in Holland and received production grants from both the Ibermedia and Hubert Bals Funds. Shooting took place in late 2014 with post-production following in early 2015 and, finally, the film's submission, in the company of another 1,100 feature films, to the Cannes Festival.
- 4/27/2015
- by Sydney Levine
- Sydney's Buzz
Films in Progress 27 will take place on March 26 and 27 within the framework of the 27th edition of the festival Cinélatino, Rencontres de Toulouse.
Since 2002, this double event jointly organized by the festivals of Toulouse and San Sebastián, presents an annual selection of 12 works-in-progress within two sessions: 6 films in Toulouse in march and 6 films in San Sebastián in September.
Films in progress promotes the meeting and cooperation between the producers of the selected works-in-progress and European partners to make the films reach screens and audiences. With more than 400 professionals, among the most influential on the European and international level, taking part each year to these two sessions, Films in Progress is the unmissable and strategic meeting point with Latin American films and professionals connected to Latin America.
In recent years, Films in Progress have contributed efficiently to the completion, diffusion and commercialization of some the most remarkable Latin American films: "Tony Manero" by Pablo Larraín, "Gloria" by Sebastián Lelio, "Sangre" by Amat Escalante, "Clandestine Childhood" by Benjamín Ávila, "La Sirga" by William Vega, "La Playa D.C." by Juan Andrés Arango, "Bad Hair" by Mariana Rondón, "History of Fear" by Benjamin Naishtat, "To Kill a Man" by Alejandro Fernández Almendras.
Film in Progress is a label that generates trust between the community of professionals from both side of Atlantic Ocean.
Awards
Three prizes will be awarded in Film in Progress 27
Toulouse Films in Progress Award consists of 58.850 € in post-production services in France, offered by prestigious organizations: a grant from the Cnc, a residence in Paris by the Ccas, sound post-production by Mactari, technical works from Titra Tvs, color correction program by Firefly, auditorium and material for calibration from Commune Imageand the coordination of the post-production by Eaux vives.
Ciné + Award consists of the guarantee to the French distributor of the purchase of the winning film for the amount of 15.000 euros by Cine + Broadcast.
European Distributors and Exhibitors Award consists in the promotion of the winning film in the networks of the 130 distributors of Europa Distribution and the 2.000 members of the Cicae.
Submission of a work in progress
The feature films presented must be a Latin American production The length of the feature film in its final version must be over 60 minutes The film must be at the post-production stage (minimum first cut) The cut that is presented for evaluation must last a minimum of 45 minutes The cut presented for evaluation must be subtitled in English if it is not Spanish-speaking There is no charge of fees for the registration The application must be done online: here Deadline : January 30, 2015 In the case that the film is selected:
The director and the producer have to be in Toulouse on March 25, 26 and 27 of 2015 The film must be subtitled in English The screening format is Blu-ray (2 copies for back up) The selection will be announced in early March 2015.
Since 2002, this double event jointly organized by the festivals of Toulouse and San Sebastián, presents an annual selection of 12 works-in-progress within two sessions: 6 films in Toulouse in march and 6 films in San Sebastián in September.
Films in progress promotes the meeting and cooperation between the producers of the selected works-in-progress and European partners to make the films reach screens and audiences. With more than 400 professionals, among the most influential on the European and international level, taking part each year to these two sessions, Films in Progress is the unmissable and strategic meeting point with Latin American films and professionals connected to Latin America.
In recent years, Films in Progress have contributed efficiently to the completion, diffusion and commercialization of some the most remarkable Latin American films: "Tony Manero" by Pablo Larraín, "Gloria" by Sebastián Lelio, "Sangre" by Amat Escalante, "Clandestine Childhood" by Benjamín Ávila, "La Sirga" by William Vega, "La Playa D.C." by Juan Andrés Arango, "Bad Hair" by Mariana Rondón, "History of Fear" by Benjamin Naishtat, "To Kill a Man" by Alejandro Fernández Almendras.
Film in Progress is a label that generates trust between the community of professionals from both side of Atlantic Ocean.
Awards
Three prizes will be awarded in Film in Progress 27
Toulouse Films in Progress Award consists of 58.850 € in post-production services in France, offered by prestigious organizations: a grant from the Cnc, a residence in Paris by the Ccas, sound post-production by Mactari, technical works from Titra Tvs, color correction program by Firefly, auditorium and material for calibration from Commune Imageand the coordination of the post-production by Eaux vives.
Ciné + Award consists of the guarantee to the French distributor of the purchase of the winning film for the amount of 15.000 euros by Cine + Broadcast.
European Distributors and Exhibitors Award consists in the promotion of the winning film in the networks of the 130 distributors of Europa Distribution and the 2.000 members of the Cicae.
Submission of a work in progress
The feature films presented must be a Latin American production The length of the feature film in its final version must be over 60 minutes The film must be at the post-production stage (minimum first cut) The cut that is presented for evaluation must last a minimum of 45 minutes The cut presented for evaluation must be subtitled in English if it is not Spanish-speaking There is no charge of fees for the registration The application must be done online: here Deadline : January 30, 2015 In the case that the film is selected:
The director and the producer have to be in Toulouse on March 25, 26 and 27 of 2015 The film must be subtitled in English The screening format is Blu-ray (2 copies for back up) The selection will be announced in early March 2015.
- 1/13/2015
- by Sydney Levine
- Sydney's Buzz
Films in Progress 27 will take place on the 26th and 27th of March within the framework of the 27th edition of the festival Cinélatino, Rencontres de Toulouse.
Since 2002, this double event jointly organized by the festivals of Toulouse and San Sebastián, presents an annual selection of 12 works-in-progress in two sessions: 6 films in Toulouse in march and 6 films in San Sebastián in September.
Films in progress promotes the cooperation between the producers of the selected works-in-progress and European partners to make the films reach screens and audiences across the world. With more than 400 professionals, among the most influential on the European and international level, taking part each year to these two sessions, Films in Progress is the unmissable and strategic meeting point with Latin American films and professionals connected to Latin America.
In the last years, Films in Progress have contributed efficiently to the finalization, difusion and commercialization of the most remarkable Latin American films: "Tony Manero" by Pablo Larraín, "Gloria" by Sebastián Lelio, "Sangre" by Amat Escalante, "Clandestine Childhood" by Benjamín Ávila, "La Sirga" by William Vega, "La Playa" by Juan Andrés Arango, "Bad Hair" by Mariana Rondón, "Historia del Miedo" by Benjamin Naishtat, "To Kill a Man" by Alejandro Fernández Almendras...
Film in Progress is a label that generates trust between the community of professionals from both sides of Atlantic Ocean.
Awards
Three prizes will be awarded in Film in Progress 27
Toulouse Films in Progress Award consists of 58.850 € of post-production services to be done in France, offered by prestigious organizations: a grant from the Cnc, a residence in Paris by the Ccas, sound post-production by Mactari, technical works from Titra Tvs, color correction program by Firefly, auditorium and material for calibration from Commune Image and the coordination of the post-production by Eaux vives.Ciné + Award consists in the guarantee that Cine + Broadcast will be the French distributor of the winning film. It will be purchased for 15.000 euros.European Distributors and Exhibitors Award consists in the promotion of the winning film in the networks of the 130 distributors of Europa Distribution and the 2.000 members of the Cicae.
Submission of a work-in-progress
The feature films presented must be a minority or major Latin American productionThe length of the feature film in its final version must be over 60 minutesThe film must be at the post-production stage (minimum first cut)The cut that is presented for evaluation must last a minimum of 45 minutesThe cut presented for evaluation must be subtitled in English if it is not Spanish-speakingThere is no charge of fees for the registrationThe application must be done online: hereDead line : January the 30th 2015
In the case that the film is selected:
the director and the producer have to be in Toulouse on March 25, 26 and 27 of 2015the film must be subtitled in Englishthe screening format is Blu Ray (2 copies for back up)The selection will be announced in early March 2015.
Since 2002, this double event jointly organized by the festivals of Toulouse and San Sebastián, presents an annual selection of 12 works-in-progress in two sessions: 6 films in Toulouse in march and 6 films in San Sebastián in September.
Films in progress promotes the cooperation between the producers of the selected works-in-progress and European partners to make the films reach screens and audiences across the world. With more than 400 professionals, among the most influential on the European and international level, taking part each year to these two sessions, Films in Progress is the unmissable and strategic meeting point with Latin American films and professionals connected to Latin America.
In the last years, Films in Progress have contributed efficiently to the finalization, difusion and commercialization of the most remarkable Latin American films: "Tony Manero" by Pablo Larraín, "Gloria" by Sebastián Lelio, "Sangre" by Amat Escalante, "Clandestine Childhood" by Benjamín Ávila, "La Sirga" by William Vega, "La Playa" by Juan Andrés Arango, "Bad Hair" by Mariana Rondón, "Historia del Miedo" by Benjamin Naishtat, "To Kill a Man" by Alejandro Fernández Almendras...
Film in Progress is a label that generates trust between the community of professionals from both sides of Atlantic Ocean.
Awards
Three prizes will be awarded in Film in Progress 27
Toulouse Films in Progress Award consists of 58.850 € of post-production services to be done in France, offered by prestigious organizations: a grant from the Cnc, a residence in Paris by the Ccas, sound post-production by Mactari, technical works from Titra Tvs, color correction program by Firefly, auditorium and material for calibration from Commune Image and the coordination of the post-production by Eaux vives.Ciné + Award consists in the guarantee that Cine + Broadcast will be the French distributor of the winning film. It will be purchased for 15.000 euros.European Distributors and Exhibitors Award consists in the promotion of the winning film in the networks of the 130 distributors of Europa Distribution and the 2.000 members of the Cicae.
