Boosted by world-class incentives, Spain’s Canary Islands has attracted the shoots of some of the higher-profile movies on earth from “In the Heart of the Sea” to “Wonder Woman 1984” and “Eternals.”
Now, however, a homegrown Canary Islands cinema is bursting onto the scene, a Canary Island New Wave cinema lifting off, hitting festivals and making ever more insistent production news.
If a date can be attributed to the event, it may be March’s Malaga Film Festival.
Already playing Berlin’s Forum, Macu Machín’s “Undergrowth” won ZonaZine, Málaga Festival’s edgier main sidebar.
Two Canary Islands projects were pitched at the Malaga Festival Fund & Co-Production Event (Maff): Lucía Pérez’s Locarno hit “Ever & the Sharks” and Víctor Moreno’s anticipated fiction feature debut “The Outside.”
Malaga’s Spanish Screenings featured Canary Island production “I’m Gonna Disappear,” Coré Ruiz’s tale of two estranged brothers. Another Spanish Screenings title,...
Now, however, a homegrown Canary Islands cinema is bursting onto the scene, a Canary Island New Wave cinema lifting off, hitting festivals and making ever more insistent production news.
If a date can be attributed to the event, it may be March’s Malaga Film Festival.
Already playing Berlin’s Forum, Macu Machín’s “Undergrowth” won ZonaZine, Málaga Festival’s edgier main sidebar.
Two Canary Islands projects were pitched at the Malaga Festival Fund & Co-Production Event (Maff): Lucía Pérez’s Locarno hit “Ever & the Sharks” and Víctor Moreno’s anticipated fiction feature debut “The Outside.”
Malaga’s Spanish Screenings featured Canary Island production “I’m Gonna Disappear,” Coré Ruiz’s tale of two estranged brothers. Another Spanish Screenings title,...
- 5/20/2024
- by John Hopewell
- Variety Film + TV
Macu Machín’s “The Undergrowth” (“La Hojarasca”) took home the top MiradaCanaria prize at the 17th MiradasDoc, which ran March 15-22 in Tenerife, Spain.
Produced by El Viaje Films, Machin’s debut feature has been picking up accolades since its world premiere at Berlinale’s Forum, snagging Best Spanish Picture and director at the Malaga Film Festival’s Zonazine, a sidebar for edgier and sometimes smaller pics.
The jury praised the doc for its “sensitive and evocative portrayal of three sisters and their deep bond of love for each other and their homeland.” In it, two elderly sisters join a third to hash out their shared inheritance of a plot of land as the rumble of an active volcano echoes close by.
Part of a burgeoning Canary Islands cinema, “The Undergrowth” explores questions of “identity, belonging, and the dynamics of the place where me and my family came from,” Machín told Variety.
Produced by El Viaje Films, Machin’s debut feature has been picking up accolades since its world premiere at Berlinale’s Forum, snagging Best Spanish Picture and director at the Malaga Film Festival’s Zonazine, a sidebar for edgier and sometimes smaller pics.
The jury praised the doc for its “sensitive and evocative portrayal of three sisters and their deep bond of love for each other and their homeland.” In it, two elderly sisters join a third to hash out their shared inheritance of a plot of land as the rumble of an active volcano echoes close by.
Part of a burgeoning Canary Islands cinema, “The Undergrowth” explores questions of “identity, belonging, and the dynamics of the place where me and my family came from,” Machín told Variety.
- 3/26/2024
- by Anna Marie de la Fuente
- Variety Film + TV
Malaga — Isaki Lacuesta’s “Saturn Return” (“Segundo Premio”), always a frontrunner, topped this week’s Malaga Festival winning its best picture, director (with co-director Pol Rodríguez) and editing (Javi Frutos) awards.
The triple plaudit delivers further recognition for a feature which pulls off the double achievement of being formally inventive and great fun at one and the same time.