Submission of a work-in-progress
The feature films presented must be a minority or major Latin American productionThe length of the feature film in its final version must be over 60 minutesThe film must be at the post-production stage (minimum first cut)The cut that is presented for evaluation must last a minimum of 45 minutesThe cut presented for evaluation must be subtitled in English if it is not Spanish-speakingThere is no charge of fees for the registrationThe application must be done online: hereDead line : January the 30th 2015
In the case that the film is selected:
the director and the producer have to be in Toulouse on March 25, 26 and 27 of 2015the film must be subtitled in Englishthe screening format is Blu Ray (2 copies for back up)The selection will be announced in early March 2015.
- 10/31/2014
- by Sydney Levine
- Sydney's Buzz
Ciné-Sud has two films selected for Toronto: the Iranian feature “ Red Rose” (handled internationally by Udi – Urban Distribution International) and the Vietnam-France-Norway-Germany co-production “Flapping in the Middle of Nowhere” by Nguyen Hoang Diep which will premiere September 1st, 2nd and 3rd in Venice/ Critics Week before moving to Toronto And with no international sales agent to date.
In Locarno, "Los ausentes" (“The Absent Ones) by Nicolas Pereda, a Mèxico-Spain-France coproduction is screening out of competition on August 11! The international sales agent is Caravan Pass, a former production company formed in 2005 in Paris by Natalie Dana. In 2014 founder Natalie and industry celeb-acquisitions persona, Elizabeth Dreyer, turned the company to international sales as well. They are actively seeking completed/ unlaunched films and projects at the financing stage.
Natalie Dana worked in sales at some of the industry’s most recognizable sales agencies, including Mercure and Celluloid Dreams. She also headed distribution for various film distributors and selected films for the prestigious Rio de Janeiro International Film Festival for five years. Under her guidance, Caravan Pass has produced or co-produced four feature films and two documentaries, partnering with notable production companies in several countries including Brazil and Italy.
Elizabeth Dreyer began her career in acquisitions, acquiring completed films and projects for North America for Miramax Films and Focus Features. As an independent consultant she has since sourced and sold remakes to international producers, advised renowned distributors around the world on pre-buys and completed film pickups, and developed feature films for proven French film producers looking to access the international market. She most recently handled sales and acquisitions for Celluloid Dreams.
Ciné-Sud Promotion itself started in 1993 as a company designed to promote art house films (Rachid Bouchareb, Wang Chao, Guillermo Del Toro, Raymond Depardon, Djibril Diop Mambety, Julio Medem, Jafar Panahi, Manuel Poirier, Arturo Ripstein, Paulo Rocha, Carlos Saura, Paolo & Vittorio Taviani, Jean-Philippe Toussaint… amongst others). There is still the press promotion department which is now under the leadership of Claire Viroulaud, publicist for many art house movies.
In 2001 Thierry Lenouvel, the founder, created a production arm and has thus far produced or co-produced 30 films which have won more 150 international awards.
The mission remains constant: Quality, without frontiers, without constraints of form, style or genre, researching emerging talents and supporting already acclaimed directors with projects whch deliver a singular and important message for and about humanity and our society utilizing strong cinematic forms.
This is only a part of all Thierry has created. Read on, dear reader, read on.
Amiens International Film Festival
Although many festivals now have competitions for cash prizes and forums for pitching and co-production meetings, Amiens stands out with its Fund for Aid for the Development of Feature Film Script and its ties to its creator, Ciné Sud, that privately owned feature film production company transformed by prolific producer Thierry Lenouvel created the Fund in 1996.
The Screenplay Development Fund (Fonds d'aide au développment du scénario or Fads) is awarded during the Amiens Film Festival to a project at one of the most critical stages in the life of a movie, that is at script stage. In its 19 years of existence it has supported 79 feature film scripts of which 39 were completed, 9 are shooting now, 21 are in development. More than 632,600 Euros have been granted. Cnac, the Venezuelan film organization has given a grant of 10,000 € for the past five years.
Fads partners: National Film Centre and Moving • International Organization of la Francophonie • Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs • Moroccan National Center for Cinema (Ccm) • Groupama Gan Foundation for Cinema • Regional Council of Picardy • Central Fund for Social Activities picture • Independent National Film Centre (Cnac - Venezuela)
In 2014, four scholarships of € 10,000 each were granted to directors of the following projects:
Family Gustavo Cordova Rondon (Venezuela) which has also won:
Cnac Script Development Fund (Venezuela)
Amiens Script Development Fund 2013
Ibermedia Development Fund 2013
And it has been selected to participate at:
Produire Au Sud Andean Workshop 2013
Ibermedia Project Development Workshop 2013
Oaxaca Screenwriters Lab 2014
Berlinale Talent Project Market 2014
The Court Of My Mother Idriss Diabaté (Côte d'Ivoire)
My Favorite Fabric Gaya Jiji (Syria)
Territoria Nora Martirosyan (Armenia)
And an additional grant of € 7,000 was awarded to the French project Dance Silent of Pradeepan Raveendran.
The rules and the application form of the next Script Fund of Amiens (due August 18!) that he created is available online or on request…from Thierry or even from me!
And, last but not least, Thierry brings "Cinema in Motion" from San Sebastian (who decided to stop the program in 2013) to Venice where it's now called " Final Cut in Venice", a workshop to help six works in progress from Africa and Arabic World toward completion with the support of French and Italian technical industries.
For more information contact:
Thierry Lenouvel
thierry [At] cinesudpromotion.com
Some films produced by Ciné-Sud:
Tirana. Year Zero by Fatmir Koci (France/Albania/ Belgium), Competition/Venice 2001, Golden Alexander/Thessaloniki
Rachida by Yamina Bachir Chouikh (France/Algeria), Official Selection/Cannes 2002
Fuse ! (Gori Vatra) by Pjer Zalica (Bosnia/Austria/Turkey/France), Silver Leopard/Locarno 2003
Wall by Simone Bitton (France/Israel), Directors Fortnight/Cannes 2004, Special Jury Prize/Sundance, Grand Prix/Marseille, Pesaro, Montreal, Jerusalem
Moolaade by Sembene Ousmane (Sénégal/France/Burkina/Maroc), Grand Prix Un Certain Regard/Cannes 2004, Best Foreign Film/American Critics Awards
Falafel by Michel Kammoun (Lebanon/France), Bayard d’Or/Namur 2006, Silver Muhr/Dubai, Bronze Palm/Valencia
Pomegranates And Myrrh by Najwa Najjar (Palestine/Germany/France), Competition/Sundance 2009, Rotterdam, 1st price in Doha
Rachel by Simone Bitton (France/Belgium), Forum/Berlin 2009, Competition/Cinema du Réel 2009
Every Day Is A Holliday by Dima El Horr (France/Lebanon/Germany),Toronto 2009, Roma, Dubai, Rotterdam, New York 2010
Mothers by Milcho Manchevski (Macedonia/Bulgaria/France),Toronto 2010, Berlin (Panorama) 2011
The Stoplight Society by Ruben Mendoza (Colombia/France/Spain/ Germany), best Colombian film of the year/Cartagena 2011, Best Director/Amiens 2010, Best 1st film/Huelva 2010
El Campo by Hernan Belon (Argentina/Italy/France) – Venice 2011/Critics Week
Fat, Bald, Short Man (Colombia/France) – more than 20 selections in 2011/2012
La Playa by Juan Andres Arango (Colombia/Brazil/France) – Cannes 2012/Official Selection, Un Certain Regard
Villegas by Gonzalo Tobal (Argentina/France) – Cannes 2012/Official Selection
La Sirga by William Vega (Colombia/Mexico/France) – Cannes 2012/Directors Fortnight
Qissa by Anup Singh (India/Germany/France/Holland) – Toronto 2013/Netpac award, Rotterdam 2014/Audience Award
Dust On The Tongue by Ruben Mendoza (Columbia/France) – Cartagena 2014/Best film, best director
Mateo by Maria Gamboa (Colombia/France) – Cartagena 2014/Jury Special award
Run, Boy, Run by Pepe Danquart (Germany/France) – Cannes Junior 2014
In post-production :
Red Rose by Sepideh Farsi (Iran/France/Grèce)
Los Ausentes by Nicolas Pereda (Mexico/Spain/France)
Ausencia by Chico Teixeira (Brazil/France)
Flapping In The Middle Of Nowhere by Nguyen Hiang Diep (Vietnam/France/Norvège/Allemagne)
In development :
Kill Two Birds With One Stone by Fejria Deliba (France)
Embrace Of The Serpent by Ciro Guerra (Colombie/Vénézuela/France)
Mantra, Song Of Scorpions by Anup Singh (Inde/Suisse/France)
Sal by William Vega (Colombie/Allemagne/France)
Parable Of A Blind Christ (Chili/France)
Land And Shade by Cesar Acevedo (Colombie/France)
D’Une Rive L’Autre by Sepideh Farsi (France)...
In Locarno, "Los ausentes" (“The Absent Ones) by Nicolas Pereda, a Mèxico-Spain-France coproduction is screening out of competition on August 11! The international sales agent is Caravan Pass, a former production company formed in 2005 in Paris by Natalie Dana. In 2014 founder Natalie and industry celeb-acquisitions persona, Elizabeth Dreyer, turned the company to international sales as well. They are actively seeking completed/ unlaunched films and projects at the financing stage.
Natalie Dana worked in sales at some of the industry’s most recognizable sales agencies, including Mercure and Celluloid Dreams. She also headed distribution for various film distributors and selected films for the prestigious Rio de Janeiro International Film Festival for five years. Under her guidance, Caravan Pass has produced or co-produced four feature films and two documentaries, partnering with notable production companies in several countries including Brazil and Italy.
Elizabeth Dreyer began her career in acquisitions, acquiring completed films and projects for North America for Miramax Films and Focus Features. As an independent consultant she has since sourced and sold remakes to international producers, advised renowned distributors around the world on pre-buys and completed film pickups, and developed feature films for proven French film producers looking to access the international market. She most recently handled sales and acquisitions for Celluloid Dreams.
Ciné-Sud Promotion itself started in 1993 as a company designed to promote art house films (Rachid Bouchareb, Wang Chao, Guillermo Del Toro, Raymond Depardon, Djibril Diop Mambety, Julio Medem, Jafar Panahi, Manuel Poirier, Arturo Ripstein, Paulo Rocha, Carlos Saura, Paolo & Vittorio Taviani, Jean-Philippe Toussaint… amongst others). There is still the press promotion department which is now under the leadership of Claire Viroulaud, publicist for many art house movies.
In 2001 Thierry Lenouvel, the founder, created a production arm and has thus far produced or co-produced 30 films which have won more 150 international awards.
The mission remains constant: Quality, without frontiers, without constraints of form, style or genre, researching emerging talents and supporting already acclaimed directors with projects whch deliver a singular and important message for and about humanity and our society utilizing strong cinematic forms.
This is only a part of all Thierry has created. Read on, dear reader, read on.
Amiens International Film Festival
Although many festivals now have competitions for cash prizes and forums for pitching and co-production meetings, Amiens stands out with its Fund for Aid for the Development of Feature Film Script and its ties to its creator, Ciné Sud, that privately owned feature film production company transformed by prolific producer Thierry Lenouvel created the Fund in 1996.
The Screenplay Development Fund (Fonds d'aide au développment du scénario or Fads) is awarded during the Amiens Film Festival to a project at one of the most critical stages in the life of a movie, that is at script stage. In its 19 years of existence it has supported 79 feature film scripts of which 39 were completed, 9 are shooting now, 21 are in development. More than 632,600 Euros have been granted. Cnac, the Venezuelan film organization has given a grant of 10,000 € for the past five years.
Fads partners: National Film Centre and Moving • International Organization of la Francophonie • Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs • Moroccan National Center for Cinema (Ccm) • Groupama Gan Foundation for Cinema • Regional Council of Picardy • Central Fund for Social Activities picture • Independent National Film Centre (Cnac - Venezuela)
In 2014, four scholarships of € 10,000 each were granted to directors of the following projects:
Family Gustavo Cordova Rondon (Venezuela) which has also won:
Cnac Script Development Fund (Venezuela)
Amiens Script Development Fund 2013
Ibermedia Development Fund 2013
And it has been selected to participate at:
Produire Au Sud Andean Workshop 2013
Ibermedia Project Development Workshop 2013
Oaxaca Screenwriters Lab 2014
Berlinale Talent Project Market 2014
The Court Of My Mother Idriss Diabaté (Côte d'Ivoire)
My Favorite Fabric Gaya Jiji (Syria)
Territoria Nora Martirosyan (Armenia)
And an additional grant of € 7,000 was awarded to the French project Dance Silent of Pradeepan Raveendran.
The rules and the application form of the next Script Fund of Amiens (due August 18!) that he created is available online or on request…from Thierry or even from me!
And, last but not least, Thierry brings "Cinema in Motion" from San Sebastian (who decided to stop the program in 2013) to Venice where it's now called " Final Cut in Venice", a workshop to help six works in progress from Africa and Arabic World toward completion with the support of French and Italian technical industries.
For more information contact:
Thierry Lenouvel
thierry [At] cinesudpromotion.com
Some films produced by Ciné-Sud:
Tirana. Year Zero by Fatmir Koci (France/Albania/ Belgium), Competition/Venice 2001, Golden Alexander/Thessaloniki
Rachida by Yamina Bachir Chouikh (France/Algeria), Official Selection/Cannes 2002
Fuse ! (Gori Vatra) by Pjer Zalica (Bosnia/Austria/Turkey/France), Silver Leopard/Locarno 2003
Wall by Simone Bitton (France/Israel), Directors Fortnight/Cannes 2004, Special Jury Prize/Sundance, Grand Prix/Marseille, Pesaro, Montreal, Jerusalem
Moolaade by Sembene Ousmane (Sénégal/France/Burkina/Maroc), Grand Prix Un Certain Regard/Cannes 2004, Best Foreign Film/American Critics Awards
Falafel by Michel Kammoun (Lebanon/France), Bayard d’Or/Namur 2006, Silver Muhr/Dubai, Bronze Palm/Valencia
Pomegranates And Myrrh by Najwa Najjar (Palestine/Germany/France), Competition/Sundance 2009, Rotterdam, 1st price in Doha
Rachel by Simone Bitton (France/Belgium), Forum/Berlin 2009, Competition/Cinema du Réel 2009
Every Day Is A Holliday by Dima El Horr (France/Lebanon/Germany),Toronto 2009, Roma, Dubai, Rotterdam, New York 2010
Mothers by Milcho Manchevski (Macedonia/Bulgaria/France),Toronto 2010, Berlin (Panorama) 2011
The Stoplight Society by Ruben Mendoza (Colombia/France/Spain/ Germany), best Colombian film of the year/Cartagena 2011, Best Director/Amiens 2010, Best 1st film/Huelva 2010
El Campo by Hernan Belon (Argentina/Italy/France) – Venice 2011/Critics Week
Fat, Bald, Short Man (Colombia/France) – more than 20 selections in 2011/2012
La Playa by Juan Andres Arango (Colombia/Brazil/France) – Cannes 2012/Official Selection, Un Certain Regard
Villegas by Gonzalo Tobal (Argentina/France) – Cannes 2012/Official Selection
La Sirga by William Vega (Colombia/Mexico/France) – Cannes 2012/Directors Fortnight
Qissa by Anup Singh (India/Germany/France/Holland) – Toronto 2013/Netpac award, Rotterdam 2014/Audience Award
Dust On The Tongue by Ruben Mendoza (Columbia/France) – Cartagena 2014/Best film, best director
Mateo by Maria Gamboa (Colombia/France) – Cartagena 2014/Jury Special award
Run, Boy, Run by Pepe Danquart (Germany/France) – Cannes Junior 2014
In post-production :
Red Rose by Sepideh Farsi (Iran/France/Grèce)
Los Ausentes by Nicolas Pereda (Mexico/Spain/France)
Ausencia by Chico Teixeira (Brazil/France)
Flapping In The Middle Of Nowhere by Nguyen Hiang Diep (Vietnam/France/Norvège/Allemagne)
In development :
Kill Two Birds With One Stone by Fejria Deliba (France)
Embrace Of The Serpent by Ciro Guerra (Colombie/Vénézuela/France)
Mantra, Song Of Scorpions by Anup Singh (Inde/Suisse/France)
Sal by William Vega (Colombie/Allemagne/France)
Parable Of A Blind Christ (Chili/France)
Land And Shade by Cesar Acevedo (Colombie/France)
D’Une Rive L’Autre by Sepideh Farsi (France)...
- 8/8/2014
- by Sydney Levine
- Sydney's Buzz
Films includes Juan Andrés Arango’s X-Quinientos and William Vega’s Sal.Scroll down for full list of projects
A total of 14 projects have been selected for the third Europe-Latin America Co-Production Forum, which will run Sept 22-24 during the San Sebastian Film Festival (Sept 19-27).
The films were chosen from a total of 181 projects submitted from 22 countries, including Argentina, Colombia and Sweden.
The projects include Sal, William Vega’s follow-up to Cannes Directors’ Fortnight title La Sirga. It will be produced by Andrea Estrada of Contravia Films with co-producers CineSud Promotion and Bredok Film Production.
The road movie centres on a man who takes a motorbike across Colombia to reach a village where his father was killed. After an accident en route, he does some soul searching while recovering from his injuries.
Another project is X Quinientos, set in Mexico, Canada and Colombia, and featuring three intertwining stories turn on individuals. Produced out of...
A total of 14 projects have been selected for the third Europe-Latin America Co-Production Forum, which will run Sept 22-24 during the San Sebastian Film Festival (Sept 19-27).
The films were chosen from a total of 181 projects submitted from 22 countries, including Argentina, Colombia and Sweden.
The projects include Sal, William Vega’s follow-up to Cannes Directors’ Fortnight title La Sirga. It will be produced by Andrea Estrada of Contravia Films with co-producers CineSud Promotion and Bredok Film Production.
The road movie centres on a man who takes a motorbike across Colombia to reach a village where his father was killed. After an accident en route, he does some soul searching while recovering from his injuries.
Another project is X Quinientos, set in Mexico, Canada and Colombia, and featuring three intertwining stories turn on individuals. Produced out of...
- 8/6/2014
- by michael.rosser@screendaily.com (Michael Rosser)
- ScreenDaily
Pickpocket drama from Girl With a Pearl Earring director is one of 33 film projects in development being presented at the Bogota Audiovisual Market (Bam).
Filmmakers will begin talks with potential partners in Bogota today at the fifth edition of Bam (July 14-18), Colombia’s biggest film market, organised by the Bogota Chamber of Commerce and Proimagenes Colombia
The projects include Fresh, a new film to be directed by Peter Webber, who made Oscar-nominated Girl With a Pearl Earring and more recently Emperor.
The feature is being produced by Colombia’s 4Direcciones Audio-Visual, which has raised nearly 25% of its estimated $2.5m budget, and centres on a teenage pickpocket against the backdrop of hip hop and graffiti in Bogota.
The project, which is hunting co-production, investors and distribution partners, was previously selected for Rotterdam’s Cinemart and the Berlinale Co-production market.