Turning on Spanish indie rock group Los Planetas storied attempts to making their third and finally iconic album, but really about people’s need to recast the past as comprehensible narrative and a biopic parody, A broad audience play, “Saturn Return” has been hailed by Spanish newspaper El Mundo as a “masterpiece.”
“Saturn Returns” will do nothing to dent Lacuesta’s status as seemingly suddenly, after years in the wilderness as a supposedly radical filmmaker too out there to take on more ambitious budgets. Lacuesta’s feel-good concluding episode to “Offworld,...
The triple plaudit delivers further recognition for a feature which pulls off the double achievement of being formally inventive and great fun at one and the same time.
Turning on Spanish indie rock group Los Planetas storied attempts to making their third and finally iconic album, but really about people’s need to recast the past as comprehensible narrative and a biopic parody, A broad audience play, “Saturn Return” has been hailed by Spanish newspaper El Mundo as a “masterpiece.”
“Saturn Returns” will do nothing to dent Lacuesta’s status as seemingly suddenly, after years in the wilderness as a supposedly radical filmmaker too out there to take on more ambitious budgets. Lacuesta’s feel-good concluding episode to “Offworld,...
- 3/9/2024
- by John Hopewell and Ed Meza
- Variety Film + TV
It may not match last year’s sheer quantity in competition strands, but Spain still boasts a high quality presence at the Berlinale. Following, highlights the festival and EFM:
“Every You Every Me,” (Michael Fetter Nathansky)
A factory worker strives to reconnect with her distant husband, exploring the rediscovery of love within the complexities of relationships. From Contando Films, Studio Zentral, Network Movie and Nephilim, a German-Spanish production.
“Cura Sana,” (Lucía G. Romero)
Produced by Escac Films, this Generation 14plus premiere delves into sisters’ lives shaped by ancestral violence, exploring deep familial bonds and lasting impact of abuse.
“Deprisa, Deprisa,” (Carlos Saura)
A classic: Set to a memorable flamenco-pop score, four young Madrid delinquents pull robberies, snort heroin, steal cars the film capturing the raw energy youth and their vague, but visceral sense of ‘liberty.’ A restoration of a seminal work.
“The Human Hibernation,” (Anna Cornudella)
A sci-fi exploration of siblings undergoing hibernation,...
“Every You Every Me,” (Michael Fetter Nathansky)
A factory worker strives to reconnect with her distant husband, exploring the rediscovery of love within the complexities of relationships. From Contando Films, Studio Zentral, Network Movie and Nephilim, a German-Spanish production.
“Cura Sana,” (Lucía G. Romero)
Produced by Escac Films, this Generation 14plus premiere delves into sisters’ lives shaped by ancestral violence, exploring deep familial bonds and lasting impact of abuse.
“Deprisa, Deprisa,” (Carlos Saura)
A classic: Set to a memorable flamenco-pop score, four young Madrid delinquents pull robberies, snort heroin, steal cars the film capturing the raw energy youth and their vague, but visceral sense of ‘liberty.’ A restoration of a seminal work.
“The Human Hibernation,” (Anna Cornudella)
A sci-fi exploration of siblings undergoing hibernation,...
- 2/16/2024
- by Callum McLennan
- Variety Film + TV
Croatia-based SplitScreen has picked up worldwide sales excluding Spain to The Undergrowth (La Hojarasca) ahead of today’s (February 16) world premiere in Berlinale Forum.
The documentary from Canarian filmmaker Macu Machín follows the lives of three sisters on the Canary Islands in the aftermath of a volcanic eruption. Tenerife-based producer El Viaje Films holds Spanish rights.
SplitScreen’s Berlin-based Canarian executive Lorena Morin and Zagreb-based Marcella Jelic have assembled an EFM slate that includes worldwide rights on recent IDFA acquisitions Manu. A Visual Album (Ecu-usa) directed by Alexandra Cuesta, and Hesam Eslami’s A Band Of Dreamers And A Judge...