More than 250 applications were submitted for this year’s Bam Projects, covering films in...
Filmmakers will begin talks with potential partners in Bogota today at the fifth edition of Bam (July 14-18), Colombia’s biggest film market, organised by the Bogota Chamber of Commerce and Proimagenes Colombia
The projects include Fresh, a new film to be directed by Peter Webber, who made Oscar-nominated Girl With a Pearl Earring and more recently Emperor.
The feature is being produced by Colombia’s 4Direcciones Audio-Visual, which has raised nearly 25% of its estimated $2.5m budget, and centres on a teenage pickpocket against the backdrop of hip hop and graffiti in Bogota.
The project, which is hunting co-production, investors and distribution partners, was previously selected for Rotterdam’s Cinemart and the Berlinale Co-production market.
More than 250 applications were submitted for this year’s Bam Projects, covering films in...
- 7/16/2014
- by michael.rosser@screendaily.com (Michael Rosser)
- ScreenDaily
Seventh edition of the development scheme will include nine projects of first or second feature films.
TorinoFilmLab has unveiled its selection for FrameWork 2014.
The seventh edition of the development scheme will include nine projects of first or second feature films, representing ten countries. The participants will work on their projects throughout two week-long workshops under the guidance of international experts.
Following these workshops, there will be a public pitch at the TorinoFilmLab meeting event, held during the 32nd Torino Film Festival. The jury will assign production awards (starting from €50,000), while an audience award (€30,000) will be given to the project most voted for by the attending decision makers.
TorinoFilmLab’s partners will also award various prizes.
The projects, formed in majority from TorinoFilmLab’s Script&Pitch programme, are:
Aleli by Ana Guevara & Leticia Jorge, producer Agustina Chiarino (Uruguay)Carbon by Michalis Konstantatos, producer Yorgos Tsourgiannis (Greece)Hunting Season by Natalia Garagiola, producer Benjamin...
TorinoFilmLab has unveiled its selection for FrameWork 2014.
The seventh edition of the development scheme will include nine projects of first or second feature films, representing ten countries. The participants will work on their projects throughout two week-long workshops under the guidance of international experts.
Following these workshops, there will be a public pitch at the TorinoFilmLab meeting event, held during the 32nd Torino Film Festival. The jury will assign production awards (starting from €50,000), while an audience award (€30,000) will be given to the project most voted for by the attending decision makers.
TorinoFilmLab’s partners will also award various prizes.
The projects, formed in majority from TorinoFilmLab’s Script&Pitch programme, are:
Aleli by Ana Guevara & Leticia Jorge, producer Agustina Chiarino (Uruguay)Carbon by Michalis Konstantatos, producer Yorgos Tsourgiannis (Greece)Hunting Season by Natalia Garagiola, producer Benjamin...
- 5/18/2014
- by ian.sandwell@screendaily.com (Ian Sandwell)
- ScreenDaily
Providing a glimpse into the vast landscape of Iberoamerican cinema and its artists, MoMa’s eclectic selection of films for their biannual showcase is truly enlightening. These year’s collection features some works that received distribution and critical acclaimed and others that have been outstandingly successful in the festival circuit, creating an opportunity for audiences to connect with films they might have missed and others that are shown in the American market.
Staying away from the obvious choices, these gems are films that represent a special perspective within the Iberoamerican collective narrative. Personal stories about heritage, social change, and family, delivered in ways that make innovative use of the medium both in terms of content and form. Working in over 20 countries the Ibermedia organization has been instrumental for the development of these and many other films across the Americas, Spin and Portugal, and this small but artistically impressive retrospective aims to continuously honor their efforts.
This fantastic film exhibition started on May 1st, and continues through May 14th. Below are some of the most notable titles, but in all honesty anything playing here is worth the price of admission.
Palabras Magicas (Para romper un encantamiento)/ Magic Words (Breaking a Spell)
Dir. Mercedes Moncada Rodríguez
Morphing breathtaking vistas of Nicaragua into poignant visual metaphors, Mercedes Moncada Rodriguez weaves together fragments of her country's torturous past and its forgotten beauty to form a riveting portrait of her homeland. Using July 19, 1979 - the fateful first day of the Sandinista Revolution - as connecting point between old wounds and an the uncertain future, the filmmaker creates a poetic documentary adorned with evocative narration. The archive footage blends with carefully chosen imagery to make the sense lost hope and broken promises even more prominent. Beyond the historical importance it carries, this is a stunning revelation of a film.
No
Dir. Pablo Larraín
This Academy Award-nominated film by Pablo Larrain uses a peculiar visual style to tackle the crucial role of the media to create social change. It is an extremely entertaining work that seamlessly juxtaposes the visual style of the 80′s with contemporary cinematic language. The piece has a powerful message of unity, and it’s truthful to the history of the Chilean nation. Gael Garcia Bernal is riveting, besides nailing the Chilean accent, his character resonates as a torn man who finds no closure or national identity even after achieving success. His work in advertising serves the same purpose for capitalist marketing and revolutionary campaigns. Based on the real life events that help end the Pinochet regime, this is, above all, a story about incredible results from the most improbable of circumstances.
La Sirga (The Towrope)
Dir. William Vega
With a naturalist aesthetic that highlights the captivating setting and the hyperrealist characters, La Sirga is a delicately crafted new take on the coming-of-age tale. Alicia has just lost her parents at the hands of criminals that lurk around these remote towns in the Andes. She finds shelter with her uncle Don Oscar, and slowly begins to familiarize herself with the locals, their legends, and their fears. Darkness and the quiet sounds of the night slowly reveal the true nature of each character and their unspoken desires. Each silent moment in this film is as important as every line of dialogue. William Vega’s minimalist study of human relations in an isolated community is shot with impressive attention to the composition of each frame and the emotion it conveys.
La Demora (The Delay)
Dir. Rodrigo Plá
Intimate and touching, this bittersweet love letter to parents and their children focuses on a single mother of three who must also take care of her elderly father, who is not lucid enough to fend for himself. At the end if her rope, making very little money, and juggling all her obligations Maria decides to take drastic measures, which she soon regrets. This tiny Uruguayan gem relies on topnotch performances and the honesty of it story. Love is understood here not in magical and perfect terms, but as a mixture sacrifice, patience, and willingness to forgive.
Yvy Maraey: Tierra Sin Mal (Yvy Maraey: Land Without Evil)
Dir. Juan Carlos Valdivia
Essentially a narrative feature that borrows heavily from more sensorial and experimental works, this unclassifiable film set in Bolivia ponders on past wounds and the fervent collision between those of European descent and the indigenous people. Focusing on a filmmaker’s journey following the steps of researcher Erland Nordeskiold by the hand of Guarani Indian, this is a film about the concepts and images that are encrypted in the post-colonial history of Latin America. The concept is at the intersection of scripted drama and Cinéma vérité and it offers mysticism and insightful social commentary.
La Jaura de Oro (The Golden Dream)
Dir. Diego Quemada-Díez
Among the vast and redundant collection of tales dealing with illegal immigration, very few can claim to be unique. Given that there are some inherent qualities to these stories, it takes an assertive new voice to infuse the subject matter with honesty. Spanish director Diego Quemada-Díez’ La Jaula de Oro, is perhaps the most poetic, and neo-realist film about the struggles of people searching for a better future thousands of miles away from home at any cost. There are twists and turns in the plot that make for a satisfying, often heartbreaking viewing experience. Three Guatemalan kids on their way to the live the capitalist dream become trapped in a nightmarish reality as they travel though Mexico. They have nothing to lose but their lives.
Staying away from the obvious choices, these gems are films that represent a special perspective within the Iberoamerican collective narrative. Personal stories about heritage, social change, and family, delivered in ways that make innovative use of the medium both in terms of content and form. Working in over 20 countries the Ibermedia organization has been instrumental for the development of these and many other films across the Americas, Spin and Portugal, and this small but artistically impressive retrospective aims to continuously honor their efforts.
This fantastic film exhibition started on May 1st, and continues through May 14th. Below are some of the most notable titles, but in all honesty anything playing here is worth the price of admission.
Palabras Magicas (Para romper un encantamiento)/ Magic Words (Breaking a Spell)
Dir. Mercedes Moncada Rodríguez
Morphing breathtaking vistas of Nicaragua into poignant visual metaphors, Mercedes Moncada Rodriguez weaves together fragments of her country's torturous past and its forgotten beauty to form a riveting portrait of her homeland. Using July 19, 1979 - the fateful first day of the Sandinista Revolution - as connecting point between old wounds and an the uncertain future, the filmmaker creates a poetic documentary adorned with evocative narration. The archive footage blends with carefully chosen imagery to make the sense lost hope and broken promises even more prominent. Beyond the historical importance it carries, this is a stunning revelation of a film.
No
Dir. Pablo Larraín
This Academy Award-nominated film by Pablo Larrain uses a peculiar visual style to tackle the crucial role of the media to create social change. It is an extremely entertaining work that seamlessly juxtaposes the visual style of the 80′s with contemporary cinematic language. The piece has a powerful message of unity, and it’s truthful to the history of the Chilean nation. Gael Garcia Bernal is riveting, besides nailing the Chilean accent, his character resonates as a torn man who finds no closure or national identity even after achieving success. His work in advertising serves the same purpose for capitalist marketing and revolutionary campaigns. Based on the real life events that help end the Pinochet regime, this is, above all, a story about incredible results from the most improbable of circumstances.
La Sirga (The Towrope)
Dir. William Vega
With a naturalist aesthetic that highlights the captivating setting and the hyperrealist characters, La Sirga is a delicately crafted new take on the coming-of-age tale. Alicia has just lost her parents at the hands of criminals that lurk around these remote towns in the Andes. She finds shelter with her uncle Don Oscar, and slowly begins to familiarize herself with the locals, their legends, and their fears. Darkness and the quiet sounds of the night slowly reveal the true nature of each character and their unspoken desires. Each silent moment in this film is as important as every line of dialogue. William Vega’s minimalist study of human relations in an isolated community is shot with impressive attention to the composition of each frame and the emotion it conveys.
La Demora (The Delay)
Dir. Rodrigo Plá
Intimate and touching, this bittersweet love letter to parents and their children focuses on a single mother of three who must also take care of her elderly father, who is not lucid enough to fend for himself. At the end if her rope, making very little money, and juggling all her obligations Maria decides to take drastic measures, which she soon regrets. This tiny Uruguayan gem relies on topnotch performances and the honesty of it story. Love is understood here not in magical and perfect terms, but as a mixture sacrifice, patience, and willingness to forgive.
Yvy Maraey: Tierra Sin Mal (Yvy Maraey: Land Without Evil)
Dir. Juan Carlos Valdivia
Essentially a narrative feature that borrows heavily from more sensorial and experimental works, this unclassifiable film set in Bolivia ponders on past wounds and the fervent collision between those of European descent and the indigenous people. Focusing on a filmmaker’s journey following the steps of researcher Erland Nordeskiold by the hand of Guarani Indian, this is a film about the concepts and images that are encrypted in the post-colonial history of Latin America. The concept is at the intersection of scripted drama and Cinéma vérité and it offers mysticism and insightful social commentary.
La Jaura de Oro (The Golden Dream)
Dir. Diego Quemada-Díez
Among the vast and redundant collection of tales dealing with illegal immigration, very few can claim to be unique. Given that there are some inherent qualities to these stories, it takes an assertive new voice to infuse the subject matter with honesty. Spanish director Diego Quemada-Díez’ La Jaula de Oro, is perhaps the most poetic, and neo-realist film about the struggles of people searching for a better future thousands of miles away from home at any cost. There are twists and turns in the plot that make for a satisfying, often heartbreaking viewing experience. Three Guatemalan kids on their way to the live the capitalist dream become trapped in a nightmarish reality as they travel though Mexico. They have nothing to lose but their lives.
- 5/9/2014
- by Carlos Aguilar
- Sydney's Buzz
Now that a new year is upon us let's reflect back on 2013. Something like a year in Latino film. Latin American filmmakers continued to kill it on the international film festival circuit. Chile, in particular, has been conquering the world one film festival award at a time.
Sadly, American Latino filmmakers were mostly absent from big name festivals like Sundance, Toronto, Berlin, and Cannes. Normally, the major Latino film festivals in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, and San Diego offer a home to these overlooked films. The surprising collapse of the New York International Latino Film Festival this past summer and with the Los Angeles Latino International Film Festival barely recovering from financial difficulties, the exhibition of American Latino indies remains in a precarious position.
Still, there is much to celebrate. Starting in the early part of the year, at Sundance, Chilean director Sebastian Silva joined a very elite club of filmmakers -- those who have premiered two films at the same festival. His mescaline-fueled odyssey Crystal Fairy won the World Cinema Dramatic Directing Award and the psychological thriller Magic, Magic starring Michael Cera went on to play Director's Fortnight in Cannes.
The Berlinale, in February, brought the much anticipated world premiere of Sebastian Lelio's fourth film Gloria and the charming Uruguayan family comedy Tanta Agua. Cementing 2013 as the year of Chile, actress Paulina Garcia won the Silver Bear for her dazzling and dynamic performance as a middle-aged divorcee in Gloria.
Mid-year, Mexican filmmakers took Cannes by storm again, winning the Best Director prize for the second year in a row. In 2013, the victor was Amat Escalante for his feature film Heli. The year prior Carlos Reygadas took home the prize for Post Tenebras Lux.
In the fall, Toronto spoiled us with Latin American riches. The gargantuan fest showcased more than 300 films from 70 different countries including the Mexican documentary El Alcalde, Venezuela's Pelo Malo (Bad Hair), Peruvian black comedy El Mudo (The Mute), the Brazilian drama O lobo atras da porta (A Wolf at the Door), and the world premiere of Fernando Eimbcke's Club Sandwich. Costa Rica made a first-time appearance at the Toronto Film Festival with Por las plumas (All About the Feathers) and the Dominican Republic showcased Cristo Rey.
Over Labor Day weekend, Eugenio Derbez, a Mexican actor most Americans had never heard of released his sleeper hit Instructions Not Included. Totally ignored by mainstream film critics, the Spanish-language family comedy went on to shatter box office records. It beat out Woody Allen's Blue Jasmine and critical darling 12 Years a Slave making it the top grossing indie film of the year. It also became the highest grossing Spanish-language film ever in the United States. A few weeks later, when Instructions opened in Derbez's home country, it became the most-watched Mexican film of all time.
Despite being snubbed by the Academy Awards (no Latin American productions made the shortlist for Best Foreign Language Film), Latino films ended the year on a high note. The triumph of our films abroad coupled with a Spanish-language box office hit at home bodes well for the Latino films of 2014.
In case you were living under a rock this past year and missed it all, we've got you covered. Thankfully, there are professionals who get paid to keep track of what Latino movies are receiving accolades, have the most buzz, and got picked up for distribution. LatinoBuzz went straight to the experts, film programmers, to ask, "What are your top 5 Latino films of 2013?"
Christine Davila, Director of Ambulante California
There is no shortage of original and compelling Us Latino writer/directors working across different genres out there, and this list proves it. These confident artists have captured fresh and mighty perspectives far too underrepresented, and they are storming through the cluster neck of homogeneity that continues to reign in film content.
Water & Power (Richard Montoya, USA)
Los Wild Ones (Elise Salomon, USA)
Delusions of Grandeur (Iris Almaraz, Gustavo Ramos, USA)
Sleeping with the Fishes (Nicole Gomez Fisher, USA)
The House that Jack Built (Henry Barrial, USA)
Marcela Goglio, Programmer at the Film Society of Lincoln Center
No special criteria in these choices, just some of the many accomplished Latin American films that, in my opinion, create universes or make statements in beautiful, original and/or powerful ways.
Viola (Matias Pineiro, Argentina)
El alcalde (Emiliano Altuna/Carlos Rossini/Diego Osorno, Mexico)
La eterna noche de las doce lunas (Priscilla Padilla, Colombia)
El futuro (Alicia Scherson, Chile)
Gloria (Sebastian Lelio, Chile)
Carlos A. Gutierrez, Co-founder and Executive Director of Cinema Tropical
For practical purposes, my list features five Latin American films (my area of expertise) that I highly recommend, and that screened in the U.S. in 2013 (in alphabetical order):
El Alcalde / The Mayor (Carlos F. Rossini, Emiliano Altuna and Diego Osorno, Mexico)
El otro dia / The Other Day (Ignacio Aguero, Chile)
Los mejores temas / Greatest Hits (Nicolas Pereda, Mexico)
Tanta Agua / So Much Water (Ana Guevara and Leticia Jorge, Uruguay)
Viola (Matias Pineiro, Argentina)
Lucho Ramirez, Founder & Executive Director of Cine+Mas Sf, presenter of the Cm San Francisco Latino Film Festival
There are so many works by Latino and Latin American filmmakers that merit the public and the tastemaker's attention. Compiling a list of 5 is difficult for me as a festival director because each film that we program is beloved. In addition, there are the other films I see at other fests or at theaters, particularly the bigger ones replete with distribution, celebrity, and marketing budgets. It's hard for independent, quality films to break through and that's part of the reason I seek those out. I believe there is an audience for artisanal films with substance, creativity, and diversity.
I went on memory for this list. Included are films that I saw this year that really stuck with me long after watching them. What's important to me is seeing images of Latinos by Latinos on the screen. This doesn't mean sanitized. Bless Me, Ultima is an important literary work. It was a huge accomplishment to get this on the screen for all us non-readers. Sex, Love, & Salsa packs all the punch of a big romantic comedy in very local and Latino way; Tlatelolco is a historical drama that's really well done, revisiting a chaotic time in Mexico's history but interpreted in a narrow sliver of a relationship that can't be; Porcelain Horse mixes sex, drugs, and rich-kid problems and really does something different with a crime-drama; Delusions of Grandeuer is purely Latino hipster fun.
Bless Me, Ultima (Carl Franklin, USA)
Sex, Love, & Salsa (Adrian Manzano, USA)
Tlatelolco, Summer of 68 (Carlos Bolado, Mexico)
Porcelain Horse (Javier Andrade, Ecuador)
Delusions of Grandeur (Iris Almaraz, Gustavo Ramos, USA)
Glenn Heath Jr., Artistic Director of the San Diego Latino Film Festival
De Jueves a Domingo is a fascinating and subtext-heavy debut from director Dominga Sotomayor Castillo about a family road trip that could be the beginning of the end. In Viola Shakespeare is reinvented, it's art house cinema meets the off-note pacing of jazz. My Sister's Quinceañera is an honest and poignant look at the complexities of family and identity in small town America. Aqui y Alla is riveting in its acute understanding of how the mundane adds up to something grand. Fecha de Caducidad is dark comedy at its finest.