The documentary from Canarian filmmaker Macu Machín follows the lives of three sisters on the Canary Islands in the aftermath of a volcanic eruption. Tenerife-based producer El Viaje Films holds Spanish rights.
SplitScreen’s Berlin-based Canarian executive Lorena Morin and Zagreb-based Marcella Jelic have assembled an EFM slate that includes worldwide rights on recent IDFA acquisitions Manu. A Visual Album (Ecu-usa) directed by Alexandra Cuesta, and Hesam Eslami’s A Band Of Dreamers And A Judge...
- 2/16/2024
- ScreenDaily
Three women live a quiet life amongst the luscious trees of the Canary Islands in the first trailer for Macu Machín’s Berlinale Forum entry “The Undergrowth.” Croatia’s Splitscreen is handling sales on the title.
The title also represents the latest from Tenerife-based El Viaje Films, quickly building as one of the Canary Islands top fiction producers, having co-produced Theo Court’s Chilean Oscar entry “White on White.”
It was also recently behind titles such as Venice-selected “They Carry Death” and Locarno prize-winning “Dead Slow Ahead.”
Machín’s feature debut is a personal affair, with the filmmaker chronicling the routine of her mother and two aunts as they finally try to settle the distribution of their family inheritance after years of debate. In the background to the family dispute, nature seeps in, the documentary juxtaposing the lulling rhythms of the island with the eruption of long-held grievances between the sisters.
The title also represents the latest from Tenerife-based El Viaje Films, quickly building as one of the Canary Islands top fiction producers, having co-produced Theo Court’s Chilean Oscar entry “White on White.”
It was also recently behind titles such as Venice-selected “They Carry Death” and Locarno prize-winning “Dead Slow Ahead.”
Machín’s feature debut is a personal affair, with the filmmaker chronicling the routine of her mother and two aunts as they finally try to settle the distribution of their family inheritance after years of debate. In the background to the family dispute, nature seeps in, the documentary juxtaposing the lulling rhythms of the island with the eruption of long-held grievances between the sisters.
- 2/13/2024
- by Rafa Sales Ross
- Variety Film + TV
A Different Man.The Berlinale have begun to announce the first few titles selected for the 74th edition of their festival, set to take place from February 15 through 21, 2024. This page will be updated as further sections are announced.COMPETITIONAnother End (Piero Messina)Architecton (Victor Kossakovsky)Black Tea (Abderrahmane Sissako)La Cocina (Alonso Ruiz Palacios) Dahomey (Mati Diop)A Different Man (Aaron Schimberg)The Empire (Bruno Dumont)Gloria! (Margherita Vicario)Suspended Time (Olivier Assayas)From Hilde, With Love (Andreas Dresen)My Favourite CakeLangue Etrangère (Claire Berger)Small Things Like These (Tim Mielants)Who Do I Belong To (Meryam Joobeur)Pepe (Nelson Carlos De Los Santos Arias)Shambhala (Min Bahadur Bham)Sterben (Matthias Glasner)Small Things Like These (Tim Mielants)A Traveler’s Needs (Hong Sang-soo)Sleep With Your Eyes Open. ENCOUNTERSArcadia (Yorgos Zois)Cidade; Campo (Juliana Rojas)Demba (Mamadou Dia)Direct ActionSleep With Your Eyes Open (Nele Wohlatz)The Fable (Raam Reddy...
- 1/23/2024
- MUBI
Berlinale co-directors Carlo Chatrian and Mariette Rissenbeek are going out with a bang in their final year, with a lineup unveiled today featuring the latest works by Olivier Assayas, Bruno Dumont, Mati Diop, Hong Sang-soo, Abderrahmane Sissako, Jane Schoenbrun, Alonso Ruizpalacios, Matias Pineiro, Travis Wilkerson, Kazik Radwanski, Annie Baker, and more.