De Jueves a Domingo (Dominga Sotomayor Castillo, Chile)
Viola (Matias Pineiro, Argentina)
My Sister's Quinceanera (Aaron Douglas Johnston, USA)
Aqui y Alla (Antonio Mendez Esparza, Mexico)
Fecha de Caducidad (Kenya Marquez , Mexico)
Diana Vargas, Artistic Director at the Havana Film Festival New York
In Gloria Paulina Garcia's performance is unforgettable and the way the director talks about the middle life crisis of a woman that seems unremarkable until she finds out she can make her own choices and maybe to be single is not that bad, haha. La Sirga portrays the crude reality of the Colombian conflict without showing explicit violence, through impeccable cinematography. In a cinema verite style, La jaula de oro shows 3 Guatemalan adolescents experiencing the harshness of the journey of those who want to immigrate to U.S. 7 Cajas, the biggest Paraguayan box office hit, is as entertaining as well done. With an impeccable screenplay and Guarani dialogues, the film shows a country that usually don't have a strong representation in the festivals around the world. Sibila de Teresa Arredondo (Chile). Sibila Arguedas is the widow of one of the most iconic public figures in Peruvian literature. She's also Chilean and a political prisoner, accused of being a Sendero Luminoso collaborator. This documentary made by Sibila's niece brings to light one of the most fascinating, enimagtic and contradictory characters of the last century.
Gloria (Sebastian Lelio, Chile)
La Sirga (William Vega, Colombia).
La jaula de oro (Diego Quemada-Diez, Mexico)
7 Cajas (Tana Schembori, Juan Carlos Maneglia, Paraguay)
Sibila (Teresa Arredondo, Chile)
Juan Caceres, Director of Programming at the New York International Latino Film Festival
2013 was a great year for Latin American films. Ecuador, Panama, Guatemala and Paraguay, countries with no real infrastructure for filmmaking, all were present in festivals. Chile in particular showed no sign of slowing down their own presence on the festival circuit, taking home prizes at the major festivals. I think it's no coincidence that they share this wonderful genuine camaraderie where there is a support system that includes producing each others projects to simply rooting for one another when it comes to award nominations (you can go to all their Fb pages and occasionally they have each others films as their cover pics! It's uber dope). It's as real as it gets and I think it's something lacking here in the Us. So my list is the Chilean films you should not miss.
Gloria, (Sebastian Lelio, Chile)
No (Pablo Larrain, Chile)
Il Futuro / The Future (Alicia Scherson, Chile)
El verano de los peces voladores / The Summer of Flying Fish (Marcela Said, Chile)
Las cosas como son / Things The Way They Are (Fernando Lavanderos, Chile)
Marlene Dermer, Director/Programmer at the Los Angeles Latino International Film Festival
It has been really hard to narrow it to five I have to say. I find Latino cinema and its creators in a wonderful period. It’s alive and beats like a heart. There is so much talent in our communities and they are doing some of the most interesting work in world cinema. It's thought provoking or personal and universal. It's also tough to include U.S. works with Latin American work because there are many more countries and many with support. This year in our festival we had the largest showcase of U.S.A. films which was very exciting to see. As a programmer for 22 years I find it stimulating to discover all these new voices coming up in our community and truly sharing the screens at festivals and theaters around the world. There is a new generation in every country, that is very exciting and promising for the future of cinema, our community and the audio visual world.
Club Sandwich (Fernando Eimbcke, Mexico)
Pelo Malo (Mariana Rondón, Venezuela)
Gloria (Sebastian Lelio, Chile)
O lobo atras da porta (Fernando Coimbra, Brazil)
Tanta Agua / So Much Water (Ana Guevara and Leticia Jorge, Uruguay)
Written by Vanessa Erazo. LatinoBuzz is a weekly feature on SydneysBuzz that highlights Latino indie talent and upcoming trends in Latino film with the specific objective of presenting a broad range of Latino voices. Follow @LatinoBuzz on Twitter and Facebook.
Sadly, American Latino filmmakers were mostly absent from big name festivals like Sundance, Toronto, Berlin, and Cannes. Normally, the major Latino film festivals in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, and San Diego offer a home to these overlooked films. The surprising collapse of the New York International Latino Film Festival this past summer and with the Los Angeles Latino International Film Festival barely recovering from financial difficulties, the exhibition of American Latino indies remains in a precarious position.
Still, there is much to celebrate. Starting in the early part of the year, at Sundance, Chilean director Sebastian Silva joined a very elite club of filmmakers -- those who have premiered two films at the same festival. His mescaline-fueled odyssey Crystal Fairy won the World Cinema Dramatic Directing Award and the psychological thriller Magic, Magic starring Michael Cera went on to play Director's Fortnight in Cannes.
The Berlinale, in February, brought the much anticipated world premiere of Sebastian Lelio's fourth film Gloria and the charming Uruguayan family comedy Tanta Agua. Cementing 2013 as the year of Chile, actress Paulina Garcia won the Silver Bear for her dazzling and dynamic performance as a middle-aged divorcee in Gloria.
Mid-year, Mexican filmmakers took Cannes by storm again, winning the Best Director prize for the second year in a row. In 2013, the victor was Amat Escalante for his feature film Heli. The year prior Carlos Reygadas took home the prize for Post Tenebras Lux.
In the fall, Toronto spoiled us with Latin American riches. The gargantuan fest showcased more than 300 films from 70 different countries including the Mexican documentary El Alcalde, Venezuela's Pelo Malo (Bad Hair), Peruvian black comedy El Mudo (The Mute), the Brazilian drama O lobo atras da porta (A Wolf at the Door), and the world premiere of Fernando Eimbcke's Club Sandwich. Costa Rica made a first-time appearance at the Toronto Film Festival with Por las plumas (All About the Feathers) and the Dominican Republic showcased Cristo Rey.
Over Labor Day weekend, Eugenio Derbez, a Mexican actor most Americans had never heard of released his sleeper hit Instructions Not Included. Totally ignored by mainstream film critics, the Spanish-language family comedy went on to shatter box office records. It beat out Woody Allen's Blue Jasmine and critical darling 12 Years a Slave making it the top grossing indie film of the year. It also became the highest grossing Spanish-language film ever in the United States. A few weeks later, when Instructions opened in Derbez's home country, it became the most-watched Mexican film of all time.
Despite being snubbed by the Academy Awards (no Latin American productions made the shortlist for Best Foreign Language Film), Latino films ended the year on a high note. The triumph of our films abroad coupled with a Spanish-language box office hit at home bodes well for the Latino films of 2014.
In case you were living under a rock this past year and missed it all, we've got you covered. Thankfully, there are professionals who get paid to keep track of what Latino movies are receiving accolades, have the most buzz, and got picked up for distribution. LatinoBuzz went straight to the experts, film programmers, to ask, "What are your top 5 Latino films of 2013?"
Christine Davila, Director of Ambulante California
There is no shortage of original and compelling Us Latino writer/directors working across different genres out there, and this list proves it. These confident artists have captured fresh and mighty perspectives far too underrepresented, and they are storming through the cluster neck of homogeneity that continues to reign in film content.
Water & Power (Richard Montoya, USA)
Los Wild Ones (Elise Salomon, USA)
Delusions of Grandeur (Iris Almaraz, Gustavo Ramos, USA)
Sleeping with the Fishes (Nicole Gomez Fisher, USA)
The House that Jack Built (Henry Barrial, USA)
Marcela Goglio, Programmer at the Film Society of Lincoln Center
No special criteria in these choices, just some of the many accomplished Latin American films that, in my opinion, create universes or make statements in beautiful, original and/or powerful ways.
Viola (Matias Pineiro, Argentina)
El alcalde (Emiliano Altuna/Carlos Rossini/Diego Osorno, Mexico)
La eterna noche de las doce lunas (Priscilla Padilla, Colombia)
El futuro (Alicia Scherson, Chile)
Gloria (Sebastian Lelio, Chile)
Carlos A. Gutierrez, Co-founder and Executive Director of Cinema Tropical
For practical purposes, my list features five Latin American films (my area of expertise) that I highly recommend, and that screened in the U.S. in 2013 (in alphabetical order):
El Alcalde / The Mayor (Carlos F. Rossini, Emiliano Altuna and Diego Osorno, Mexico)
El otro dia / The Other Day (Ignacio Aguero, Chile)
Los mejores temas / Greatest Hits (Nicolas Pereda, Mexico)
Tanta Agua / So Much Water (Ana Guevara and Leticia Jorge, Uruguay)
Viola (Matias Pineiro, Argentina)
Lucho Ramirez, Founder & Executive Director of Cine+Mas Sf, presenter of the Cm San Francisco Latino Film Festival
There are so many works by Latino and Latin American filmmakers that merit the public and the tastemaker's attention. Compiling a list of 5 is difficult for me as a festival director because each film that we program is beloved. In addition, there are the other films I see at other fests or at theaters, particularly the bigger ones replete with distribution, celebrity, and marketing budgets. It's hard for independent, quality films to break through and that's part of the reason I seek those out. I believe there is an audience for artisanal films with substance, creativity, and diversity.
I went on memory for this list. Included are films that I saw this year that really stuck with me long after watching them. What's important to me is seeing images of Latinos by Latinos on the screen. This doesn't mean sanitized. Bless Me, Ultima is an important literary work. It was a huge accomplishment to get this on the screen for all us non-readers. Sex, Love, & Salsa packs all the punch of a big romantic comedy in very local and Latino way; Tlatelolco is a historical drama that's really well done, revisiting a chaotic time in Mexico's history but interpreted in a narrow sliver of a relationship that can't be; Porcelain Horse mixes sex, drugs, and rich-kid problems and really does something different with a crime-drama; Delusions of Grandeuer is purely Latino hipster fun.
Bless Me, Ultima (Carl Franklin, USA)
Sex, Love, & Salsa (Adrian Manzano, USA)
Tlatelolco, Summer of 68 (Carlos Bolado, Mexico)
Porcelain Horse (Javier Andrade, Ecuador)
Delusions of Grandeur (Iris Almaraz, Gustavo Ramos, USA)
Glenn Heath Jr., Artistic Director of the San Diego Latino Film Festival
De Jueves a Domingo is a fascinating and subtext-heavy debut from director Dominga Sotomayor Castillo about a family road trip that could be the beginning of the end. In Viola Shakespeare is reinvented, it's art house cinema meets the off-note pacing of jazz. My Sister's Quinceañera is an honest and poignant look at the complexities of family and identity in small town America. Aqui y Alla is riveting in its acute understanding of how the mundane adds up to something grand. Fecha de Caducidad is dark comedy at its finest.
De Jueves a Domingo (Dominga Sotomayor Castillo, Chile)
Viola (Matias Pineiro, Argentina)
My Sister's Quinceanera (Aaron Douglas Johnston, USA)
Aqui y Alla (Antonio Mendez Esparza, Mexico)
Fecha de Caducidad (Kenya Marquez , Mexico)
Diana Vargas, Artistic Director at the Havana Film Festival New York
In Gloria Paulina Garcia's performance is unforgettable and the way the director talks about the middle life crisis of a woman that seems unremarkable until she finds out she can make her own choices and maybe to be single is not that bad, haha. La Sirga portrays the crude reality of the Colombian conflict without showing explicit violence, through impeccable cinematography. In a cinema verite style, La jaula de oro shows 3 Guatemalan adolescents experiencing the harshness of the journey of those who want to immigrate to U.S. 7 Cajas, the biggest Paraguayan box office hit, is as entertaining as well done. With an impeccable screenplay and Guarani dialogues, the film shows a country that usually don't have a strong representation in the festivals around the world. Sibila de Teresa Arredondo (Chile). Sibila Arguedas is the widow of one of the most iconic public figures in Peruvian literature. She's also Chilean and a political prisoner, accused of being a Sendero Luminoso collaborator. This documentary made by Sibila's niece brings to light one of the most fascinating, enimagtic and contradictory characters of the last century.
Gloria (Sebastian Lelio, Chile)
La Sirga (William Vega, Colombia).
La jaula de oro (Diego Quemada-Diez, Mexico)
7 Cajas (Tana Schembori, Juan Carlos Maneglia, Paraguay)
Sibila (Teresa Arredondo, Chile)
Juan Caceres, Director of Programming at the New York International Latino Film Festival
2013 was a great year for Latin American films. Ecuador, Panama, Guatemala and Paraguay, countries with no real infrastructure for filmmaking, all were present in festivals. Chile in particular showed no sign of slowing down their own presence on the festival circuit, taking home prizes at the major festivals. I think it's no coincidence that they share this wonderful genuine camaraderie where there is a support system that includes producing each others projects to simply rooting for one another when it comes to award nominations (you can go to all their Fb pages and occasionally they have each others films as their cover pics! It's uber dope). It's as real as it gets and I think it's something lacking here in the Us. So my list is the Chilean films you should not miss.
Gloria, (Sebastian Lelio, Chile)
No (Pablo Larrain, Chile)
Il Futuro / The Future (Alicia Scherson, Chile)
El verano de los peces voladores / The Summer of Flying Fish (Marcela Said, Chile)
Las cosas como son / Things The Way They Are (Fernando Lavanderos, Chile)
Marlene Dermer, Director/Programmer at the Los Angeles Latino International Film Festival
It has been really hard to narrow it to five I have to say. I find Latino cinema and its creators in a wonderful period. It’s alive and beats like a heart. There is so much talent in our communities and they are doing some of the most interesting work in world cinema. It's thought provoking or personal and universal. It's also tough to include U.S. works with Latin American work because there are many more countries and many with support. This year in our festival we had the largest showcase of U.S.A. films which was very exciting to see. As a programmer for 22 years I find it stimulating to discover all these new voices coming up in our community and truly sharing the screens at festivals and theaters around the world. There is a new generation in every country, that is very exciting and promising for the future of cinema, our community and the audio visual world.
Club Sandwich (Fernando Eimbcke, Mexico)
Pelo Malo (Mariana Rondón, Venezuela)
Gloria (Sebastian Lelio, Chile)
O lobo atras da porta (Fernando Coimbra, Brazil)
Tanta Agua / So Much Water (Ana Guevara and Leticia Jorge, Uruguay)
Written by Vanessa Erazo. LatinoBuzz is a weekly feature on SydneysBuzz that highlights Latino indie talent and upcoming trends in Latino film with the specific objective of presenting a broad range of Latino voices. Follow @LatinoBuzz on Twitter and Facebook.
- 1/1/2014
- by Vanessa Erazo
- Sydney's Buzz
The 56th San Francisco International Film Festival wraps up today, with the winners of Golden Gate Awards, the New Director's Prize, and the Fipresci Prize announced last night. You can see the full list of winners and their respective awards below. Golden Gate Award Documentary Feature Winners Documentary Feature: A River Changes Course, Kalyanee Mam (Cambodia/USA 2012) * Winner receives $20,000 cash prize Bay Area Documentary Feature: The Kill Team, Dan Krauss (USA 2012) * Winner receives $15,000 cash prize New Directors Prize: Present Tense, Belmin Solyemez (Turkey 2012) * Winner receives $15,000 cash prize Honorable Mention: La Sirga, William Vega (Colombia/France/Mexico 2012), The Cleaner, Adrián Saba (Peru 2012) Fipresci Prize: Nights with Theodore, Sébastian Betbeder (France 2012) Golden Gate Award Short Film Winners Narrative Short: Ellen Is Leaving, Michelle Savill (New Zealand 2012) * Winner receives...
- 5/9/2013
- by Mark Lukenbill
- Indiewire
The fifth edition of the Bengaluru International Film Festival will hold retrospectives of Girish Kasaravalli and Jahnu Barua among others. Five of Kasaravalli’s films: Tabarana Kathe (1986), Kraurya (1996), Thaayi Saheba (1997), Dweepa (2003) and Hasina (2004)will be screened. While Barua’s Halodhia Choraye Baodhan Khai (1987), Banani (1990), Firingoti (1992) and Hkhagoroloi Bohu Door(1995) will be screened.
Besides, three other sections are dedicated to Indian cinema. Chitrabharathi – Indian Cinema Competition, Kannada Cinema (competition and screening of films in other dialects in Karnataka) and 100 years of Indian Cinema (screening of 14 films).
Complete line up:
Retrospective
Chan-Wook Park (South Korea)
1. J.S.A.: Joint Security Area (Chan-Wook Park/110/2000/South Korea)
2. Sympathy for Mr Vengeance (Chan-Wook Park/129/2002/South Korea)
3. Old boy (Chan-Wook Park/120/2003/South Korea)
4. Lady Vengeance (Chan-Wook Park/112/2005/South Korea)
5. Thirst (Chan-Wook Park/133/2009/South Korea)
Fatih Akin (Germany)
1. Short Sharp Shock (Fatih Akin/100/1998/Germany)
2. In July (Fatih Akin/99/2000/Germany)
3. Solino (Fatih Akin/124/2002/Germany)
4. Head On (Fatih Akin/121/2004/Germany/Turkey...
Besides, three other sections are dedicated to Indian cinema. Chitrabharathi – Indian Cinema Competition, Kannada Cinema (competition and screening of films in other dialects in Karnataka) and 100 years of Indian Cinema (screening of 14 films).
Complete line up:
Retrospective
Chan-Wook Park (South Korea)
1. J.S.A.: Joint Security Area (Chan-Wook Park/110/2000/South Korea)
2. Sympathy for Mr Vengeance (Chan-Wook Park/129/2002/South Korea)
3. Old boy (Chan-Wook Park/120/2003/South Korea)
4. Lady Vengeance (Chan-Wook Park/112/2005/South Korea)
5. Thirst (Chan-Wook Park/133/2009/South Korea)
Fatih Akin (Germany)
1. Short Sharp Shock (Fatih Akin/100/1998/Germany)
2. In July (Fatih Akin/99/2000/Germany)
3. Solino (Fatih Akin/124/2002/Germany)
4. Head On (Fatih Akin/121/2004/Germany/Turkey...
- 12/7/2012
- by NewsDesk
- DearCinema.com
Above: Ernie Gehr's Auto-Collider Xv.
The vast bulk of Tiff's 2012 has been announced and listed here, below. We'll be updating the lineup with the previous films announced, as well as updating links to specific films for more information on them in the coming days. Of particular note is that the Wavelengths and Visions programs have been combined to create what is undoubtedly the most interesting section of the festival. Stay tuned, too, for our own on the ground coverage of Tiff.
Galas
A Royal Affair (Nikolai Arcel, Demark/Sweden/Czech Republic/Germany)
Argo (Ben Affleck, USA)
The Company You Keep (Robert Redford, USA)
Dangerous Liaisons (Hur Jin-ho, China)
Emperor (Peter Webber, Japan/USA)
English Vinglish (Gauri Shinde, India)
Free Angela & All Political Prisoners (Shola Lynch)
Great Expectations (Mike Newell, UK)
Hyde Park on Hudson (Roger Michell, UK)
Inescapable (Ruba Nadda, Canada)
Jayne Mansfield's Car (Billy Bob Thorton, USA/Russia)
Looper (Rian Johnson,...
The vast bulk of Tiff's 2012 has been announced and listed here, below. We'll be updating the lineup with the previous films announced, as well as updating links to specific films for more information on them in the coming days. Of particular note is that the Wavelengths and Visions programs have been combined to create what is undoubtedly the most interesting section of the festival. Stay tuned, too, for our own on the ground coverage of Tiff.