When the co-directors were asked by Screen Daily about their departure, Chatrian said, “It’s quite simple. Mariette and I had a mandate of five years. It is true that at the beginning I said that I was willing to go on because there was a shared will with the [German] Ministry [of Culture] to go on. But then the people who have the responsibility to see the future of the Berlinale thought this structure of two leaders was not the right one and I don’t consider myself able to run the festival alone. And that was the decision of the Ministry.
When the co-directors were asked by Screen Daily about their departure, Chatrian said, “It’s quite simple. Mariette and I had a mandate of five years. It is true that at the beginning I said that I was willing to go on because there was a shared will with the [German] Ministry [of Culture] to go on. But then the people who have the responsibility to see the future of the Berlinale thought this structure of two leaders was not the right one and I don’t consider myself able to run the festival alone. And that was the decision of the Ministry.
- 1/22/2024
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
Argentinian director Lola Arias will world premiere her musical documentary Reas about trans people in prison.
The world premiere of Argentinian director Lola Arias’s musical documentary Reas is one of the first eight titles of the 2024 Berlinale Forum unveiled today.
Arias’ second feature explores cis and trans people living in a Buenos Aires prison through musical re-enactment. The filmmaker’s debut Prisoner Of War also premiered in Berlinale Forum where it picked up the Ciace award as well as screening at SXSW, London, Jerusalem and San Sebastian.
Also world premiering in Berlinale’s sidebar is Vinothraj Ps’s The...
The world premiere of Argentinian director Lola Arias’s musical documentary Reas is one of the first eight titles of the 2024 Berlinale Forum unveiled today.
Arias’ second feature explores cis and trans people living in a Buenos Aires prison through musical re-enactment. The filmmaker’s debut Prisoner Of War also premiered in Berlinale Forum where it picked up the Ciace award as well as screening at SXSW, London, Jerusalem and San Sebastian.
Also world premiering in Berlinale’s sidebar is Vinothraj Ps’s The...
- 12/13/2023
- by Ellie Calnan
- ScreenDaily
The Berlinale Forum, the Berlin Film Festival’s avant-garde sidebar, has announced the first 8 films confirmed for its 2024 line-up.
The 8 films come from 8 different countries, reflecting the Forum’s global reach and a broader push towards greater diversity in it’s line-up. New Forum head Barbara Wurm, who took over running the Forum section in October, highlighted how her program selection team was “diverse with respect to age, ethnicity and cinematic focus.”
One focus of the selection is on cinema coming from regions outside the centers of the Western film industry. “We are looking for worldly films beyond self-referentiality – but those that get involved,” says Wurm. “By being open and resolute in dealing with cinematic forms, we want to bridge the gap between the real worlds we live in and a cinema aware of its public impact.”
The announced titles include the Indian drama The Adamant Girl from director Vinothraj Ps,...
The 8 films come from 8 different countries, reflecting the Forum’s global reach and a broader push towards greater diversity in it’s line-up. New Forum head Barbara Wurm, who took over running the Forum section in October, highlighted how her program selection team was “diverse with respect to age, ethnicity and cinematic focus.”
One focus of the selection is on cinema coming from regions outside the centers of the Western film industry. “We are looking for worldly films beyond self-referentiality – but those that get involved,” says Wurm. “By being open and resolute in dealing with cinematic forms, we want to bridge the gap between the real worlds we live in and a cinema aware of its public impact.”
The announced titles include the Indian drama The Adamant Girl from director Vinothraj Ps,...
- 12/13/2023
- by Scott Roxborough
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
IMDb.com, Inc. takes no responsibility for the content or accuracy of the above news articles, Tweets, or blog posts. This content is published for the entertainment of our users only. The news articles, Tweets, and blog posts do not represent IMDb's opinions nor can we guarantee that the reporting therein is completely factual. Please visit the source responsible for the item in question to report any concerns you may have regarding content or accuracy.