Galas
A Royal Affair (Nikolai Arcel, Demark/Sweden/Czech Republic/Germany)
Argo (Ben Affleck, USA)
The Company You Keep (Robert Redford, USA)
Dangerous Liaisons (Hur Jin-ho, China)
Emperor (Peter Webber, Japan/USA)
English Vinglish (Gauri Shinde, India)
Free Angela & All Political Prisoners (Shola Lynch)
Great Expectations (Mike Newell, UK)
Hyde Park on Hudson (Roger Michell, UK)
Inescapable (Ruba Nadda, Canada)
Jayne Mansfield's Car (Billy Bob Thorton, USA/Russia)
Looper (Rian Johnson,...
- 8/22/2012
- MUBI
The 37th Toronto International Film Festival® will roll out the red carpet for hundreds of guests from the four corners of the globe in September. Filmmakers expected to present their world premieres in Toronto include: Rian Johnson, Noah Baumbach, Deepa Mehta, Derek Cianfrance, Sion Sono, Joss Whedon, Neil Jordan, Lu Chuan, Shola Lynch, Barry Levinson, Yvan Attal, Ben Affleck, Marina Zenovich, Costa-Gavras, Laurent Cantet, Sally Potter, Dustin Hoffman, Francois Ozon, David O. Russell, David Ayer, Pelin Esmer, Tom Tykwer, Lana Wachowski, Andy Wachowski, Andrew Adamson, Michael McGowan, Bahman Ghobadi, Ziad Doueiri, Alex Gibney, Stephen Chbosky, Eran Riklis, Edward Burns, Bernard Émond, Zhang Yuan, Michael Winterbottom, Mike Newell, Miwa Nishikawa, Margarethe Von Trotta, David Siegel, Scott McGehee, Gauri Shinde, Goran Paskaljevic, Baltasar Kormákur, J.A. Bayona, Rob Zombie, Peaches and Paul Andrew Williams.
Actors expected to attend include: Bruce Willis, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Jackie Chan, Tom Hanks, Halle Berry, Bill Murray, Robert Redford,...
Actors expected to attend include: Bruce Willis, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Jackie Chan, Tom Hanks, Halle Berry, Bill Murray, Robert Redford,...
- 8/21/2012
- by Michelle McCue
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
After a string of announcements, it looks like the Toronto International Film Festival have locked down their line-up and it’s looking like a fantastic slate. Much of the additions today come in the form of previous Cannes premieres, including Michael Haneke‘s Amour (review), Cristian Mungiu‘s Beyond the Hills (review), Abbas Kiarostami‘s Like Someone in Love (review), Bernardo Bertolucci‘s Me and You (review), Hong Sang-soo‘s In Another Country and the Venice premiere Olivier Assayas‘ Something in the Air. Most notably missing is Leos Carax‘s Holy Motors, but we do get a new Michael Winterbottom film titled Everyday. Out of the Discovery section, the biggest film seems to be The Brass Teapot, and indie drama starring Juno Temple and Michael Angarano and one can check out all the additions below.
Masters
Amour Michael Haneke, Austria/France/Germany North American Premiere Screen legends Jean-Louis Trintignant and...
Masters
Amour Michael Haneke, Austria/France/Germany North American Premiere Screen legends Jean-Louis Trintignant and...
- 8/21/2012
- by jpraup@gmail.com (thefilmstage.com)
- The Film Stage
Colombia had three films in the various sections of Cannes this year. And the Colombian producers, Diana Bustamente ♀ and Jorge Forero of Burning Blue, produced two of them along with Thierry Lenouvel’s Cine-Sud. Burning Blue was created by Diana Bustamante, producer of The Wind Journeys (Cannes 2009), and Crab Trap (Berlin 2010), with her friend and artist colleague Jorge Forero. This company is focused on new directors and particulary on the new and artistic proposals which work with the imagen in all its possibilities.
La Sirga
The first and foremost film is the first feature film from Colombian director William Vega, La Sirga, which played in this year's Cannes' Directors Fortnight and was nominated for the Camera d’Or Award, Fipresci Prize. It also won the Cinema in Construction Award & Cine + Award at the Toulouse Film Festival. "Evocative! William Vega’s first feature is the latest in an impressive string of Colombian arthouse films", says Lee Marshall of Screen Daily. It was just picked up for North America by Film Movement. It is their 4th Colombian film.
Film Movement is one of the most successful experiments in alternative modes of distribution which has successfully survived since Larry Meistrich launched it in 2003. He has moved on and it's now run by a great team headed by Adley Gartenstein. Its DVD of the month club for critically acclaimed movies -- both American indies and foreign films -- is the first of its kind. The company also provides films that are screened theatrically at locations in Chicago, Los Angeles and other cities. Recently they have also partnered with YouTube and Hulu to provide online movies, and have received extensive praise from film critics such as Roger Ebert. It will have its New York theatrical opening late 2012, with a limited national roll-out to follow, as well as a day-and-date Cable Video on Demand premiere.
Film Movement acquired it from one of my favorite international sales agents, Pierre Menahem, now of Mpm (Movie Partners in Motion, founded by Marie-Pierre Macia and Juliette Lepoutre) but formerly (when I met him) at Celluloid Dreams. Pierre Menahem says, "We are thrilled to work again with Film Movement on another beautifully directed first feature film from Latin America. After the 20-times-awarded Found Memories (aka Historias) by Julia Murat, we are very excited to team up again with one of the best arthouse films distributors in North America for such an amazing film...Director William Vega is definitely a talent to watch and we are proud to start his international career with sales in the U.S., to Zootrope for France, Ama for Greece and Cineplex in Colombia right after its Cannes launch a week ago.” There is also strong interest in the U.K., Japan, Scandinavia, Benelux and Switzerland.
La Playa
The second film is La Playa by Juan Andrés Arango, his film debut as well. This Brazil-Colombia-France coproduction premiered at Cannes Ff Un Certain Regard. It was picked up for international sales prior to Cannes by Doc & Film. France's Jour2Fete will distribute La Playa in France.
Rodri
And the third Colombian film is in the Short Film Corner, Rodri by director Franco Lolli, depicting a family dealing with unemployment, will appear in the Short Film Corner. The film was inspired by its two main actors, the director's mother and uncle. Lolli will turn toward directing his first full-length film after the festival.
Colombia also had 10 production companies participating in the Producers Network, an important adjunct to the Cannes Marche.
La Sirga
The first and foremost film is the first feature film from Colombian director William Vega, La Sirga, which played in this year's Cannes' Directors Fortnight and was nominated for the Camera d’Or Award, Fipresci Prize. It also won the Cinema in Construction Award & Cine + Award at the Toulouse Film Festival. "Evocative! William Vega’s first feature is the latest in an impressive string of Colombian arthouse films", says Lee Marshall of Screen Daily. It was just picked up for North America by Film Movement. It is their 4th Colombian film.
Film Movement is one of the most successful experiments in alternative modes of distribution which has successfully survived since Larry Meistrich launched it in 2003. He has moved on and it's now run by a great team headed by Adley Gartenstein. Its DVD of the month club for critically acclaimed movies -- both American indies and foreign films -- is the first of its kind. The company also provides films that are screened theatrically at locations in Chicago, Los Angeles and other cities. Recently they have also partnered with YouTube and Hulu to provide online movies, and have received extensive praise from film critics such as Roger Ebert. It will have its New York theatrical opening late 2012, with a limited national roll-out to follow, as well as a day-and-date Cable Video on Demand premiere.
Film Movement acquired it from one of my favorite international sales agents, Pierre Menahem, now of Mpm (Movie Partners in Motion, founded by Marie-Pierre Macia and Juliette Lepoutre) but formerly (when I met him) at Celluloid Dreams. Pierre Menahem says, "We are thrilled to work again with Film Movement on another beautifully directed first feature film from Latin America. After the 20-times-awarded Found Memories (aka Historias) by Julia Murat, we are very excited to team up again with one of the best arthouse films distributors in North America for such an amazing film...Director William Vega is definitely a talent to watch and we are proud to start his international career with sales in the U.S., to Zootrope for France, Ama for Greece and Cineplex in Colombia right after its Cannes launch a week ago.” There is also strong interest in the U.K., Japan, Scandinavia, Benelux and Switzerland.
La Playa
The second film is La Playa by Juan Andrés Arango, his film debut as well. This Brazil-Colombia-France coproduction premiered at Cannes Ff Un Certain Regard. It was picked up for international sales prior to Cannes by Doc & Film. France's Jour2Fete will distribute La Playa in France.
Rodri
And the third Colombian film is in the Short Film Corner, Rodri by director Franco Lolli, depicting a family dealing with unemployment, will appear in the Short Film Corner. The film was inspired by its two main actors, the director's mother and uncle. Lolli will turn toward directing his first full-length film after the festival.
Colombia also had 10 production companies participating in the Producers Network, an important adjunct to the Cannes Marche.
- 6/6/2012
- by Sydney Levine
- Sydney's Buzz
Film Movement has acquired all North American rights to Colombian director William Vega's first feature film "La Sirga." The film recently screened in the Director's Fortnight section of the Cannes Film Festival. The deal was negotiated by Adley Gartenstein, President of Film Movement, and Pierre Menahem for Mpm Film. Full press release below. (New York, NY) - Film Movement (www.filmmovement.com), the North American film distribution company that brings first-run, award-winning independent and foreign films to fans all across the country, announced today their acquisition of La Sirga. This first feature film from Colombian director William Vega was featured in the 2012 Cannes Film Festival’s Director’s Fortnight. La Sirga is in Spanish and will enjoy a New York theatrical opening in Q4 of 2012, with a limited national roll-out to follow, as well as a day-and-date Cable Video on Demand premiere. ...
- 6/4/2012
- by Peter Knegt
- Indiewire
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